Lon Chaney Movies

Want to know the best Lon Chaney movies?  How about the worst Lon Chaney movies?  Curious about Lon Chaney box office grosses or which Lon Chaney movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Lon Chaney movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well, you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Lon Chaney (1883-1930) was an American actor, director, and screenwriter.  Chaney was nicknamed “The Man of a Thousand Faces”.  He got this nickname for his groundbreaking artistry with makeup that allowed him to bring characters like the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom of the Opera to movie screens. His IMDb page show shows 162 acting credits from 1912 to 1930. This page will rank Lon Chaney movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. FYI – This is not all of his movies. Not sure we will ever be able to unlock his 1910s box office numbers, but decided to go ahead and include the Chaney movies we have in our UMR database.

Lon Chaney Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Lon Chaney Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Lon Chaney movies by the stars of his movies
  • Sort Lon Chaney movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Lon Chaney movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Lon Chaney movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Lon Chaney movie received.
  • Sort Lon Chaney movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

Lon Chaney Adjusted World Wide Box Office Grosses 

Check out Lon Chaney’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time

Academy Award® and Oscar® are registered trademarks.

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23 thoughts on “Lon Chaney Movies”

  1. The legendary ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’ Lon Chaney gets his UMR page. It’s a miracle you found box office stats for all those silents Bruce, I’m impressed.

    I’ve only seen 4 of the 27 fims on the chart – Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Unholy Three (1925) and (1930). Phantom is my favorite, that hideous iconic make up was kept a secret right up to the film’s premiere, (they couldn’t quite duplicate it in the biopic ‘Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)’ starring James Cagney).

    Nice work Bruce. Vote Up!

    Reply

  2. What no silent superstars like Ford Sterling, Colleen Moore, William S. Hart, Ben Turpin, Al St. John, Snub Pollard or any of Charlie Chaplin’s imitators.

    I have seen 12 of the Chaney movies on your list, the highest rated I have not seen is The Miracle Man. I have also seen Mr. Chaney in Ace of Hearts and The Blackbird. All of these except Phantom of The Opera were seen on TCM.

    Where does Mike find 1921 box office info

    For trivia here are the top 10 most connected stars of the 1910s and the 1920s.

    1910s

    1 Mary Pickford 2.859282405 1910’S
    2 James Neill 2.896347376 1910’S
    3 Tully Marshall 2.900980498 1910’S
    4 Edythe Chapman 2.910138994 1910’S
    5 Herbert Standing 2.929210214 1910’S
    6 Charles West 2.932227131 1910’S
    7 Wallace Reid 2.933304601 1910’S
    8 Owen Moore 2.936967999 1910’S
    9 Thomas Meighan 2.940415903 1910’S
    10 Jack Pickford 2.942247603 1910’S

    Lon is number 59 of the 1910s

    The 1920s

    1 George Fawcett 2.628109292 1920’S
    2 Mary Carr 2.63146024 1920’S
    3 Winter Hall 2.644219616 1920’S
    4 Lionel Barrymore 2.648794948 1920’S
    5 Charles Puffy 2.651437041 1920’S
    6 Nigel Barrie 2.660781028 1920’S
    7 Clive Brook 2.667869571 1920’S
    8 Edmund Burns 2.678566826 1920’S
    9 Gustav von Seyffertitz 2.680048975 1920’S
    10 Pola Negri 2.683851012 1920’S

    Lon is number 55 of the 1920s

    Junior is number 286 of the 1950s.

    Lon Chaney was never on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 [ come on he passed away 92 years ago]. Lon actually appeared with 7 Oscar winners.

    JOAN CRAWFORD The Unknown (1927)
    LIONEL BARRYMORE West of Zanzibar (1928)
    LORETTA YOUNG Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
    NORMA SHEARER He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
    NORMA SHEARER The Tower of Lies (1925)
    VICTOR MCLAGLEN The Unholy Three (1925)
    WALLACE BEERY Victory (1919)
    WARNER BAXTER West of Zanzibar (1928)

    Reply

    1. FYI

      I do have some estimated domestic B.O. data of those actors you ask for.
      This is when they were the lead actor only, no support is included.
      Just for fun.

