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The Unholy Three (1930) Lon Chaney, Lila Lee, Elliott Nugent

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Movies : Crime : DVD Rip : English




A sideshow ventriloquist, midget, and strongman form a conspiracy known as "The Unholy
Three" and commit a series of robberies.
Director: Tod Browning
Writers: Clarence Aaron 'Tod'
Robbins (story) (as Tod Robbins), Waldemar Young (scenario)
Stars: Lon Chaney, Mae Busch, Matt Moore | See full
cast & crew »

Summaries
Three sideshow performers leave their lives of captivity
and become "The Unholy Three." Echo the ventriloquist assumes the role of a kindly old grandmother who runs a
bird shop. Tweedledee, the "twenty inch man," becomes her grandbaby, and Hercules is their assistant. Soon an
incredible crime wave is launched from their little store.

—David Ezell
A sideshow ventriloquist,
midget, and strongman form a conspiracy known as "The Unholy Three" and commit a series of robberies.

—[email protected]

10/10
Another Chaney Chiller
Ron Oliver19 January
2002
Vowing revenge on the world of ‘normal' people, a sideshow ventriloquist, strong man & dwarf band
together as THE UNHOLY THREE.

Following Lon Chaney's great film successes at Universal Studios, Irving
Thalberg managed to entice the actor to come to MGM. Anxious to repeat the box office bonanzas of Chaney's recent
past, Thalberg signed a one-picture deal with Chaney's favorite director, Tod Browning. The resulting film, THE
UNHOLY THREE, was such a hit that Thalberg quickly signed Browning for a long-term contract.

Based on a story
by Tod Robbins (who would also pen the inspiration for FREAKS), Browning would give the film an appropriately menacing
atmosphere, with flashes of comedic wit at just the right intervals. A crime caper rather than a horror film, the chills
are saved for right near the end with the rampages of a ferocious ape (actually a chimpanzee, photographed out of
proportion) which no one seems surprised to find in a bird store.

While ventriloquism may seem an odd pastime
to depict in a silent movie, Chaney made it all seem so sensible. A consummate artist who only now is starting to
receive the proper accolades, Chaney did not need to contort limb or face to portray a little old lady. All he needed
was a wig & a dress. So well was he received in this role that it was chosen to be remade five years later as
Chaney's talking debut.

Muscular Victor McLaglen (a British Army champion athlete) and tiny Harry Earles
(one of the few adult actors who could disguise himself as a baby) give very solid support as Chaney's wicked
cronies; much of the favorable outcome of the film is due to them.

Pensive Mae Busch scores as the waifish
pickpocket allied with Chaney; this very talented actress would get to shine a few years later in a series of
appearances with Laurel & Hardy. In his one scene as a stern judge, Edward Connelly lends his saturnine presence to
the proceedings.
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"a little
laughter...a little tear"
BaronBl00d5 April 2001
A great film...period. Lon Chaney heads a group of three
thieves/carnival performers as they masquerade as an old woman, a man, and a baby in a pet shop where they sell birds
that talk only by ventriloquism. Once the owners get home they see the birds no longer talk and the thieves are invited
into their opulent homes. Tod Browning, the director of Dracula, does a marvelous job with this film. There are scenes
that are just fantastic, the best of which for me is the courtroom scene. Browning gets a lot of help, however, by some
real good performances. Chaney turns in a complex performance of a ventriloquist in love, yet evil, yet with some slight
conscience. The scene in the courtroom where he deliberates helping Hector is acting at its best. Throw in a great job
by Mae Busch and little Harry Earles as a cigar-smoking midget disguised as a baby. The silent film is a lost art only
in that we no longer view it, talk about it, review it like it should. This film and the performances within should be
seen not heard.
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 8/10
Lon
Chaney gives a memorable performance in a most unusual role
wmorrow5916 July 2005
When I was a kid I was an
avid reader of Forrest J. Ackerman's Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, and it was there I first heard about the
director Tod Browning. He and his work were prominently featured in the pages of FM, where the (still missing) London
After Midnight was often lamented as the Holy Grail of lost films. There were also frequent references to The Unholy
Three in both its silent and talkie incarnations. It took me decades to finally catch up with the silent version, and my
response is kind of schizo; objectively, I'm aware that in a number of ways it's absurd, and yet it's
great fun, and highly entertaining. And the main reason the movie works so well, I believe, is the sheer charisma of Lon
Chaney.

Chaney and Browning worked together many times, but this was their biggest box office success.
Despite the general impression to the contrary their collaborations were not exactly horror films. In fact, as far as I
can determine not one of their movies featured any supernatural elements; even the vampire of London After Midnight
turns out to be a police inspector in disguise. Most of the Browning/Chaney films are crime melodramas with bizarre
details stirred into the mix, often involving people from the lowest rungs of show business, such as circuses and
carnivals. Chaney's characters in these stories are often afflicted with an intense, unrequited passion for a young
woman (most memorably and disturbingly in The Unknown), and his behavior and actions are affected by this obsession,
usually to his disadvantage, sometimes fatally so.

By the time The Unholy Three was produced Browning had
developed his recurring themes and motifs into a highly effective, time-tested formula. His directorial technique is
stylish in an unobtrusive way: for special emphasis he'll highlight shadows thrown on a wall, forming a silhouette
of the three title characters, but otherwise he generally avoids flamboyant touches. With a story like this, he
doesn't need them. The synopsis has been outlined elsewhere, but briefly it involves a trio of crooks from the
sideshow world: Professor Echo the ventriloquist (Chaney) who disguises himself as an old lady, a strong man (Victor
MacLaglen), and a midget (Harry Earles) who masquerades as a baby. A pet store serves as a front for their activities.
The trio is actually is quintet, as they are accompanied by a thief named Rosie (Mae Busch) and a bespectacled patsy
named Hector (Matt Moore) who is somehow oblivious that his employers are, well, not what they seem. Hector takes
everything in stride. It's perfectly normal to him that the pet shop where he works offers not only birds and
rabbits but also a dangerous gorilla in a big cage. So hey, if Hector takes it for granted, why shouldn't we? The
plot turns on a jewel heist that goes awry, in part because of Prof. Echo's jealousy over Rosie. However, in this
film the story is secondary to the sinister atmospherics.

