Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to of the 1%

st-shot Todd Browning's West of Zanzibar featuring Lon Chaney as a crippled game hunter does a fine job of transporting the audience to the lower depths with his perversely drawn portraits and inferences culminating in darkest Africa. Proso (Lon Chaney) the Magician's finds out his wife is about to run off with a swell named Crane Lionel Barrymore). He confronts the pair and Crane cripples him in the process. When a repentant and dying wife returns Froso puts Cranes daughter to work (Lupe Velez) in a brothel before bringing her to his jungle home where he'll reintroduce her to dad Crane whose making a killing in the ivory trade down the road. Zanzibar starts brutally and seldom lets up in the violence and emotional cruelty department with Chaney and Barrymore going at each other in dueling degeneracy. Browning creates an apt setting and mood for both setting up for a pair of suspenseful climaxes with signature Chaney masochism and Browning's deft touch with the macabre.

DarthVoorhees Lon Chaney and his long time collaborator Todd Browning turn in another fine picture full of ghoulish atmosphere and a horrific plot. Chaney stars as a magician named Phroso who is devoted to his wife Anna with all his heart and soul. He has a rival for his wife's affections in Crane a fellow performer who wants to take her off to Africa with him. Anna is hesitant because she truly does love Phroso, Phroso sees Crane with her and goes berserk. Crane pushes him off a balcony to his near death. Phroso now a twisted cripple discovers his wife's dead body with a child he assumes to be Crane's. He vows to the Virgin Mother that he will avenge his wife's death. Phroso moves to Africa and becomes a black market ivory dealer who is known as Dead-Legs. Dead-Legs scams the natives into thinking he is a God, and at any opportunity he scams his competitor Crane out of the precious ivory.Phroso decides to bring his revenge plan into full fruition and he takes Crane's daughter Maizie, who had raised in Zanzibar and turns her into a drunken drug addict. The Congo has a unique tradition, when a man dies the woman must be burnt on the funeral pyre with his corpse. Phroso will finally have his revenge but he has a surprise in store for him...Lon Chaney and Todd Browning complete each other. Chaney knows exactly what kind of character Browning is looking for and Browning knows exactly how to highlight Lon's mastery of character development. Every one of their collaborations is character driven and an interesting character can carry a picture. The atmosphere in West of Zanzibar is perfect. Chaney looks like a Kurtz figure as the crippled jungle demigod Dead-Legs. The physical devotion to the role from Chaney is amazing, he crawls through the rooms with no gotcha moments where his legs might slip. Everything about the picture is damn near perfect except for the racial stereotypes. I feel I can't truly give the picture the elusive perfect rating because of this. It's too bad but I know Chaney was not a racist. Maybe it was a symbol of the times but if so thank God we've come that far. By no means skip West of Zanzibar because of this because it is a fine picture with another masterful performance from the Man of a Thousand Faces directed by the man who used him best.

Michael_Elliott West of Zanzibar (1928) *** (out of 4) Tod Browning's shocker about a man (Lon Chaney) who loses his wife to another man (Lionel Barrymore) but to make matters worse he also paralyzes him. The man eventually moves to Africa where he sets up shop with plans to seek vengeance by kidnapping the daughter that the lover had with his wife. It goes without saying that once again Browning creates a world of weirdos, crazies and downright evilness that no other director could ever create. It also goes without saying that Chaney once again delivers a brilliant performance and again he's able to get sympathy while at the same time coming off evil. Chaney has a lot of work to do with his crippled body and he pulls this of without a hitch. Barrymore and Warner Baxter also give good performances. The final showdown between Chaney and Barrymore is priceless as is the big plot twist. Later remake with Walter Huston as Kongo.

movingpicturegal Very interesting and unusual silent film starring Lon Chaney as Phrosos the Magician, a stage show performer who has a wife he really loves - but she informs him she is planning to leave him for a man named Crane (Lionel Barrymore). When Crane tells Phrosos he is taking her away to Africa - he fights with Phrosos sending him falling over the railing of a second floor landing. His legs now paralyzed, Phrosos goes around riding a cart or pulls himself around by his arms, with his lifeless legs dragging behind. When the wife comes back with a baby, he finds the wife dead - so Phrosos, bitter and full of hate, sets out for Africa to seek his revenge on Crane and the baby daughter. Eighteen years - Phrosos, now known as "Dead-Legs", uses his magic to trick the natives with fake "voodoo" so he can steal elephant tusks from Crane, now a trader. Meanwhile, he has the daughter being raised in a Zanzibar brothel and he sends for her to come to him - all part of his evil plan. He now holds the poor girl captive and treats her like dirt - doing such things to her as making her eat on the floor and giving all her clothes to the natives. Twists and turns to follow.This is an absorbing, well done film - odd, creepy, and sad too. Chaney is really excellent in this - he gets such a look of evil and hate on his expressive face and is just SO good at making his legs look completely lifeless. Mary Nolan, who plays the daughter, spends most of the film looking around her with a complete look of disgust (and who can blame her!) - but her facial expressions are slightly over the top sometimes. Warner Baxter is handsome here playing Doc, Chaney's sidekick in Africa who falls in love with the girl. Very good.