      Steppin’ Out $51,200.00 Dorothy Revier  Ford Sterling  1925
      The Show-Off $191,100.00 Lois Wilson Ford Sterling 1926
      Everybody’s Acting $86,316.00 Betty Bronson Ford Sterling 1926
      Gentlemen Prefer Blondes $469,300.00 Ruth Taylor Ford Sterling 1928
      The Show-Off(1926) $4,500.00 Lois Wilson  Ford Sterling REISSUE 1929
      The Fall of Eve $122,500.00 Patsy Ruth Miller  Ford Sterling  1929

      Travelin’ On $44,950.00 Ethel Grey Terry William S. Hart 1922
      Wild Bill Hickok $110,238.00 Ethel Grey Terry William S. Hart 1923
      Singer Jim McKee $70,628.00 Phyllis Haver  William S. Hart 1924
      Tumbleweeds $103,000.00 Barbara Bedford William S. Hart 1925

      Bright Eyes $3,625.00 Phyllis Haver Ben Turpin 1921
      Home Made Movies $20,000.00 Phyllis Haver Ben Turpin 1922
      Step Forward $9,500.00 Phyllis Haver Ben Turpin 1922
      The Sheik of Araby/The Shriek of Araby $34,000.00 Kathryn McGuire Ben Turpin 1923
      Where is My Wandering Boy thIs Evening $3,375.00 Priscilla Bonner Ben Turpin 1923
      Marriage Circus $161.00 Louise Carver Ben Turpin 1925
      The Shreik of Araby(1923) $1,833.00 Kathryn McGuire  Ben Turpin REISSUE 1926
      The College Hero $24,150.00 Pauline Garon  Ben Turpin 1927
      The Wife’s Relations $3,700.00 Shirley Mason  Ben Turpin 1928

      Young and Dumb $2,250.00 none Al St. John 1923
      The Salesman $2,100.00 none Al St. John 1923
      Slow and Sure $1,025.00 none Al St. John 1923
      Highly Recommended $800.00 none Al St. John 1924
      It is Fares, Please/Fares, Please! $3,250.00 Ruth Hiatt Al St. John 1925
      Punch on the Nose $183.00 Martha Sleeper Al St. John 1926

      Tough Luck(1919) $2,600.00 Mildred Davis Snub Pollard 1923
      Hook, Line, and Sinker $1,875.00 Marie Mosquini Snub’ Pollard 1922
      The Mystery Man $767.00 Marie Mosquini Snub’ Pollard 1923