While it's Chaney's performance that
drives the film the supporting cast is solid -- more so, I feel, than in the talkie remake -- and the characters'
interactions have a "rightness" that persuades us to overlook numerous credibility issues. As in the best
Hitchcock films, we're willing to ignore gaping plot holes in order to savor the set pieces. One of the most
effective sequences features a police inspector who interrogates the trio in the wake of the jewel heist. He's
unaware that the jewels he seeks are inside a toy elephant at his feet, a toy that supposedly belongs to the
"baby." The scene is suspenseful and funny, and, for me, the sight of Harry Earles disguised as a baby is
almost as creepy as anything in an out-and-out horror movie.

The unlikely twists increase to the point of
craziness in the final scenes, yet the story follows the consistent internal logic of a deeply weird dream. It's no
surprise this was such a big hit in its day. I was fortunate enough to see a newly restored print of this film at the
Museum of Modern Art this summer, back to back with the talkie remake. The silent version in particular went over quite
well, though admittedly there were chuckles when a title card glibly announces the outcome of Prof. Echo's trial.
Afterward in the lobby viewers were enthusiastic about the film, and about Lon Chaney. Seventy-five years after his
death audiences are still impressed with his magnetism. So here's a tip of the hat to Forry Ackerman, who saw the
Browning/Chaney films when they were new, and was right about this one all along!
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 8/10
Angels in Disguise
lugonian2 October 2001
"The Unholy Three" (MGM, 1925), directed by Tod Browning, is the kind of movie only Lon Chaney could do
best, playing a tough guy with a good heart, donning a disguise or two, and coming out with one of the film's
famous lines, "That's all there is to life, folks, just a little laugh, just a little tear." In reality,
it's a change of pace for Chaney from his previous efforts, playing a tough but sympathetic character in a crime
drama.

The story features three museum freaks, Hercules, the strong man (Victor McLaglen), Tweeledee, the
dwarf (Harry Earles), and Professor Echo, the ventriloquist (Lon Chaney), performing in a sideshow while Echo's
girl, Rosie O'Grady (Mae Busch) goes through the crowd picking pockets. When Echo comes upon an idea of a
get-rich-quick scheme, he, Hercules, Tweeledee and Rosie become partners in crime as THE UNHOLY THREE. They then open a
store stocked with parrots that will not talk, but Echo, disguised as Granny O'Grady, the proprietress, arranges to
have the parrots "talk" only in his presence. His gal Rosie acts as "Granny's grand-daughter,"
with Tweeledee is disguised as Rosie's infant son and Hercules as the "infant's" uncle. With the
shop as a front, THE UNHOLY THREE rob the homes of their well-to-do customers, especially when they telephone to
complain that the parrots they brought does not talk, thus, having Granny and the "baby" paying them a visit
and casing the place for a possible late night robbery. Also working in the shop is Hector McDonald (Matt Moore), who
becomes interested in Rosie but is unaware of the operation.

Watching Lon Chaney disguised as a sweet little
old lady is priceless, almost reminiscent to Tod Browning's latter melodrama of the sound era, "The Devil
Doll" (MGM, 1936) in which Lionel Barrymore appeared as an escaped convict dressed as an elderly woman to elude the
law, a role Chaney would have done, I'm sure, had he lived. Chaney would play Echo again in his one and only talkie
of 1930 bearing the same title. With both films readily available for viewing on Turner Classic Movies, one can see and
compare both versions, in spite of some changes in parts in the continuity. Along with Chaney, midget Harry Earles also
repeats his Tweeledee performance.

When "The Unholy Three" was presented on public
television's 13-week series tribute to MGM, "Movies, Great Movies" in 1973, its host, Richard Schickel
mentioned that this 1925 version was Lon Chaney's personal favorite of all his movies and one of MGM's biggest
hits of that year. It's a grand performance worthy of the "master of disguises." Although a silent movie,
one would wish to hear how the Echo character would throw his voice around to fool his customers. (Watch the 1930 talkie
and find out).

Also interesting is seeing a young Victor McLaglen, the future Best Actor winner of
1935's "The Informer," still rugged but a little thinner; Mae Busch (famous for her variety of roles in
several Laurel and Hardy comedy shorts and features for Hal Roach in the 1930s), usually playing a tough gal, here
playing against type as a co-starring love interest; and Matthew Betz as Inspector Regan. Tod Browning's direction
should not go unnoticed, with one interesting scene having Chaney discussing his future plans in forming THE UNHOLY
THREE to his supporters, as presented on screen in silhouettes, looking something like a "film noir" crook
drama of the 1940s.

The 1925 version of THE UNHOLY THREE, clocked at 86 minutes, currently includes the same
orchestral scoring on Turner Classic Movies that was composed and originally chosen for the October 12, 1973, public
television presentation of "Movies, Great Movies" a 13-week series tribute to MGM's 50th anniversary of
its silent movies from the 1920s, as hosted by Richard Schickel. A worthy rediscovery to Lon Chaney's filmography
of MGM successes (1924-1930). (***)
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this
 8/10
The Browning Version
wes-connors26 October 2009
In an effort to make more money than they
do as traveling carnival show attractions, velvet-voiced ventriloquist Lon Chaney (as Echo), baby-impersonating dwarf
Harry Earles (as Tweedledee), and strongman Victor McLaglen (as Hercules) team up to form a gang of jewel thieves who
call themselves "The Unholy Three". The crooked trio begins operating out of a bird shop run by Mr. Chaney,
posing as sweet "Granny O'Grady", mother of pickpocket and gang moll Mae Busch (as Rosie). The front
works like a charm, but Ms. Busch attracts the attention of straight-flying Matt Moore (as Hector), who forms a
"love triangle" with Chaney. 

