Here is the gruesome story: Alonzo (Lon Chaney), who has a double thumb on one hand, evades the police by joining a Spanish circus and masquerading quite convincingly as The Armless Wonder. Estrellita (Joan Crawford), who cannot bear to be touched by any man, is attracted to The Armless Wonder for obvious reasons. In order to both cover up a murder and secure the love of Estrellita, Alonzo finds a surgeon to actually amputate his arms. Meanwhile, back at the circus, Malabar, The Strong Man, has managed to cure Estrellita of her phobia. Lon Chaney is remembered as the "man of a thousand faces" and for his famous portrayals in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. These were not necessarily his best pictures: as much as Chaney did succeed in making these monsters human, the roles did not afford him the opportunity to perform with the subtlety and studied expressiveness he showed in non make-up parts in mature films. Nor did they approach the freakish poetry of his films with Tod Browning, of which The Unknown is the least-seen and the best. As The Armless Wonder, Chaney uses his feet for hands when eating, drinking, smoking, and even scratching his head when meditating.