Remembrance Wall

Title: The Miracle Man

Date: 1919

Distributor: Mayflower Photoplay Corp.

Director: George Loane Tucker

Cast: Thomas Meighan, Betty Compson, Lon Chaney, J.M. Dumont, W. Lawson Butt, Elinor Fair, F.A. Turner, Lucille Hutton, Joseph J. Dowling, Frankie Lee.

Summary: Four con men plan to take advantage of the Patriarch, a blind faith healer. One of the men contorts his body so he appears crippled. When he is “healed,” the crooks plan to steal the all the donations this “miracle” will inspire. The plan is spoiled when a truly crippled boy throws aside his crutches and runs to the Patriarch. Seeing a true miracle, the con men give up their life of crime.

Notes: Lon Chaney was so effective in the part of Frog that many thought he was double-jointed or a contortionist in real life. In fact, he was neither. He got the idea of the twisted legs from a habit he had as a child of double-crossing his legs. The director originally wanted to cast a contortionist in the role, but none of the men he interviewed could act.

Two scenes exist, including the miraculous healing scene, in a small short called “Movie Memories.” The short, released in the early 1930s, was a compilation of clips from several Paramount films, including “Blood & Sand,” “The Covered Wagon,” and “Old Ironsides.” Kevin Brownlow used the healing scene as part of a TCM documentary on Chaney broadcast in 2000.

Thanks to Michael Blake for providing the notes and update on the surviving fragments.