Then, an unexpected murder brings further unwelcome advances... from
the police. 

This was re-made as Chaney's first - and only, unhappily - sound feature, in 1930. Of the
many Chaney hits, "The Unholy Three" seemed like the most obvious one to improve with sound; and,
Chaney's performance in both is stellar. While the later version has problems, Chaney enhanced his already
incredible performance. In this one, frequent collaborator/director Tod Browning is definitely an asset. Also remarkable
is Mr. Earle, who hadn't mastered English for the re-make, but seemed fine by "Freaks" (1932); his
wicked, cigar-smoking baby is classic.

"The Unholy Three" (1925) was honored as one of its
year's best pictures at "Film Daily" (#2), Motion Picture Magazine (#3), and The New York Times (#3) -
after winners "The Gold Rush", "The Big Parade", and "The Last Laugh". At Motion Picture,
Chaney's individual performance ranked third (after "Best Actor" Emil Jannings and runner-up John
Gilbert). The film is perversely appealing - which was then, and is now, a Chaney/Browning hallmark.

********
The Unholy Three (8/16/25) Tod Browning ~ Lon Chaney, Mae Busch, Harry Earles, Matt Moore
5 out of 5 found this
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 10/10
That's all there is to life just a little
laugh a little tear
DarthVoorhees15 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers

Lon Chaney was one of the
greatest actors who ever lived. He expresses more emotion in this movie with his facial expressions than many of the
actors today can do with their voices. Chaney stars as Professor Echo,a sleazy carnival ventriloquist, who plans to pull
off a crime that would make him and his two counterparts rich. Echo a master of voices will pose as an old lady, the
sideshow midget named Tweedledee will be the baby, and Hercules the strongman will be a bystander. Together this team of
unholy individuals open up a pet store which specializes in selling talking parrots. These birds talk and sing in the
store but when the buyer brings them home they stop.A rich man named Arlington buys a parrot and calls "Old Lady
Mcgrady" to come have a look at it. Tweedledee notices a red ruby necklace.

"Don't worry
Grannie will buy you a nice set of red pearls like that" Echo's girlfriend Rosie is falling in love with
Hector the employee at the store. Echo is beginning to lose his concentration and his partners plot against him.
Hercules murders Arlington and after Hector proposes to Rosie Echo plans to frame him for the murder.

Yes the
plot is a bit silly at times but Chaney and his cast tell it with the utmost sincerity. Chaney's Echo is a sad
character,not necessarily evil but selfish. His love for Rosie redeems him and his evil ways at the end of the movie.
Chaney is one of the greats. He creates a vivid character. Man of a Thousand Faces is the correct title for him but here
he doesn't need his make-up to create a face just his perfect acting skills.

10/10
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 9/10
Simply magnificent
Erotikon-223
September 1999
The Unholy Three is a magnificent piece of filmmaking. The actors really fit into their roles. The
mixture of thriller, comedy and drama is perfect. Tod Browning shows his talents. This film deserves to be shown more. I
saw it at the Umea Filmfestival this September with newly written live music that made a great movie even better.
6
out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 9/10
The Unholy Three (1925)
***1/2
JoeKarlosi4 February 2007
I had an afternoon free so I decided to watch the two versions of this Lon
Chaney classic back to back, beginning with this one -- Tod Browning's silent original. It's the story of a
crooked carnival ventriloquist (Lon Chaney) who teams up with the midget (Harry Earles) and strong man (Victor McLaglen
) for a series of robberies. Chaney dresses as an old woman and Earles plays a baby to perfect their scheme. In many
ways this was a precursor to the popular Little Rascals/Our Gang short subject FREE EATS, where a couple of gangsters
act as parents to a couple of little people dressed as infants, mistakenly referred to as "fidgets".

Whether it's the silent version or sound remake, I thought this was a wildly entertaining story either way,
though it's difficult to fairly judge one film or the other when they're viewed together so closely like this.
There are pros and cons to both movies for me. The strength of Browning's silent version was that in many ways it
felt much more stylish and better crafted, possibly with better production values... but I found I preferred Lila Lee as
Rosie O'Grady (from the sound version) to the silent actress here, Mae Busch. The 1925 original perhaps feels a
little too long, which is the only thing which kept it from being perfect for me. I wouldn't be surprised, though,
if most fans prefer the silent film simply because it was directed by Tod Browning. My advice is to see them both!
***1/2 out of ****
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 7/10
Lon Chaney at his Heartbroken Best
eugenetard16 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers

Say what
you will about the plot or with music or not, I enjoyed the hell outta this thing (Without music), and just Loved Lon
Chaney in it. He was such a shady-lookin' character, with such an ugly, creased, fascinating face. One that had
both light and darkness in it. And the man could act. It's not hard to see why he was the top box-office draw at
one time. 

Also, I gotta give a shout out to big man Victor McLaglen, future Gypo Nolan from John Ford's
"The Informer". Here he's not as drunk or beefed-out yet, but he's lean and mean and does just
fine.

And Super-Props to the biggest little man Harry Earles, future avenged cuckold in "Freaks"
(Awesome!) and yes, one of those damned annoying munchkins from Oz. But here, he's one dastardly little fake-baby
criminal. In his first scene, what he does to the kid in the crowd? So Bad. And smoking a cigar and talking' some
smack from his high-chair, like he was imitating Pacino from "Scarface"? Even Better. (Special Request for the
Cinema- Gods: More midget characters like this in movies, please.) 

But far and away the Best is still Lon
Chaney, as Professor Echo, the Ventriloquist. Performing in a silent movie as somebody who "throws his voice"
for a living, he carries the crazy plot, lights up the screen, and just does such an amazing job.

