Why write a review of this one hundred and two year old silent movie? Surely analytics would be better if I wrote about Coyote vs. Acme, which I did see this weekend and enjoyed. But I don’t write for clicks. I write these reviews to gain a better understanding of movies and this is one well worth understanding.
In this tragic story, Lon Chaney plays Paul Beaumont, a scientist whose benefactor, Baron Regnard, stole his research and his wife. In his despair Beaumont has become a circus clown, famous for his nightly reenactment of his humiliation before the academy of science, each slap bringing the crowd to laughter. In the finale HE is tied up, his heart ripped out, and his body mishandled in mock funeral, a final and ultimate humiliation.
This is dark stuff. The punishment and humiliation suffered by Beaumont are through no fault of his own. He worked hard for years to produce his thesis which was hailed by the academy when presented by Regnard. He loved and cherished his wife. There is no catharsis in his art. Rather this performance represents the ongoing suffering within Beaumont. The message is the world doesn’t care about your suffering. The world will take your tragedy and turn it to comedy. The crowds will laugh as your heart is stamped into the dirt.
The movies main plot focuses on Consuelo, the new, young circus rider whose father is an impoverished aristocrat seeking to marry her to Baron Regnard and regain his fortune. Consuelo has fallen in love with her riding partner Bezano while also gaining the silent admiration of Beaumont. The movie’s most touching scene happens when Consuelo mends Beaumont’s costume, fixing his heart and returning it to its place. Chaney’s silent acting shows more than any words the depth of his feelings. Later in the film Beaumont sees Consuelo’s despair at her impending marriage to Regnard and he confesses his love, pledging to rescue Consuelo from her fate. A confession that elicits a heartbreaking slap from Consuelo who has taken the confession as a joke, replying with the mocking gesture from Beaumont’s act.
This time Beaumont’s resolve doesn’t break and he sets out to stop the marriage. He receives a final mortal wound to his heart but succeeds in preventing the marriage. Making his final curtain call Beaumont dies performing his act and clutching his now bloody heart.
The subject of Beaumont’s thesis was the origin of mankind. It is fitting that the story of his life would be revealing of the nature of man’s world. Tragedy turns to comedy and back again as the world keeps spinning.
This is heartbreaking, Daniel.