West of Zanzibar
Encyclopedia
West of Zanzibar is a 1928 American silent film
(with musical score) directed by Tod Browning
about the vengefulness of a cuckolded magician (Lon Chaney
) paralyzed in a brawl with his rival (Lionel Barrymore
). The supporting cast includes Mary Nolan
and Warner Baxter
. It is based on a 1926 Broadway
play called Kongo starring Walter Huston
. Huston starred in the 1932 talkie film adaptation of the same story using the Kongo
title. West of Zanzibar is also famous with horror film fans for having lost or excised sequences that Browning filmed; in particular, Phroso (Chaney) as a duckman in a sideshow act and scenes showing Phroso and his troupe when they first arrive in Africa.
) cannot bring herself to tell her professional magician husband, Phroso (Lon Chaney
), that she is leaving him. Her lover, Crane (Lionel Barrymore
), informs Phroso that he is taking Anna to Africa, shoving the distraught husband away so forcefully that he falls over a railing and is crippled, losing the use of his legs. After a year, Phroso learns that Anna has returned. He finds his wife dead in a church, with a baby beside her. He swears to avenge himself on both Crane and the child.
Eighteen years later, Phroso rules a small outpost inhabited by Doc (Warner Baxter
), Babe (Kalla Pasha
), Tiny (Tiny Ward) and native Bumbu (Curtis Nero) in the African jungle. Through his magic tricks, he dominates the local tribe. He has his men steal ivory repeatedly from Crane by having Tiny dress up as an evil voodoo spirit to frighten away Crane's porters. Meanwhile, Phroso sends Babe to bring back blonde Maizie (Mary Nolan
) from the "lowest dive in Zanzibar
", where Phroso has had her raised. She is told only that she will finally meet her father.
When she arrives, Phroso denies being Maisie's father (to her great relief), but refuses to tell her why she has been brought there and treats her with undisguised hatred. The first night, she witnesses a gruesome tribal custom: when a man dies, his wife or daughter is burned alive on his funeral pyre
. As the days go by, Maizie gradually wins the perpetually drunk Doc's heart. However, Phroso turns her into an alcoholic.
Phroso sends word to Crane where he can find the robber of his ivory. When Crane shows up, Phroso tells Crane that Maizie is his daughter. To Phroso's surprise, Crane breaks out in laughter. He informs Phroso that Anna never went with him, because she hated him for paralyzing her husband. Maizie is actually Phroso's child. Before he can absorb the news, the next step of his plan unfolds; the natives shoot and kill Crane.
Phroso uses a magic trick to try to save Maizie from burning. With the natives watching, he puts her in a wooden box with a secret exit and closes it. When he reopens it, there is a skeleton inside. Meanwhile, Doc, Maizie and the others flee by boat. However, the natives do not believe Phroso's claim that an evil spirit has taken Maizie. The screen fades to black as the natives close in on Phroso. Later, a native fishes a medallion out of a bonfire, the same medallion that had hung around Phroso's neck.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
(with musical score) directed by Tod Browning
Tod Browning
Tod Browning was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras...
about the vengefulness of a cuckolded magician (Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
) paralyzed in a brawl with his rival (Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
). The supporting cast includes Mary Nolan
Mary Nolan
Mary Nolan was an American actress and dancer.-Ziegfeld Follies dancer:Born Mary Imogene Robertson in Kentucky, Robertson's childhood was beset with hardship that included the death of her mother in 1908 and an absent father. As a child, she worked as a farm laborer, before moving to New York City...
and Warner Baxter
Warner Baxter
Warner Leroy Baxter was an American actor, known for his role as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona , for which he won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928–1929 Academy Awards. Warner Baxter started his movie career in silent movies...
. It is based on a 1926 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play called Kongo starring Walter Huston
Walter Huston
Walter Thomas Huston was a Canadian-born American actor. He was the father of actor and director John Huston and the grandfather of actress Anjelica Huston and actor Danny Huston.-Life and career:...
. Huston starred in the 1932 talkie film adaptation of the same story using the Kongo
Kongo (1932 film)
Kongo is a 1932 talking Pre-Code film produced and distributed by MGM. It was directed by William J. Cowen and starred Walter Huston, reprising his 1926 Broadway stage role. Lupe Vélez and Virginia Bruce co-star with Huston in this filmization of the 1926 Broadway play, which starred Huston...
title. West of Zanzibar is also famous with horror film fans for having lost or excised sequences that Browning filmed; in particular, Phroso (Chaney) as a duckman in a sideshow act and scenes showing Phroso and his troupe when they first arrive in Africa.
Plot
Anna (Jacqueline GadsdenJacqueline Gadsden
Jacqueline Gadsden was an American film actress during the silent era. Born in Lompoc, California, she is probably best known to modern audiences at the wealthy, haughty other woman in the Clara Bow vehicle It . She made two films in 1929 under the name Jane Daly, and retired shortly after that...
