Editing Tod Browning (section)

===The Priscilla Dean films===
[[File:Outside the Law (1920) - 12.jpg|thumb|Priscilla Dean, publicity still, ''Outside the Law'' (1920)]]
[[File:Outside the Law (1920 film), Universal Studios Lobby Poster, 1921. Directed by Tod Browning.jpg|thumb|''Outside the Law'', lobby poster]]

Browning's first successful Dean picture—a "spectacular melodrama"—is ''[[The Virgin of Stamboul]]'' (1920). Dean portrays Sari, a "virgin beggar girl" who is desired by the Turkish chieftain Achmet Hamid ([[Wallace Beery]]).<ref>Barson, 2021: "...the [Universal Studios] hit The Virgin of Stamboul (1920)"<br />Sobchack, 2006 pp. 22–23: "Browning's first big hit was The Virgin of Stamboul (1920)...Carl Laemmle let Browning [spend freely] on creating an authentic Istanbul at Universal studios backlot."<br />Rosenthal, 1975 p. 61: Sketch of characters provided here.</ref> Browning's handling of the former [[slapstick]] comedian Beery as Achmet reveals the actor's comedic legacy and Browning's own roots in [[burlesque]].<ref>Henry, 2006 p. 41: "Browning cast [Beery and other actors] in these dramatic roles [and] some aspects of their acting reveal that they had started out as comic performers..." And p. 46: "The use of burlesque in Tod Browning's films can be seen to serve a utilitarian end...Along with other elements they serve an essential element of the 'Browningian Universe'"</ref> Film historian Stuart Rosenthal wrote that the Dean vehicles possess "the seemingly authentic atmosphere with which Browning instilled his crime melodramas, adding immeasurably to later efforts like ''The Black Bird'' (1926), ''The Show'' (1927) and ''The Unholy Three'' (1925)."<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 8: "Such Dean vehicles as ''The White Tiger'' and ''Outside the Law'' are characteristic" of this milieu.</ref>

The Dean films exhibit Browning's fascination with 'exotic' foreign settings and with underworld criminal activities, which serve to drive the action of his films. Dean is cast as a thieving [[demimonde]] who infiltrates high society to burgle jewelry in ''[[The Exquisite Thief]]'' (1919); in ''[[Under Two Flags (1922 film)|Under Two Flags]]'' (1922), set in colonial French [[Algiers]], Dean is cast as a French-Arab member of a harem—her sobriquet is "Cigarette—servicing the [[French Foreign Legion]]; and in ''[[Drifting (1923 film)|Drifting]]'' (1923), with its "compelling" Shanghai, China scenes recreated on the Universal backlot, Dean plays an opium dealer.<ref>Sobchack, 2006 p. 23: "Browning loved exotic settings" in which in his pictures "depends upon the physical strangeness of place for their effectiveness and plot movement."</ref> In Browning's final Dean vehicle at Universal, [[White Tiger (1923 film)|''White Tiger'']], he indulged his fascination with "quasi-theatrical" productions of illusion—and revealed to movie audiences the mechanisms of these deceptions. In doing so, Browning—a former member of the fraternity of magicians—violated a precept of their professional code.<ref>Solomon, 2006 p. 52: "...Browning's films explicitly violate the magician's professional code, which stipulates that stage illusions [remain] concealed to the spectator...Browning did not hesitate to expose the methods of magic tricks on screen." And pp. 50–51: "...prior to his career as a director, Browning was a magician...a 1914 movie fan magazine described him...as a sideshow escape artist..." And: "A number of Browning films of the 1920s contain striking reproductions of theatrical- or quasi-theatrical- illusions that are staged not only for spectators within the films, but for contemporaneous viewers of the films themselves."</ref>

Perhaps the most fortuitous outcome of the Dean films at Universal is that they introduced Browning to future collaborator [[Lon Chaney]], the actor who would star in Browning's most outstanding films of the silent era. Chaney had already earned the sobriquet "The Man of a Thousand Faces" as early as 1919 for his work at Universal.<ref>Herzogenrath, 2006 p. 11: Chaney was "The Man of a Thousand Faces" as early as 1919.</ref> Universal's vice-president [[Irving Thalberg]] paired Browning with Chaney for the first time in ''[[The Wicked Darling]]'' (1919), a melodrama in which Chaney played the thief "Stoop" Conners who forces a poor girl (Dean) from the slums into a life of crime and prostitution.<ref>Herzogenrath, 2006 p. 11: "Browning and Chaney were brought together by Irving Thalberg at Universal...[The Wicked Darling] their first of a highly productive series of collaborations..."<br />Sobchack, 2006 p. 35: "Chaney's "first major role with Browning was in The Wicked Darling (1919)..."<br />Rosenthal, 1975 p. 8: "By 1919 [Browning] was directing programme films for Universal where he first established contact with Lon Chaney..."<br />Solomon, 2006 p. 56: "Browning made two films at Universal with Chaney, The Wicked Darling (1919) and Outside the Law (1920)."</ref>

In 1921, Browning and Thalberg enlisted Chaney in another Dean vehicle, ''[[Outside the Law (1920 film)|Outside the Law]]'', in which he plays the dual roles of the sinister "Black Mike" Sylva and the benevolent Ah Wing. Both of these Universal production exhibit Browning's "natural affinity for the melodramatic and grotesque." In a special effect that drew critical attention, Chaney appears to murder his own dual character counterpart through trick photography<ref name="Rosenthal, 1975 p. 8">Rosenthal, 1975 p. 8</ref> and "with Thalberg supporting their imaginative freedom, Chaney's ability and unique presence fanned the flames of Browning's passion for the extraordinary."<ref>Baxter, 1970 pp. 99–100: "...Browning had a natural affinity for the melodramatic and grotesque which made him the logical choice to direct Lon Cheney."<br />Sobchack, 2006 p. 34: "Certainly, Browning's best work was for MGM...all his films for Universal were made before 1924 and his maturity as a filmmaker...some credit must go to Irving Thalberg who, a vice-president at Universal while Browning was there" And p. 24: See here for "trick" photography.<br />Towlson, 2012: "...[[Carl Laemmle]] and [[Irving Thalberg]] paired [Browning] up with Lon Chaney for Outside the Law (1921). Thereafter he developed a reputation for the macabre, working with Chaney on a number of silent horror films that have become regarded as classics..."<br />Charles, 2006 p. 85: "Browning cast Lon Chaney in the dual roles of the villainous Black Mike and the mild-mannered Chinaman Ah Wing."</ref> Biographer Stuart Rosenthal remarks upon the foundations of the Browning-Chaney professional synergy:

{{blockquote|In the screen personality of Lon Chaney, Tod Browning found the perfect embodiment of the type of character that interested him... Chaney's unconditional dedication to his acting gave his characters the extraordinary intensity that was absolutely essential to the credibility of Browning's creations.<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 19</ref>}}

When Thalberg resigned as vice-president at Universal to serve as production manager with the newly amalgamated [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) in 1925, Browning and Chaney accompanied him.<ref>Sobchack, 2006 p. 36: "...when he [Thalberg] left [Universal] in 1925 to join the newly-formed MGM." he brought Browning and Chaney with him.</ref>