
Premiere
15
Aug1920
Box office
Budget$89,000
About
Synopsis
The Penalty (1920) is a crime thriller directed by Wallace Worsley, available to watch online on iFILM — and one of Lon Chaney's most physically uncompromising performances.
As a boy, Blizzard loses both legs to a needless surgery. He hears the doctor blamed. Says nothing. By adulthood he runs San Francisco's criminal underworld and has spent years building toward a specific, patient revenge. His rage is quiet. That makes it worse.
Chaney played the legless crime boss with his legs bound behind him throughout filming — a commitment that verges on the punishing and a reminder that silent-era physical storytelling could push actors somewhere later techniques didn't always reach. Stream The Penalty online on iFILM.
Cast
Starring

Lon Chaney
Blizzard

Charles Clary
Dr. Ferris

Doris Pawn
Barbary Nell

James Pier Mason
Frisco Pete (as James Mason)
Milton Ross
Lichtenstein

Ethel Grey Terry
Rose

Kenneth Harlan
Dr. Wilmot Allen

Claire Adams
Barbara Ferris
Montgomery Carlyle
A Crook (uncredited)

Michael Dark
Man (uncredited)

Cesare Gravina
Art Teacher (uncredited)

Lee Phelps
Policeman (uncredited)

Madlaine Traverse
Woman (uncredited)
Edouard Trebaol
Bubbles (uncredited)

Clarence Wilson
A Crook (uncredited)

Wallace Worsley
crew
No video sources yet




























Comments 0