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Community reviews
From TMDb members · 2 total- CinemaSerf7/10
Joan Crawford is the dazzling "Manon", daughter of a circus owner and keenly sought by strongman "Malabar" (Norman Kerry) and the newly arrived arm-less knife thrower "Alonzo" (Lon Chaney). It's the latter man who has a bit of a secret though, and as the story progresses we reali…
- Dr_Nostromo7/10
66/100 A strangler on-the-run takes refuge as an armless man in a circus and falls in love with a performing girl who can't stand being touched. Sounds like the perfect match, doesn't it? This is actually an extremely mature look at unrequited love played out as an examination…
Full text & links on TMDb in the reviews section below.
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The Unknown
“Don't miss this startling spectacle!”
75%
Movie
1h 8m
AI Analysis
The Unknown (1927) — AI movie analysis
WatchMind AI generated this AI analysis of The Unknown (1927) — a movie tagged as Drama, Thriller, and Romance with dark, tense, and emotional moods and fast-paced pacing.
Story & themes: On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder—a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the s… Our models also surface themes such as identity and ai from synopsis and genre signals.
Watch context: Best suited for date night. Expect fast-paced storytelling (~68 min).
Community signal: TMDb members rate The Unknown 75% (213 votes) — strong audience scores for this movie.
AI verdict
The Unknown is a film worth prioritising when you want something with strong audience scores — our AI analysis flags it as a strong match for its genre and tone profile.
Preview on this device: 44% match — Matches your tense mood + drama. Sign in to save your profile across devices.
Algorithmic AI analysis from genres, synopsis, pacing heuristics, and TMDb community scores — not a generative chatbot. How WatchMind works.
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Audience & engagement
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TMDb audience score
75%
from 213 TMDb votes
Taste match (this device)
44%match
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Matches your tense mood + drama
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Synopsis
On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder—a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's desperation to remain with Nanon will only end in tragedy.
Quick facts
- Type
- Movie
- Status
- Released
- Release date
- 1927-05-29
- Runtime
- 1h 8m
- TMDB rating
- 7.5
- TMDB ID
- 27503
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Frequently asked questions
Where can I watch The Unknown (1927)?
The Unknown is available for discovery on WatchMind. You can find official links to rent, buy, or stream from licensed digital stores like Apple TV and Amazon in our "Where to Watch" section.
Is there an official trailer for The Unknown?
Yes, you can watch the official trailer for The Unknown directly on this page. We pull the latest video metadata from TMDb and play it via YouTube integration.
What is The Unknown about?
On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder—a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ri... This is the official synopsis available via TMDb community metadata.
Is there an AI analysis for The Unknown?
Yes. WatchMind publishes an AI analysis on this page — tone, pacing, audience fit, and community scores from TMDb metadata and recommendation models (not a chatbot). Scroll to the AI Analysis section or read the meta description summary.
How long is the movie The Unknown?
The official runtime for The Unknown is approximately 68 minutes.
Cast & crew
Names and photos from The Movie Database (TMDb). Follow links on themoviedb.org for full filmographies.
Directors & writers
Cast
Lon Chaney
Alonzo
Norman Kerry
Malabar
Joan Crawford
Nanon Zanzi
Nick De Ruiz
Antonio Zanzi
John George
Cojo
Frank Lanning
Costra
- T
Tom Amandares
Gypsy Running to Zanzi's Death Scene (uncredited)
- M
Margaret Bert
Fortune Teller (uncredited)
Louise Emmons
Gypsy Woman (uncredited)
- I
Italia Frandi
Girl in Audience Flirting with Malabar (uncredited)
- V
Venezia Frandi
Woman in Audience (uncredited)
Polly Moran
Landlady / Servant in Audience (uncredited)
- J
Julian Rivero
Man in Theatre Audience (uncredited)
- B
Billy Seay
The Little Wolf (uncredited)
- D
Dorothy Seay
Spectator (uncredited)
John St. Polis
Surgeon (uncredited)
Audience notes
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Community reviews
Written by TMDb members — same catalogue as our movie & TV metadata. API terms
Joan Crawford is the dazzling "Manon", daughter of a circus owner and keenly sought by strongman "Malabar" (Norman Kerry) and the newly arrived arm-less knife thrower "Alonzo" (Lon Chaney). It's the latter man who has a bit of a secret though, and as the story progresses we realise that he's a criminal using a clever (if not desperately plausible) disguise to stay one head ahead of the pursuing police. She, meantime, is fed up being pawed and ogled at by men in general and "Alonzo" - being unable to touch her, plays on that increasing phobia hoping she will choose him. Her father "Zanzi" (Nick De Ruiz) violently comes a cropper suddenly and his daughter sees the crime, not the criminal. Distraught, she turns to "Malabar" whilst "Alonzo" decides that he must now make a pretty significant sacrifice if he is to get the girl and avoid the noose. I did really quite enjoy this. The expressive Chaney is on super form as the menacing knifester and there is plenty of meat on the bones of a plot that creates a few characters about whom you could actually care. The denouement with the strongman and horses is maybe a little strung out, but it's still a fitting end to a love triangle that dwells little on slushy sentiment and more on the nastiness of the scheming antagonist and his sidekick "Cojo" (John George). Crawford certainly comes across as a woman they'd want to fight over, too!
66/100 A strangler on-the-run takes refuge as an armless man in a circus and falls in love with a performing girl who can't stand being touched. Sounds like the perfect match, doesn't it? This is actually an extremely mature look at unrequited love played out as an examination of irony as the man will do virtually anything, regardless of how extreme, to win her affection only to have each decision make matters worse. Lon Cheney and Joan Crawford (who's so young, you can't even recognize her) do a great job in this tragic love story. Excellent watch. -- DrNostromo.com
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