My favorite
thing in the movie is toward the very end. When the girl comes back to him at the sideshow because he's fulfilled
his end of the bargain, but then he does the decent thing and lets her go back to the man she loves, and she's
walked away after he's said goodbye through his dummy, and she's turned and waved and left, there's a
moment where Chaney rests the dummy's head on his shoulder and "they both" sigh and watch her walk away.
The look on his face... It's just so sad and beautiful. One of the greatest images in film ever.

Thank
You, Lon Chaney, wherever you are.
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 9/10
Take into context
steve18713 December 2000
Compared to many films of today, yes, the movie is a
bit slow moving. But if you take it into the context of the time, I think this movie is fantastic! Think of it, this was
similar to the 'Silence of the Lambs" or "Sixth Sense" of our time! I know this was one of the best
movies of 1925, according to the box office counts, so if you take it in that context, WOW! This is a great movie! I
personally liked all three of the main "bad guys" (especially Harry Earles as Tweedledee, the midget.), and,
if you've seen the 1930 version, I think this "Rosie" is much better than the 1930 Lila Lee
"Rosie" (sorry, I blanked). Anyway, a great movie that any good crime movie-lover or silent movie-lover should
check out. Check out Turner Classic Movies, as they frequently run it
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 8/10
Odd and Engaging
zetes29 October 2001
This Lon Chaney
vehicle, directed by the great Tod Browning, is the story of three circus performers who begin to thieve jewels. They
open a shop that sells parrots as a front. Chaney, a ventriloquist, dresses up as an old woman, one of his cohorts a man
posing as the old woman's son, and the third, a midget, as his infant son (one of the major reasons to see this
flick is that the same midget, here named Tweedledeedee, also plays Hans, the midget who marries the acrobat Cleopatra
in Browning's later masterpiece, Freaks; in this film he actually is seen smoking a giant cigar, which, in Freaks,
his fiancee suggested that he shouldn't smoke). One other circus performer, a woman, knows about their plans.
Chaney loves her, but she doesn't reciprocate his feelings. The Unholy Three also hire a young dufus to help with
the store. In case they get into trouble, they can always pin it on that guy. The store also sports a chimpanzee,
humorously filmed so that he seems as big as a gorilla (when it is to walk through a doorway, it walks through a smaller
doorway, for instance, than the actors do).

The story of the film is very interesting. It can also can be
quite funny, quite suspenseful, and quite pathetic, especially when Chaney is trying to court the young woman.
There's at least one masterful sequence, where a policeman almost discovers the jewels the gang has stolen. They
hide it in a toy elephant, which amuses the officer very much. The film also uses ventriloquism quite marvelously - I
assume that a lot of the audience of this film in 1925 only knew of ventriloquism by second-hand knowledge - they just
knew that ventriloquists could throw their voices, not knowing what it would actually look or sound like. In a silent
movie then, you could take full advantage of the audience's ignorance. When Madame O'Grady (Chaney's aka)
is trying to sell parrots that don't actually talk as talking parrots, she throws her voice to fool the customers.
Browning actually shows that the parrots are supposed to be speaking by drawing speech bubbles on the film in front of
the birds! The climax also uses ventriloquism wonderfully: Chaney throws his voice to a man who is on the stand,
apparently testifying - he moves his lips, but Chaney supplies the voice. Of course, we know that's ridiculous, but
only a few in 1925 would have scoffed. 8/10.
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 8/10
Great? No, but it still held my interest
MartinHafer9 January 2007
Warning:
Spoilers

This is a bizarre little film and it's no wonder, as it was directed by Tod Browning and
starred Lon Chaney, Sr.--a potent combination that led to many other strange and scary films. Chaney plays a
ventriloquist who leads a gang of thieves. The others are a midget and a strong man (though Victor McLaglen doesn't
look quite muscular enough for the role). The three leave the traveling sideshow they work for and use disguises to set
up robberies. In a VERY interesting bit of casting, Chaney is dressed up as an old lady during most of the film! This is
highly reminiscent of the excellent later MGM film THE DEVIL DOLL--where Lionel Barrymore does the same to avoid
suspicion. Also, the midget is so small and young-looking, that he poses as Chaney's grandson--a baby! Believe it
or not, they actually look pretty convincing in these roles.

Later in the film, two of the three thieves
stage a robbery AND kill the rich guy whose safe they robbed--and leaving his young daughter badly injured. When the
police start investigating, they decide to divert suspicion by planting the stolen necklace on a poor sap! And, while
Chaney was NOT one of these robbers or the murderer, he reluctantly agrees to help his girlfriend, Mae Busch, exonerate
the man accused since she has fallen for the accused man. 

Now Chaney's plan to help the accused is
really pretty hair-brained and was a low-point in the film. He uses his ventriloquism in a lame attempt to help out, but
no one is particularly impressed (no surprise there). So, he finally admits what he knows and admits that he knows who
committed the crime. Now, oddly and completely out of the blue, Chaney's pet gorilla(!) escapes at this same time
and kills the other two crooks. Considering they deserved to die for their crimes, this seemed awfully convenient. And,
despite a history of crime, the court agrees to just forgive Chaney and everyone is set for a happy, if not exactly
believable, ending.

While the film has many excellent scenes, some interesting plot elements and some great
cross-dressing scenes, the film has a lot of hokey holes--not enough to ruin the film, but enough to lessen its
impact.

FYI--Originally, the film also featured a horrible scene where the murder victim's child was
also murdered by the midget. It was apparently VERY disturbing, so the scene was removed and the title cards indicate
she was only injured.
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 10/10
"That's all there is to life friends, a little laughter... a little tear"
kidboots27 January
2010
Warning: Spoilers

This was definitely a career highlight for Lon Chaney. It showed why he
was a master of disguise and also why he was so beloved by the movie going public - no matter how bad the character was,
he always kept a little humanity in his heart. With direction by Todd Browning and based on a novel by Tod Robbins (his
story "Spurs" was turned into the film "Freaks"), "The Unholy Three" was an evocative and
macabre thriller.

