"If you care at all about silent pictures, about Chaney, about bravura acting and about film makeup, the book is invaluable and perhaps definitive." --San Diego Union Tribune

A stunning graphic debut: the life of the legendary silent-film actor Lon Chaney (the original Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame), as imagined by an artist whose work recalls the style and skill of early-era New Yorker cartoonists. From the artist: "'No one will ever love me!' I believe it was this near-universal fear that makes Lon Chaney's characters continue to resonate with us today. On their surface, most of them are distinctly unlikeable: they are monsters, outcasts, criminals. But through his unique magic, Chaney makes them empathetic. He pioneered the craft of makeup artist long before that term ever existed, and he used his expertise to hide himself from public view--what if nobody loved him?" PART OF THE PANTHEON GRAPHIC LIBRARY

For the first time, you can put conjecture aside and read definitive proof about the roles Chaney had behind the scenes as well as in front of the camera.

This biography offers the vivid story of the artist and man Lon Chaney, Sr. From his beginnings on the stage to the roles that gave him a permanent place in the history of silent films (The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera) to his entry into talkies. Chaney used all of his experience on screen and off, to bring as much humanity and realism as possible to his portrayals. As his own make-up artist, he strove for a perfection that could pass the critical scrutiny of the camera eye. This is the portrait of a creative actor, who used all his skill and craftsmanship to bring memorable people to life on the silver screen.

Though he was haunted by the shadow of his legendary father and devastated by alcoholism, Lon Chaney, Jr., carved out a very successful film career as Universal's leading horror star in the 1940s, and later as a leading character actor in Westerns, dramas, and on television. While rightly focused on the career of the underrated actor, this study also explores his life and times.

Late 1929. The Stock market crash. At MGM Studios Irving Thalberg was involved in a power struggle. Lon Chaney's contract was coming up for renewal. Tod Browning, MGM's famed director of the macbre genre for the studio, had left and signed a contract back at his home studio, Universal. Carl Laemmle Jr was made production head of Universal for his father and he wanted to do a film version of Dracula. Carl Sr. agreed, as long as they had Lon Chaney as the star. Early in August of 1930, Carl Junior, still attempting to sign Chaney for the role, ordered a treatment to be authored by Louis Bromfield. By Mid August he was teamed with screenwriter Dudley Murphy and they began work on the script. Then in the middle of the negotiations, Lon Chaney unexpected by everyone in the film industry, died on August 26th. This volume of the Atlernate History of Classic Monster Films we present the full first Bromfield treatment, the incomplete first draft screenplay by Bromfield and Murphy. In addition, when Dracula was finally produced, more in the fashion of the popular 1927 play than the Bram Stoker novel, as was intended by Laemmle for Chaney - A silent version of the Lugosi Dracula was prepared for theaters who had not yet converted to sound. We have also included a complete Title list from this version. Also included in this volume is a translated version of F.W. Murnau's shooting script for the first screen version of Dracula - filmed in Germany in 1922 and called NOSFERATU, a symphony of horror. Murnau's hand annotations are included in bold print throughout the script.

Lon Chaney's Shadow: John Jeske and the Chaney Mystique reveals an unexplored and controversial side of the great silent film actor Lon Chaney's life by taking a close look at his relationship with friend, chauffeur, and make-up assistant, John Jeske. Books previously published of Chaney's life and career document his phenomenal talent in the art of motion picture make-up and acting, but the reader comes away without a full understanding of who Chaney was as a man. This book focuses on the human level of the relationship between Lon, his son Creighton (Lon, Jr.), second wife Hazel, and their "faithful servant," so the pieces of the emotional and psychological dynamics at work in this complex story can finally be appreciated for the significant impact they had on Chaney's career. The John Jeske story is at its core a fascinating glimpse into a world which has until now been off limits to all but the most dedicated of researchers. The majority of evidence to link the two men has been purposely suppressed or destroyed--a great deal of it was destroyed by Chaney himself and his wife Hazel to keep alive the myth that Chaney did not need help of any kind. The story of Jeske's life and work with Lon Chaney is therefore fragmented at best, but I believe, through painstaking research, I have recovered enough to finally reveal the truth. This book fills the gap left behind by every other Lon Chaney biography and is an essential addition to the libraries of Chaney fans and film historians worldwide.