a circus performer venture into the unknown region of fate when he allow love to be twist by hatred . master actor lon chaney and his friend and acclaim director tod browning and take their love of the macabre and fashion this weirdly entertaining and suspenseful little silent film and make wonderful by chaney powerful over the top performance . play the armless wonder in a gypsy circus and chaney face be a casebook of emotion a he long for the chieftain daughter . after make a tremendous and indeed and outrageous and sacrifice for her and he discover it be all an utter waste . chaney agony be horribly apparent a he feel his life crumble around him . the actor use his superb physical conditioning to great effect and his foot as facile a any hand the extreme punishment undergone to play the part enormously impressive . in an important early film role and joan crawford be both sultry and disarming a the object of chaney desire while her intense neurotic phobia concern men hand certainly make her character more interesting . norman kerry be affable and tender a the circus strong man who also love crawford . john george a chaney dwarf accomplice and nick de ruiz a the brutal circus chief be quite effective in their colorful role . mgm give the film fine production value and especially in the circus scenes a milieu dear to chaney heart .