Professor Echo (Lon Chaney) is a circus ventriloquist, who is in league with strongman
Hercules (Victor McLaglen) and an evil midget Tweedledee(a sensational Harry Earles). They call themselves "The
Unholy Three" and together with Rosie (Mae Busch) they work a pickpocketing sideline. But Echo has plans - in the
disguise of sweet Granny O'Grady, he opens a pet shop full of talking parrots - strangely enough, once they are
bought the parrots stop talking!!! This is Echo's big scheme - when Granny is called to the various homes to find
out what is wrong with the birds, Tweedledee, disguised as a child, "Little Willie" cases the place and within
a few days the house has been robbed and the police are baffled.

John Arlington has bought a parrot and
invites Granny O'Grady to his house to see if she can coax the bird to talk. At Arlington's home, Tweedledee
is dazzled by some priceless jewelry and when, later that night Echo is waylaid into trimming a Christmas tree -
Tweedledee, who is the real evil mastermind, convinces Hercules to do the job with him alone. They do but kill Arlington
and leave a small child close to death - Echo shows by his reaction - "You....Filth", that he is not like the
other two, that deep down he has feelings. The police close in - but the person they arrest is Hector (Matt Moore). He
is completely innocent and has been hired to front the shop and be a "fall guy" in case the worst happens.
Rosie and Hector, though, have fallen in love and she will do whatever it takes to free him - even sharing a loveless
life with Echo.

The plot is quite complex - there is even a giant monkey (actually a cleverly enlarged
chimpanzee) that Echo keeps in a room, just in case the others "get out of line". The courtroom scene is a
marvellous display of the emotions and expressions that Lon Chaney can create. He slips into court and because Hector
only knows him as Granny, he doesn't recognise him. Echo then sends him a note with instructions - if Hector will
go back on the stand then Echo will do the rest. There is a scene that shows Chaney's face displaying a myriad of
emotions, from apprehension, fear, happiness and finally relief.

Aside from Lon Chaney's acting
brilliance, Harry Earles is a revelation as the depraved Tweedledee. A couple of his scenes were quite shocking. His
introduction, at the beginning of the film as a carnival attraction shows his character in a few seconds. During a scene
in which people taunt and make fun of him, he kicks a small child in the face and then has to be restrained. When he and
Hercules come back from the robbery "gone wrong" - he is laughing as he recalls how the victims begged for
mercy. Harry Earles found the role of a lifetime in "Tweedledee" the crazed and evil midget. It was quite
extraordinary how he could convincingly switch from being an angry, cigar smoking crook to a little baby playing with
his toys. In one nail biting scene when the police come to question them, the jewels are hastily put into a toy elephant
and of course it is the toy the policeman picks up and starts to tinker with. Mae Busch is also very good as Rosie - she
may not have the flapper prettiness of Lila Lee, who played Rosie in the 1930 remake, but she makes Rosie real.

Apart from the "gaffe" of outdoor scenery being obviously a painted backdrop (when Echo and Rosie are
talking in the woods, their shadows show) a few of the indoor scenes seem to be painted sets - it just adds to the
illusion, mystery and moodiness of the film.

Highly, Highly Recommended.
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 10/10
Lon Chaney in one of his best.
alexanderdavies-9938220 May 2017
Lon Chaney certainly wasn't one for making conventional movies - as his
frequent director Tod Browning was the same in his work.

"The Unholy Three" is one such film. The
plot and the characters strongly resemble the bizarre and slightly horrific. Retrospectively, I can understand how Lon
Chaney lay the blueprint for what would become the first cycle of the horror film genre in Hollywood.

This
version is far more effective than the talkie remake. Tod Browning's direction is very good as he sets the tone of
the film from the beginning.

As the leader of the gang, Lon Chaney is terrific but he is brilliantly
supported by Harry Earles and Victor MacLagen. Harry Earles makes for a chilling psychopath in spite of his short
statue.

Any fan of Lon Chaney will enjoy this classic.
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 7/10
Relatively Harmless, Until.........
Hitchcoc10 March 2017
How
can one not love a Lon Chaney movie. His mastery of roles and his way of putting himself in the most awful physical
contortions is historical. The old, "Too many cooks spoil the broth," is at work here. While these people were
pulling off small crimes and picking pockets, things were reasonable. As soon as the loose cannon gets in and steals a
valuable ruby, killing a man and harming a little girl, things go sour. The pet store front allows for all kinds of
great visual delights. A midget playing a baby is also pretty bizarre. And, of course, we have the innocent man, who
must be as dense as it possible to be, ignoring that strangest group of felons imaginable. Going around dusting the
displays and keeping tabs on a gorilla they just happened to have. The finale is quite interesting and Chaney is superb.
Just don't think too much as you watch it.
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 7/10
Great silent crime drama later remade as a talkie
jacobs-greenwood6 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers

Co-produced and directed by Tod Browning, this above average silent crime drama
was later remade as a sound picture with two members of the original cast, Lon Chaney and Harry Earles. Based on the
novel by Tod Robbins, with scenario by Waldemar Young, Chaney plays Professor Echo, a ventriloquist, who teams with
dwarf Earles, dubbed Tweedledee, and strongman Victor McLaglen, who's called Hercules, to scam unawares customers
into buying parrots from their pet shop.

Initially, all three were in a sideshow during which Echo used Rosie
O'Grady (Mae Busch) to pickpocket its customers. After a police raid, Echo convinces Tweedledee and Hercules to
join him, forming "The Unholy Three", who along with O'Grady and an innocent, unsuspecting employee
Hector MacDonald (Matt Moore) set up shop.

Echo uses his gift to make the parrots appear to talk to him,
dressed as an old woman and pretending to be O'Grady's 'Granny', in order to fool their customers
into paying high prices for the otherwise ordinary birds. Echo is therefore in charge of the trio though Tweedledee, who
pretends to be an infant around others, later connives with the dimwitted Hercules to exclude Echo from a jewelry
robbery on Christmas Eve, during which they kill Mr. Arlington (Charles Wellesley, uncredited), who'd been an
unsatisfied parrot customer.

