A repulsive concept. Let's film it.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret about Lon Chaney. You know, the guy who played the Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Man of a Thousand Faces…

(Whisper)

He was even scarier with no makeup at all.

Don’t believe me? Then let me present you with West of Zanzibar, a delightfully trashy melodrama from the very end of the silent era.

Chaney plays Phroso, a stage magician who dearly loves his beautiful wife Anna (Jacqueline Gadsden). But she is about to run away to Africa with her lover, an ivory trader named Crane (Lionel Barrymore). Phroso discovers what is afoot, a struggle ensues and Crane shoves him off a balcony. The fall breaks Phroso’s back and renders him paraplegic.

Months pass and word comes that Anna has returned. And she has a baby. Surely Crane’s daughter! Anna is already dead when Phroso reaches her. He swears over her body that he will get revenge on Crane and his daughter.

Flash forward to Africa almost two decades later. Deep in the jungle, Phroso has set himself up as a witch doctor who rules the local tribes. Now called Dead-Legs, he impresses the natives with twisted versions of his old stage tricks. He has spent the last eighteen years preparing his vengeance.

Dead-Legs has surrounded himself with equally seedy expats who help him steal Crane’s ivory as it travels through the jungle. Doc (Warner Baxter) is a dissolute physician who has the duty of keeping Dead-Legs’s decaying body together a little longer.

The years of planning are finally over and Dead-Legs sends his men to fetch Crane’s daughter, Maizie.

Dead-Legs had given Maizie to the care of a barkeeper in Zanzibar, intending her to grow up in the lowest of dives. Maizie is a product of her environment, an alcoholic with questionable morals.

Maizie is told that her father is waiting for her. She recognizes a chance to make a fresh start and resolves to stop drinking.

The resolve doesn’t last beyond her first night in Dead-Legs’s village. Tortured and driven to the brink of insanity by Dead-Legs and his men, she takes refuge in cheap brandy. Seeing Maizie suffer starts to awaken Doc’s long-buried sense of humanity.

Dead-Legs, on the other hand, relishes the first stages of his revenges and prepares for the grand finale. He sends word to Crane that he is the one who has been stealing the ivory.

The tribesmen have a custom. When a man dies, a female relative must be burned alive on the funeral pyre. Dead-Legs has made sure that the entire village knows that Maizie is Crane’s daughter. You can see where this is going.

All the pieces are in place. Dead-Legs prepares for his final magic show.

But, naturally, there is a terrible secret that will reveal itself at precisely the wrong moment. Anyone familiar with silent era plotting will see this twist coming. Let’s just say that it is a shame for all involved that DNA tests were not available in 1928.

West of Zanzibar was one of the last and most successful pairings of director Tod Browning and star Lon Chaney. Sleazy doesn’t even begin to describe it. And no one could do sleazy quite as well as Chaney and Browning. The atmosphere of the film matches the sordid nature of the material: thick, sweaty and grimy. You can practically feel the heavy, humid jungle air waft out of the screen.

The plot is simple and not particularly original. It borrows heavily for The Shanghai Gesture with a few of the gender roles reversed. But more on that later.

With a powerhouse like Lon Chaney in the lead, the plot becomes secondary. Chaney consumes scenery with a passion matched only by Lionel Barrymore.

Chaney had previously played a disabled maniac in The Penalty. Blizzard, a legless criminal mastermind, had raised more than a few eyebrows in 1920 with its portrayals of drug addiction, debauchery and violence. The world was a lot less innocent in 1928 but the critical reaction was equally hostile. The film was deemed trashy and beneath the talents of the star and director.

That’s a bit harsh since both Chaney and Browning knew exactly what they were doing. Both had a flair for the grotesque and West of Zanzibar allowed both create a bit of escapism that indulged their unique aptitudes.

It should also be noted that the film had several more disturbing scenes cut. That’s right, this is the censored version. One can only imagine what the original was like.

What is more difficult to forgive is the clichéd, imperialistic view of Africa and Africans. Platitudes about cannibals, voodoo and human sacrifice abound. Not for the easily offended.

Besides Chaney, Barrymore and Browning, West of Zanzibar is also fortunate in its leading lady. Lovely Mary Nolan had a talent for looking both dissipated and angelic. At the same time. No easy task and it works perfectly for Maizie. A debauched innocent, Maizie longs for roots, she wants to know who she is and find her family.

There is a well-played scene when she first meets Dead-Legs. He comes writhing toward her and she is terrified but hopeful. Could he be her father? Nolan makes it clear from her expression that Maizie both hopes it’s true and hopes that it isn’t.

Lionel has always been my favorite Barrymore and his portrayal of the smug Crane almost makes you root for Dead-Legs.

But in the end, the film belongs to Chaney. Crawling on the ground, his face contorted with hatred, he is truly a terrifying figure.

The scene where Dead-Legs discovers just how much his single-minded vengeance has cost him is heartbreaking. The barely-restrained tears, the look of horror. I hated Dead-Legs and I felt sorry for him. More than that, I actually cried for him.

Sheesh!

Only Chaney does that to me.

West of Zanzibar was remade in 1932 as Kongo, with Walter Huston in the Chaney role. The Shanghai Gesture finally made it to movie screens in 1941, directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring a young Gene Tierney.

West of Zanzibar is not for everyone. Fans who prefer to think of silent movies as sweet little romances are advised to stay far, far away. However, if you’re just a little twisted, ready for some pre-Code entertainment or a fan of Chaney’s, you will probably find West of Zanzibar a forgotten jewel.

Albeit a rather seedy one.

Back to film reviews

Copyright 2009-2010 Galloping Tintypes