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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 789

The Unknown

192766 minUnited States
HorrorDrama
Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs
66:40
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Tod Browning / Waldemar Young / Joseph Farnham · Public domain

Synopsis

Alonzo earns his living in a circus as an apparently armless knife thrower, concealing the hands that could identify him as a criminal. Nanon trusts him because she fears being touched by men. His love for her turns that deception into a terrible dilemma, while a rival suitor and a murder threaten to reveal what his performance hides.

Cast

DirectorsTod Browning

Behind the scenes

Tod Browning and Lon Chaney build the drama around the relationship between a circus illusion and the body required to maintain it. Joan Crawford plays Nanon, whose fears become central to Alonzo's increasingly destructive decisions.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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