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Poster for The Unknown
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Released
1927 · FILM

The Unknown

“Don't miss this startling spectacle!”

Directed by
Tod Browning
Written by
Tod Browning, Waldemar Young
Color
Black & White
Runtime
68 min
DramaHorrorRomance
Streaming on
  • The Criterion Channel

Synopsis

Criminal Alonzo, on the run, takes refuge in a circus under the guise of The Armless Wonder, a performer who throws knives using only his feet. He keeps his real arms hidden to conceal his identity. Ringmaster's daughter Nanon suffers from a fear of being touched by men and is pursued by both Alonzo and the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's growing desperation to stay with Nanon ultimately leads to tragedy.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Director of Photography
Writers
Director

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

Principal cast & crew: 16

These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Harry ReynoldsShot by Merritt B Gerstad

Box Office

1927 · Box office

✅ Made its money back — grossed 3.9× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$847K

Budget$217K
Worldwide gross$847K
break-even (2.5×)

Also known as

  • Der Unbekanntede
  • The Unknown - Der Unbekanntede
  • Garras Humanases
  • L'Inconnufr
  • Lo sconosciutoit

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