The Unholy Three (1925)

By CinemaSerf

The mighty "Hercules" (Victor McLaglen), ventriloquist "Echo" (Lon Chaney) and their diminutive pal "Tweedledee" (Harry Earles) make what passes for a living at sideshows keen to improve their lot. To that end they hit on the idea of using a bird shop as a conduit to find out who has things at home worth pinching and then, well, robbing them! Initially, their cunning pays off. "Echo" dons a frock and portrays a kindly old grandma; "Tweedledee" puts on some kids clothes and is her grandchild and that just leaves their mate to play the muscle. Unfortunately, the muscle hasn't much brain and when one robbery of a prominent banker results in a fatal shooting, the three find themselves on the end of an admittedly rather speculative, but nonetheless worrying, police investigation. They flee to a cabin in the woods but when poor old "Hector" (Matt Moore) is apprehended for the crime, "Echo" has pangs of a conscience. He goes to the trial but will he let the wrong man fry? Meantime, he takes a bit of a shine to "Rosie" (Mae Busch) but she's got eyes for the man in the firing line. Will anyone prove decent enough to do the right thing? It's perhaps a little too long this, it does take a while to find it's feet. Once it does though, the last half hour is actually quite tensely directed by Tod Browning and we have a few close shaves with the Lord's Prayer, a big ape and some notepaper. It's curious to appreciate almost one hundred years later, what we paid to see for entertainment and at just how widespread the rural subsistence existence in parts of the US was. This clearly illustrates the wealth divide, but in an engaging fashion with some gently comedic moments and a Chaney on good form.