The three then decide to pin the murder on their ignorant employee MacDonald,
with whom Rosie had fallen in love, much to the dismay of Echo who'd wanted her for himself. However, the
trio's mistrust of one another and a personal plea from Rosie, who'd been taken against her will to their
mountain hideout, to Echo eventually unravels things. A pet shop gorilla figures in the outcome. The film effectively
ends with MacDonald's trial, during which Echo uses his gift to satisfy an agreement with Rosie.

Matthew
Betz, who plays the detective, Edward Connelly, who plays the judge, William Humphrey, who plays MacDonald's
defense attorney, and E. Alyn Warren, who plays the prosecuting attorney, also appear.
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 7/10
Fascinating and impossible to look away from,
very original !!
madamemoose125 January 2016
if you're like me, you're thinking "why
bother?" about this film. Give it a chance !! it drew me in, was never boring, was original, interesting and truly
a very good movie -- yes, even though it's silent. At times, it's even pretty funny !! I feel so strongly
about it that i wish it was on again so that i could catch the whole thing (watched 2/3).The acting and the atmosphere
are top notch. It's definitely not one of those cliché ridden, predictable schlock movies. The man playing the
"baby" is fascinating !! So innocent and convincing one second, then chomping his cigar and acting menacing
the next. I give it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars -- i really liked this picture !! I can't think of one downside to it.
High praise from me !! And the "baby face Finster" character (gangster midget !!) is a scream.
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 8/10
The sort of movie only that could only
have been made by Tod Browning
robertguttman4 January 2016
It would be trite, but nonetheless true, to assert
that this movie could not be produced today. Only the mind of filmmaker Tod Browning, who came to the world of film
making from a background in carnivals and circuses, could have conceived of a story this bizarre. Only a great actor
like Lon Chaney could do justice to the dual role of Echo the ventriloquist/Gramdma O'Grady. 

Above all,
of course, today it would be considered unthinkable to utilize an actor like the inimitable Harry Earles, particularly
cast in the role of a villain. But then this film was the product of the equally inimitable Tod Browning, the man who
subsequently created the notorious movie "Freaks, which also featured the unique talents of Harry Earles. 

The story involves three side show performers; Echo the Ventriloquist (Lon Chaney), Hercules the Strong Man (future
Academy Award Winner Victor Mclaglen) and Tweedledee the Midget (Harry Earles). Fed up with life on the midway, the
"Unholy Three" team up to open up a pet shop which they intend to use as a front for a series of burglaries.
Echo, disguised as a little old lady, poses as the proprietor, while Hercules is her shop assistant. Tweedledee passes
himself off as the old lady's infant grandson (apparently nobody ever notices that the "baby" has a full
set of teeth!). Also assisting them is "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" (Mae Busch), a pickpocket who had formerly
been in business with Echo when they were both working in the carnival.

Although Lon Chaney was known for his
spectacular horror films, in his day he made a lot of crime films as well, and "The Unholy Three" falls under
that heading. Apart from the scenes in which he is disguised as the "sweet Little old lady", in which he is
very convincing, in this film Chaney appears as a regular person, which was a relatively rare thing in his career.

Presented by a superior cast of actors, "The Unholy Three" is certainly among the most unique crime
dramas ever filmed. It definitely deserves an 8 out of ten. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that this movie made
such an impression at the time of its release that it was subsequently remade as a sound movie, with Lon Chaney and
Harry Earles reprising their roles. In fact, the remake of "The Unholy Three" was the only "Talkie"
that the great Lon Chaney ever made before he died, much too soon, at the age of only 47.
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 8/10
Echo....
simeon_flake11 June 2015
They
say silence is golden--and in the case of "The Unholy Three," the silent version is superior to the 1930
all-talking remake. I'm not sure if I can articulate in words why I prefer the silent "Unholy" to its
remake--one aspect of the film I thought was much better in 1925 is the 2 romantic leads. Mae Busch and Matt Moore make
for a more likable romantic duo.

The story itself is fantastic--to say the least--I'm not sure if Tod
Browning had much input to the scenario for this film, but it does seem to have some of the elements of the bizarre and
fantastic that Browning is known for. And--as many astute film fans can tell you-- the limits of the bizarre and
fantastic would really get stretched in 1931 by the release of 2 films titled "Dracula" and
"Frankenstein" respectively.

Getting back to "Unholy", we have Lon Chaney as the
ringleader of a crooked trio consisting of the circus strongman, Hercules and--dare I say--a "midget" played
by Harry Earles. Another advantage of this silent feature is the viewer doesn't have to spend much time trying to
decipher the words coming out of Harry's mouth--although I will say, there were times when I missed the dialogue
from Harry; i.e., the scene where the little guy threatens to put some lilies under Rosie's chin if she
squealed.

Overall, of all the Browning/Chaney collaborations I have seen, "Unholy" would rank at
the top of my list.

8.5 stars
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 7/10
For criminal purposes
bkoganbing16 December 2013
Lon Chaney known as the man of a
thousand faces usually reserved those faces for some grotesque character or monster to which he brought his considerable
acting talents to create sympathy. The Unholy Three is an unusual film because he's quite an ordinary man here, but
he effects the disguise of an old woman for criminal purposes.

Due to some light fingered activity at a
carnival he was employed at Chaney, strong man Victor McLaglen, and midget Harry Earles find themselves unemployed.
Chaney who is a ventriloquist decides that the three with their unique physical characteristics and talents can be used
to create a nice criminal gang. Chaney in fact goes incognito in the guise of an old woman and Earles plays her grand
baby. Personally I think he was way too big to be a toddler, but that's a little dramatic license that director
Todd Browning was taking.