      The Lotus Eater $6,500.00 Colleen Moore John Barrymore 1921
      Broken Chains $96,200.00 Colleen Moore Malcolm McGregor  1922
      Come On Over $71,850.00 Colleen Moore Ralph Graves  1922
      The Wall Flower $63,167.00 Colleen Moore  Richard Dix  1922
      The Ninety and Nine $27,112.00 Colleen Moore  Warner Baxter  1922
      April Showers $1,800.00 Colleen Moore Kenneth Harlan 1923
      The Huntress $8,050.00 Colleen Moore Lloyd Hughes  1923
      Flaming Youth $306,277.00 Colleen Moore Milton Sills  1923
      Look Your Best $1,000.00 Colleen Moore  Antonio Moreno 1923
      The Nth Commandment $84,650.00 Colleen Moore  James W. Morrison  1923
      Broken Hearts of Broadway $13,000.00 Colleen Moore  Johnnie Walker 1923
      Slippy McGee $2,750.00 Colleen Moore  Wheeler Oakman 1923
      The Perfect Flapper $89,970.00 Colleen Moore Sydney Chaplin  1924
      Painted People $182,060.00 Colleen Moore  Ben Lyon 1924
      Flirting with Love $149,407.00 Colleen Moore  Conway Tearle  1924
      Through the Dark $89,410.00 Colleen Moore  Forrest Stanley  1924
      So Big $186,150.00 Colleen Moore  Joseph De Grasse  1924
      Sally $232,550.00 Colleen Moore Lloyd Hughes 1925
      The Desert Flower  $152,683.00 Colleen Moore Lloyd Hughes  1925
      We Moderns $188,601.00 Colleen Moore  Jack Mulhall  1925
      So Big(1924) $221.00 Colleen Moore Joseph De Grasse 1926
      Twinkletoes $194,000.00 Colleen Moore Kenneth Harlan 1926
      Irene $297,625.00 Colleen Moore Lloyd Hughes 1926
      Ella Cinders $202,828.00 Colleen Moore Lloyd Hughes  1926
      Painted People(1924) $667.00 Colleen Moore  Ben Lyon  REISSUE 1926
      It Must Be Love $204,550.00 Colleen Moore  Jean Hersholt  1926
      Naughty but Nice $181,100.00 Colleen Moore Donald Reed  1927
      Orchids and Ermine $251,450.00 Colleen Moore Jack Mulhall 1927
      Her Wild Oat $286,200.00 Colleen Moore  Larry Kent 1927
      Oh, Kay!  $255,900.00 Colleen Moore Lawrence Gray  1928
      Happiness Ahead $357,250.00 Colleen Moore  Edmund Lowe 1928
      Lilac Time $1,085,350.00 Colleen Moore  Gary Cooper  1928
      Synthetic Sin $315,500.00 Colleen Moore Antonio Moreno 1929
      Smiling Irish Eyes $278,000.00 Colleen Moore James Hall 1929
      Footlights and Fools $303,350.00 Colleen Moore Raymond Hackett 1929
      Why Be Good? $400,800.00 Colleen Moore  Neil Hamilton  1929
      The Power and the Glory $307,400.00 Colleen Moore Spencer Tracy 1933
      Social Register $31,017.00 Colleen Moore Colleen Moore 1934
      The Scarlet Letter  $25,150.00 Colleen Moore Hardie Albright 1934

      Reply

      2. You shouldn’t have gone to all that work. Ford Sterling and others I listed was just a joke. Was trying to think of someone really obscure. My, Colleen was busy back then. I think I’ve seen her in maybe 2 or 3 films. One she was married to Spencer Tracy [sound era] and she threw herself in front of a streetcar. That might be The Power and the Glory.

        Reply

        1. No problem
          The data was already completed awhile back.
          I have box office data on many favorite stars and many (the others) stars from
          the silent and early talkies.
          Just for fun

          Reply

  3. I have seen 2 Lon Chaney movies for sure, both favourites; The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. I may have seen others before I started logging them on letterboxd.

    Reply

  4. HI BRUCE: Thanks for the feedbck. I mentioned that Chaplin seemes to be the only silent era movie star who is generally reasonably well-known today and certainly is the greatest perceived Legend among silent performers. Ironically in his own day he was not apparently nearly as poular as some of the other Greats of those times.

    He was for example listed only 2 or 3 times at the BOTTOM end of the Quigley Top 25 and had no rankings beyond that in Quigley’s most popular stars of the silent years; whereas Mary and Doug virtually “owned” Quigley for a decade or more.

    However as well as AFI and the Time 100 honouring him, in recent times he has been deemed the Greatest Actor of All Time in a Top 10 compiled by a panel of the perceived Greatest Modern Movie Directors worldwide a couple of decades ago. That ranked list according to my own records is as follows:

    1/Chaplin
    2/Brando
    3/DeNiro
    4/is missing from my records – it may have been Al Leach
    5/Tracy
    6 and 7 jointly/Olivier and France’s Jean Gabin
    8/Again, missing
    9/Gary Cooper
    10/Jack Nicholson

    Reply

  5. Hey Bob. I agree with your conclusion. The movies between The Man With A Thousand Faces and One, Two, Three are largely forgotten ones. Hope you enjoy the holiday weekend. We have been on Spring Break this week….it has been a good week…though going superfast.

    Reply

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