) cannot bring herself to tell her professional magician husband, Phroso (Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
), that she is leaving him. Her lover, Crane (Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
), informs Phroso that he is taking Anna to Africa, shoving the distraught husband away so forcefully that he falls over a railing and is crippled, losing the use of his legs. After a year, Phroso learns that Anna has returned. He finds his wife dead in a church, with a baby beside her. He swears to avenge himself on both Crane and the child.
Eighteen years later, Phroso rules a small outpost inhabited by Doc (Warner Baxter
Warner Baxter
Warner Leroy Baxter was an American actor, known for his role as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona , for which he won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928–1929 Academy Awards. Warner Baxter started his movie career in silent movies...
), Babe (Kalla Pasha
Kalla Pasha
Kalla Pasha was an American professional wrestler, vaudeville comedian and screen actor active during the silent era.-Biography:Kalla Pasha was the stage name of Joseph T. Rickard, a native of Detroit...
), Tiny (Tiny Ward) and native Bumbu (Curtis Nero) in the African jungle. Through his magic tricks, he dominates the local tribe. He has his men steal ivory repeatedly from Crane by having Tiny dress up as an evil voodoo spirit to frighten away Crane's porters. Meanwhile, Phroso sends Babe to bring back blonde Maizie (Mary Nolan
Mary Nolan
Mary Nolan was an American actress and dancer.-Ziegfeld Follies dancer:Born Mary Imogene Robertson in Kentucky, Robertson's childhood was beset with hardship that included the death of her mother in 1908 and an absent father. As a child, she worked as a farm laborer, before moving to New York City...
) from the "lowest dive in Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
", where Phroso has had her raised. She is told only that she will finally meet her father.
When she arrives, Phroso denies being Maisie's father (to her great relief), but refuses to tell her why she has been brought there and treats her with undisguised hatred. The first night, she witnesses a gruesome tribal custom: when a man dies, his wife or daughter is burned alive on his funeral pyre
Funeral Pyre
"Funeral Pyre" is The Jam's thirteenth single released on 6 June 1981. Backed by the B-side "Disguises", a cover of a Who track, it reached #4 in the UK Singles chart....
. As the days go by, Maizie gradually wins the perpetually drunk Doc's heart. However, Phroso turns her into an alcoholic.
Phroso sends word to Crane where he can find the robber of his ivory. When Crane shows up, Phroso tells Crane that Maizie is his daughter. To Phroso's surprise, Crane breaks out in laughter. He informs Phroso that Anna never went with him, because she hated him for paralyzing her husband. Maizie is actually Phroso's child. Before he can absorb the news, the next step of his plan unfolds; the natives shoot and kill Crane.
Phroso uses a magic trick to try to save Maizie from burning. With the natives watching, he puts her in a wooden box with a secret exit and closes it. When he reopens it, there is a skeleton inside. Meanwhile, Doc, Maizie and the others flee by boat. However, the natives do not believe Phroso's claim that an evil spirit has taken Maizie. The screen fades to black as the natives close in on Phroso. Later, a native fishes a medallion out of a bonfire, the same medallion that had hung around Phroso's neck.
Cast
- Lon ChaneyLon Chaney, Sr.Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
as Phroso ("Dead-Legs") - Lionel BarrymoreLionel BarrymoreLionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
as Crane - Mary NolanMary NolanMary Nolan was an American actress and dancer.-Ziegfeld Follies dancer:Born Mary Imogene Robertson in Kentucky, Robertson's childhood was beset with hardship that included the death of her mother in 1908 and an absent father. As a child, she worked as a farm laborer, before moving to New York City...
as Maizie - Warner BaxterWarner BaxterWarner Leroy Baxter was an American actor, known for his role as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona , for which he won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928–1929 Academy Awards. Warner Baxter started his movie career in silent movies...
as Doc - Jacqueline GadsdenJacqueline GadsdenJacqueline Gadsden was an American film actress during the silent era. Born in Lompoc, California, she is probably best known to modern audiences at the wealthy, haughty other woman in the Clara Bow vehicle It . She made two films in 1929 under the name Jane Daly, and retired shortly after that...
as Anna - Tiny Ward as Tiny
- Kalla PashaKalla PashaKalla Pasha was an American professional wrestler, vaudeville comedian and screen actor active during the silent era.-Biography:Kalla Pasha was the stage name of Joseph T. Rickard, a native of Detroit...
as Babe - Curtis Nero as Bumbu
- Rose DioneRose DioneRose Dione was a French born actress of the silent era. She appeared in 68 films between 1910 and 1932. She was often billed as Madame Rose or Madame Dion...
(uncredited) as the Zanzibar dive's owner