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Limb & Spinal Major 
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TITLE |
Black Bird, The (1926) |
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The Bishop
of Limehouse in London (Chaney) walks with a |
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limp by day
and looks after the poor. But at night his faked |
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disability
vanishes and he becomes Blackbird the head of an |
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underworld
gang. His problems begin when he and an |
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aristocratic
thief, Bertie, both fancy the same woman. Bertie |
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steals some
jewellery which the woman likes and in turn |
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Blackbird
steals them from him. But she still chooses to marry |
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Bertie and
he turns to the Bishop to perform the ceremony. |
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The Bishop
tells him he must first return all the ill-gotten |
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Later the
Blackbird kills a policeman and frames Bertie. |
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When the
police find out it was actually the Blackbird he fakes |
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a fight with
the Bishop. Changing clothes he is hit by a door |
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which leaves
him disabled but very soon he dies. |
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Chaney's
'disability' for the part is grotesque. A 'pose' one |
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might affect
if one wanted to create the maximum shock |
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value.
Apparently Chaney often painfully contorted his body |
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for the
'disabled characters' he played. |
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Notes
Lon Chaney site |
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