Shadows movie with Lon Chaney. Following in the footsteps of Richard Barthelmess (D.W. Griffith’s 1919 Broken Blossoms), in this 1922 melodrama Hollywood’s Man of a Thousand Faces plays an honorable Chinese national living in England.- Shadows (movie 1922) review: Lon Chaney brings dignity to his Chinese victim/savior stranded in good, racist England in Tom Forman’s Victorian but still engrossing melodrama.
Shadows (movie 1922) review: As a Chinese man stranded in a small English town, Lon Chaney transcends the stereotypical delineation of his character
In actor-turned-director Tom Forman’s 1922 melodrama Shadows, the shipwrecked Chinese cook Yen Sin (Lon Chaney) washes up onto a coastal English village where he is shunned by the local Christian townsfolk. When he does not join them in prayer, they refer to him as a “chink” and a “heathen.”
Since Yen Sin has nowhere else to go, he sets up business on a houseboat, washing clothes for the whole village. At first, the local kids play tricks on him and taunt him cruelly, but eventually Yen Sin’s good nature win their respect.
When a new, young preacher (Harrison Ford; no relation to the Indiana Jones actor) arrives in town, he befriends – and tries to convert – Yen Sin. The priest also meets a young widow, Sympathy Gibbs (Marguerite De La Motte; don’t you just love her character’s name?), whose abusive husband supposedly died in the shipwreck.
Some time later, Sympathy and the preacher get married. But instead of living happily ever after, they are threatened by jealousy and blackmail. It is up to Yen Sin to solve it all.
Dignity intact
Shadows features one of my favorite Lon Chaney performances. The way his character ingratiates himself into a hostile environment – without losing his dignity – is refreshing.
In some of the title cards, Yen Sin calls the town bully “Mista Bad Boy” and dreams of someday returning to “Chiny Way.” Yet, even though Yen Sin was written as a stereotype, Chaney never allows him to become a caricature.
Despite Alpha Video’s old, scratchy DVD transfer, Shadows remains one of the best silent films I’ve seen. Adapted from Wilbur Daniel Steele’s 1917 short story “Ching Ching Chinaman,” the narrative, notwithstanding its dated Victorian morality, is remarkably intelligent. The performances are fully believable, while behind the camera Tom Forman keeps things moving at a steady pace.
Overall, Shadows remains a testimony of love and of the frailties and strengths of the human spirit.
Shadows (movie 1922) cast & crew
Director: Tom Forman.
Screenplay: Hope Loring & Eve Unsell.
From Wilbur Daniel Steele’s 1917 short story “Ching Ching Chinaman.”Cast: Lon Chaney, Marguerite De La Motte, Harrison Ford, John St. Polis, Walter Long, Buddy Messinger, Priscilla Bonner, Frances Raymond.
Cinematography: Harry Perry.
Producer: B.P. Schulberg (company head).
Production Company: Preferred Pictures.
Distributor: Al Lichtman Corp.
Running Time: 70 min.
Country: United States.
“Shadows (Movie 1922): Lon Chaney Transcends Stereotypes” review text © Danny Fortune; excerpt, image captions, bullet point introduction, and notes © Alt Film Guide.
“Shadows (Movie 1922): Lon Chaney Transcends Stereotypes” notes
Chinese Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney had previously played Chinese characters in Marshall Neilan’s Bits of Life (1918) and Tod Browning’s Outside the Law (1921).
He would play a couple more in one single film: William Nigh’s 1927 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release Mr. Wu.
Shadows movie credits via the American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog website.
Lon Chaney Shadows movie image: B.P. Schulberg Productions | Kino Video.
“Shadows (Movie 1922): Lon Chaney Transcends Stereotypes” last updated in April 2023.