Unidentified Lon Chaney Stills

This is a collection of stills that I have not positively identified yet. For several of these I have narrowed them down a bit, but cannot be certain of the film. To give better resolution, these are included as large image files (around 75-100KB each). Click on the link to see the enlarged image. If you think you have figured one out, send me an e-mail at ChaneyFan@aol.com and I will post your name at this site and proclaim you as one of the holy ones.

Unidentified #3 1914; with Murdoch MacQuarrie(?) and Pauline Bush. Possibly The Lie (1914, Universal/Gold Seal), although I don't really think so.

Unidentified #5 1914; obviously a western setting, and Chaney looks sympathetic, so this could be The Old Cobbler (1914, Universal/101 Bison).

Unidentified #6 c1914-15; I'm pretty sure this is William C. Dowlan and Pauline Bush. Possibly All for Peggy (1915, Universal/Rex) or Star of the Sea (1915, Universal/Rex).

Unidentified #10 c1914; Possibly Red Margaret, Moonshiner (1913, Universal/Gold Seal) or The End of the Feud (1914, Universal/Rex)

Unidentified #11 I have two different stills from this picture, which appears to be some kind of riverboat picture. This matches the description of The Grip of Jealousy (1916, Universal/Bluebird Photoplays), but this still does not match other stills from this picture!

Unidentified #13 Michael Blake thinks this is from The Gilded Spider (1916). He could be right, but I think Chaney looks too young, and this outfit is different than other scenes from the film. I think it is more likely from The Menace to Carlotta (1914, Universal/Rex) or A Ranch Romance (1914, Nestor).

Unidentified #15 I'm not convinced this is from any particular film. It could be some kind of publicity shot, or a makeup test. Tod Browning expert Eric Grayson thinks this may be a makeup test from A Blind Bargain (1922) but I can't confirm or deny that.

Unidentified #17 c1915; I have not had time to research this one yet.

Unidentified #19 This is the most intriguing Chaney still I have ever seen. I would never have even thought this was Lon Chaney except that this still came from the estate of George Chaney, Lon's youngest brother. Lon sent pictures home for George, and on this one he drew a small X on the crown he is wearing and wrote on the back, "I was playing a wild man here." This is obviously something set at the time of the Roman Empire, and there is no such film in any of Lon's billed appearances, so this is clearly an unbilled appearance, probably from 1912-1913. There are rumors that Chaney appears in DAMON AND PYTHIAS (1914, Universal), and this appears to be the makeup for the wildmen in the film, but if Chaney is in it, it is a very small part. Chaney buff Nancy Cassady also noted that there are people in the background that appear to be in Civil War costumes. What on earth kind of film could this be??

Unidentified #20 This interesting shot comes from a frame blowup of a tiny fragment of surviving 35mm film. I believe the other players are William Dowland and Pauline Bush, and by process of elimination, the only synopses that seem to fit this photo would be The End the Feud (1914) or An Idyll of the Hills (1915).

Identified Stills!

Special honors go to Juliana Venier, Critt Davis, The Silents Majority, and Michael Blake who helped to identify Unidentified Stills #1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, and 14.

This was previously identified incorrectly as being from Red Margaret, Moonshiner (1913); however, I have now determined it to be from The Chimney's Secret (1915)

I have now identified this to be from The Trust (1915)