Chaney also buys a pet shop and Mae Busch who was a carnival waif goes and lives
with them. They also employ Matt Moore as a salesman who is totally clueless about Chaney's and Earles's real
identity and what they really do.

Things go wrong and a murder is committed on a job Chaney could not go
along on. That sets the rest of the story in motion.

Of course Chaney's guise as an old woman is an
astounding success as were all the other characters he created. Yet all the makeup and special effects would be for
naught had he not had the acting chops to make it real.

Saying that and saying that because Chaney's
virtuosity dominates the film. I thought the ending was truly a cop out. It dulls the impact of Chaney's artistry
and it was quite a let down in a film I was ready to rate a notch or two higher.

Still his legion of fans
will be well satisfied with this silent version of The Unholy Three remade by MGM for sound, Chaney's one and only
sound feature.
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 7/10
Retains
a ghoulish quality 92 years after its release
tomgillespie200223 May 2017
Before he gifted the world of horror
with two stone-cold classics (1931's Dracula and 1932's Freaks), director Tod Browning was an incredibly
prolific film-maker, churning out melodramas, thrillers and horror pictures by the dozen. One of his best during the
silent period was The Unholy Three, a rather twisted crime drama set around a group of ex-circus freaks who come up with
a plan to steal their fortune. It's a premise that would have any cinephile salivating, especially with genre
legend and 'Man of a Thousand Faces' Lon Chaney playing the lead and the film's relative obscurity. While
it's no masterpiece like Freaks, it explores a different side to the circus performer: one that is dissatisfied,
restless, and capable of going to extreme lengths to earn their riches.

After getting kicked out of the
side-show following a mass brawl, three disgruntled performers hatch a cunning plan to rob some rick folk blind.
Ventriloquist Echo (Chaney) will assume the disguise of Granny O'Grady, a nice old lady who runs a pet store
specialising in parrots. The animals do not talk, but Echo uses his ventriloquist skills to convince the
moustache-twirling customers otherwise. When the unhappy purchaser later calls the store to complain, Granny
O'Grady will snoop out the place, paving the way for horseshoe- bending strongman Hercules (Victor McLaglen) and
short-tempered midget Tweedledee (Harry Earles) to sneak in and steal any spied valuables. There's also an escape
plan in mild-mannered store manager Hector (Matt Moore), who the three will lay the blame on should the heat turn up.
But when Echo's girlfriend Rosie (Mae Busch) falls for Hector, the plan quickly starts to fall apart.

There are a lot of things about The Unholy Three that are utterly ridiculous, such as Echo's needlessly
convoluted plan, and the idea that anyone would buy the cigar-chomping Earles as a baby in a cart. Yet the flaws are
really the reason to love the film that much more. There is a morbid fascination to be had with watching these idiots
repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot and quickly resort to cold- blood murder. Chaney really was the man of a
thousand faces; effortlessly convincing as both a harmless old lady and a sympathetic anti-hero, and Earles - who would
later appear in Freaks - is great fun, delivering what is undoubtedly the film's greatest line ("If you tip
that boob off to who we are, I'll lay some lilies under your chin!"). The strange premise and macabre
characters proved a hit with the audience, and catapulted Browning into the big leagues. It may lack the edge of his
later movies, but The Unholy Three retains a ghoulish quality a whole 92 years after its release.
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 8/10
Interesting Caper Drama!
bsmith555210
August 2016
Warning: Spoilers

"The Unholy Three" is not a Lon Chaney horror film but
rather an interesting crime caper drama.

We meet the main characters in a seedy side show. First is Echo the
ventriloquist (Chaney) his "girl friend" and pick pocket artist Rosie O'Grady (Mae Busch), strongman
Hercules (Victor McLaglan) and baby faced midget Tweedledee (Harry Earles). Echo, fed up with the carnival life devises
a plan whereby he, Hercules and Tweedldee would become the Unholy Three and commit a series of robberies. Echo disguises
himself as "Grandma" Moses and the midget as her baby grand daughter. They hire wimpish Hector McDonald (Matt
Moore) who is unaware of the goings on, to run the store.

The cover if you will, is a bird shop (really?)
where Echo uses his ventriloquist skills to convince rich customers to buy what they think is a talking parrot. Later
when the customer discovers that the bird cannot talk they call "Grandma" Moses who goes to their home to case
the place for a robbery. 

Hector develops a crush on Rosie and she at first doesn't reciprocate. The
robberies are going well for the group until one night when Rosie shows interest in Hector. The three are about to
embark on another robbery when Echo showing his jealousy, stays behind to spoil Rosie's date. Hercules and the
midget proceed on their own but in their haste murder the victim Mr. Arlington (Charles Wellesley). Echo is furious but
goes along with the plan of pinning the crime on the hapless Hector.

The trio and Rosie flee to an isolated
cabin as Hector is arrested for the murder. Then it gets interesting.

Lon Chaney as usual disappears into his
character(s). His depiction of the aged grandmother is another of his great characterizations. He literally becomes a
convincing old lady. His Echo displays a wide range of emotions through Chaney's remarkable pantomime talents:
dominance, fear, hate, kindness, cruelty etc. The romance between Rosie and Hector is a little hard to believe given her
background. Hector does mention at one point though, that he too has a past but does not elaborate.

Given
that Echo saves Hector, one has to wonder why he was not charged with the robberies but seems to get off scott free.
Does Chaney get the girl in the end, what do you think?

Remade as a sound feature in 1930.
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 7/10
"The show on the inside starts
immediately."
classicsoncall8 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers

This is quite the
entertaining movie but to say the characters and events in the story defy credibility is probably an understatement.
Which might lead you to wonder whether this was a crime story, a suspense story or just one with a bunch of oddball
characters in it. Directed by Tod Browning in his first collaboration with MGM, the film is somewhat of a precursor to
his 1932 film 'Freaks', which has more fantastic characters on display in an even more bizarre tale.

