Man of a Thousand Faces

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

YOUR RATING

James Cagney, Jane Greer, and Dorothy Malone in Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)

Play trailer1:30

1 Video

43 Photos

Biography Drama

The life and career of vaudevillian and silent-screen horror star Lon Chaney, including his contentious relationship with his neurotic wife and his premature death.The life and career of vaudevillian and silent-screen horror star Lon Chaney, including his contentious relationship with his neurotic wife and his premature death.The life and career of vaudevillian and silent-screen horror star Lon Chaney, including his contentious relationship with his neurotic wife and his premature death.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total

Videos1

Trailer 1:30

Man of a Thousand Faces

Photos43

+ 37

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
As with most biographical films, the script is a combination of fact and screenwriters' fancy. To give but two examples, Lon Chaney Jr. was not born in a hospital, but at his parents' then-home in Oklahoma City, as was common at the time. Further, Cleva Creighton Chaney was well aware, before her marriage to Lon Chaney, that his parents were hearing-impaired, and had already met them on several occasions.

Goofs
Lon Chaney did not die at home surrounded by loved ones, he died very suddenly in the hospital (around midnight) after suffering a hemorrhage.

Quotes
Lon Chaney: The kind of fellows I play, pretty girls don't write to.

Connections
Edited into The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)

Soundtracks
Jingle Bells
(uncredited)
Written by James Pierpont (as James Lord Pierpont) (1857)
integrated into soundtrack when Chaney family reunites at Christmas

User reviews55

Review

Featured review

James Cagney's performance is outstanding

Other reviewers have knocked the film because it is not historically accurate and I can't dispute that. But for me, James Cagney's performance makes this a film that is a must-see. True, the film is short on depicting Lon Chaney's film characters and although we do get to see Cagney in makeup as the Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera, the scenes are extremely brief. Most of the film depicts Chaney's conflict with his first wife, wonderfully played by the stunning Dorothy Malone - whew, what a knockout!- and the stormy relationship with his son.

The film is a soap opera but Cagney is wonderful showing that he can play drama, comedy and even dance and mime.