Saturday, May 16, 2026

Scott Lord Silent Film: Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927)

William Nigh directed Lon Chaney in "Mr. Wu" costarring actresses Louise Dresser, Gertrude Olmstead and Renee Adoree. "Mr Wu" was photographed by cameraman John Arbold. The periodical Moving Picture World, during 1926, announced the film as having been adapted for the screen by Lorna Moon from a novel by Louise Jordan Miller. The periodical Moving Picture World, later, in 1927, credited the film as having been adapted from a play by Maurice Vernon and Harold Owen. The periodical introduced the film with a description of the work of Lon Chaney. "Acknowledged as the master of make up, Lon Chaney adds another to his list of unusual characterizations in Metro Goldwyn Mayer's 'Mr. Wu', a chinese drama in which he depicts two members of the household at various ages, from young manhood to decrepit old age."

To convince us that Lon Chaney brought to the screen not only characterizations but "creations, biographer Robert G. Anderson, in his volume Faces, Forms and Films writes, "The novel by Louise Jordon Miln, based on the stage play Mr. Wu, gives scant description of the character. The old mandarin is described in such scattered phrases as "eighty" and "guant, withered and pockmarked." Motion Picture Magazine during 1927 called Mr. Wu a "venerable Chinese gentleman" while giving his daughter, played by Renee Adoree, the appellation of "A Flapper in the House of Wu".

During 1927, Lon Chaney also starred in the films "The Unknown" and "London After Midnight", both directed by Tod Browning and "Mockery", directed by Benjamin Christensen.
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