Browning sets up the action with a quick view of circus performers to whet the viewer's appetite for strangeness;
there's an immense fat lady, a tattooed woman, a sword swallower and Siamese twins, all to get us ready for
Professor Echo (Lon Chaney), an otherwise normal looking ventriloquist, Hercules the strongman (Victor McLaglen), and
midget performer Tweedledee (Harry Earles). I got a kick out of a circus patron's remark to her young son to
refrain from smoking cigarettes if he ever wants to grow up to be a strong man like Hercules. Hercules responds by
lighting up a cigarette as the customers walk away.

Professor Echo uses his ventriloquism gimmick in more
ways than one; as part of his newly established criminal enterprise, pet shop customers are enticed to buy talking
parrots that seem to clam up once they're brought to their new home. Disguised as a sweet old lady with a young
baby in tow, Echo cases the premises of his customers, and his partners rob whatever money or jewelry they can get their
hands on. When one of their victims wind up murdered, they abandon the shop and head off to a remote cabin to wait out
the authorities. Complicating this entire scenario however is a love triangle of sorts. Not only does the Professor fall
for pretty Rosie O'Grady (Mae Busch), so does shop employee Hector McDonald (Matt Moore).

Though there
are some suspenseful scenes throughout the story, others will leave you rather perplexed and scratching your head. The
courtroom scene requires major suspension of disbelief, and you'll wind up wondering how and why the chimp from the
pet shop seems to transform into a vicious ape at the hideout cabin. I guess you have to take it on faith that the
snarling monkey settled the score with Hercules and Little Willie because they don't make it to the end of the
picture.

But you know, through it all the story is an entertaining one, and I'd be remiss if I
didn't mention how the individual players reminded me of more current movie actors. Depending on the way the camera
presented Rosie O'Grady, Miss Busch resembled Terri Garr quite a bit, while Victor McLaglen and Lon Chaney both
brought to mind first, a middle aged, and then a slightly older Tommy Lee Jones.
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Incredible yet vastly entertaining story with fine performance from
Chaney...
Neil Doyle16 August 2011
It's a tribute to Tod Browning that his THE UNHOLY THREE manages to
have such holding power as you watch it. The story is strange and very unique. At the same time, there are so many
implausible elements thrown into the mix that you must suspend disbelief in order to sit back and enjoy the excellent
performances.

While LON CHANEY is undoubtedly at his best as the old Granny who runs a bird shop for talking
parrots, the attention is compulsively drawn to the evil dwarf (HARRY EARLES). Later on, he served as one of the
Munchkins for THE WIZARD OF OZ, but here he's a grown man able to pose convincingly as a baby--a very conniving
infant who instigates the robbery and murder of a wealthy store patron.

Since Echo (LON CHANEY's
ventriloquist name), throws his voice whenever the parrots talk, the ventriloquism device is used for effect in the
climactic courtroom scene where Chaney decides to help an innocent man wrongly accused of the murder. It's here
that Chaney gets a chance to show us (in reaction shots) the great actor he was simply by using various facial
expressions. Even though the device of throwing his voice at a trial is completely beyond belief, he manages to convince
the viewer that such a thing was entirely possible.

Chaney is very effective as the smiling Granny, Earles is
scary as the psychopathic dwarf posing as a baby between puffs on a cigar, and MAE BUSCH is effective as the woman
Chaney loves.

Although slowly paced, it's well worth watching, drawing the viewer from the start with
its strange and incredible story, an entertaining triumph for all concerned. It's been years since I saw the later
sound version from 1930, but I believe this has a slight edge over the other.
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The Unholy Three
Scarecrow-8818 October 2007
Warning:
Spoilers

Underrated Tod Browning production has Lon Chaney bringing his arsenal of facial expressions,
putting his expressive talents on display yet again. When you often see the team of director Browning and actor Lon
Chaney, fireworks happen on screen. Yes, the low budget for 1925 shows. There's a scene between Chaney's
ventriloquist Echo and his pickpocket partner Rosie(Mae Busch, who I thought was quite good)supposedly on the outside
discussing the fate of a someone set-up for which you can tell is a painted background on a sound stage, or the scenes
with the supposed giant primate..but, if one gets into the dastardly story-line then this might drive them away from
such trivial matters. Chaney stars as a ventriloquist working the carny scene whose "associate" Rosie picks
the pockets of the wealthy supplying them with the extra refinements their true professions do not provide. He concocts
a scheme, gaining the partnership of a strongman(John Ford veteran Victor McLaglen)and his pint-sized dwarf friend
Tweedledee(Harry Earles, most know him from Browning's controversial film "Freaks"), to thieve the rich
by pretending to be a family operating a store. They hire trustworthy, naive "boob" Hector(Matt Moore)as a
fall guy if their schemes to swindle run across possible trouble. Rosie is to work Hector over, pretending to fancy him.
Things get complicated as Rosie falls in love with her mark as a jealous Echo tries to nip their growing bond in the
bud. Meanwhile, Hercules, the strongman, and Tweedledee decide to rob a client who recently purchased a parrot..in the
film Echo is so good at voices, he can persuade possible shoppers to purchase parrots he provided the dialogue to..under
the disguise of an elderly lady, Mrs. Granny O'Grady as Tweedledee pretends to be a little child..and kill the
millionaire putting a damper on the future plans of The Unholy Three. The unholy union was anything but a solid
foundation to begin with, but is certainly fractured when Hector is set up by the group for stealing jewels from the
dead millionaire, framed for his murder, as Rosie threatens to expose them.

There's just something
marvelous about seeing Chaney disguised as a Granny and Earles smoking a fat cigar dressed in a child's clothes.
There's a great scene where a detective is asking "Mrs. O'Grady" some questions as Tweedledee places
the stolen jewels inside an elephant toy..you know exactly what the detective will eyeball when he sees it on the floor
with Chaney's Echo on the verge of having a breakdown. The trial at the end is a bit far-fetched(particularly when
Echo tries to put words in Hector's mouth while he's on the witness stand!
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