WHy did MGM didn't put Lon Chaney in more serious

[kelly]

I got question I watchint Tell it the Marines on TCM last night it was good Lon Chaney Sr movie but star was really William Haines upcoming star of the time

I got question good performace in all with Chaney Sr Haines and future Mrs King Vidor aka Elenador Boarman

I got quesrtion how come MGM never put Lon in more serious role beside his monster movie roles if they could he could be 1920s Bogie or other movie actor that came up

[Midge]

That's a good question, Kelly. I also saw Tell it to the Marines and was thinking the same thing. If he had lived longer, Chaney might have been an excellent character actor. He died in 1930, only four years after he made Tell it to the Marines.

The problem is that Chaney was pigeonholed into horror roles because he was such a genius with elaborate makeup and disguises. That is what the audiences expected when they bought tickets for a Lon Chaney film. For its part, the studio may have reasoned that they had plenty of character actors already, but there was only one Lon Chaney. It's a shame. Without the makeup and disguises you can see what a truly fine actor he was.

[diane]

Hi Kelly. I have read somewhere that when Lon Chaney died, Wallace Beery inherited a few of his
roles. Certainly "The Big House" (1930) - "Butch" was to be Chaney's role but Beery inherited that
and gave himself a whole new career. He may have been nominated for it - I can't remember.
Another Beery role - Scorpio in "The Secret Six". I could so see Chaney in that role - I think he
would have given it much more viciousness than Beery mustered up.

[kelly]

I hear that before in some TCM Word of mouth years ago yeah if Lon didn't get sick he was suppose to been Butch in the BIG HOuse can you imagine what Lon could do to that part

WHOA

[barbenfouillis]

It's interesting all of the roles that Chaney *could* have been in. IIRC Michael F. Blake lists a number of films that the publicity folks floated.

In researching science fiction films of the 20s, his name was linked, albeit possibly spuriously, to a couple of the decades s.f. blockbusters (which never featured Lon).

Steve

[Larry's 66 Diner]

I'm not sure about the authenticity of the comment, but I had once heard that no one truly saw what Lon Chaney looked like — even in any of his studio photographs. Personally, I find that quite hard to believe that a few true photos of Chaney don't exist; therefore, I don't believe in the accuracy of that statement.

I have wondered how many roles Lon Chaney could have played, had he lived longer. :unsure: He was truly a great actor in his time, and he likely could have been versatile in many genres and roles. :thumbsup:

[kelly]

There was plan of him play the role of Dracula or Frankstein I hear that in documentary long time ago