Unholy Three

The Unholy Three, a silent film directed by Tod Browning, uses sound in significant ways to move the plot forward and to reveal the character's true character. Rosie, a jokester sidekick from the beginning of the film, reveals she has not been teasing Howard when he proposes to her. Her character change comes across through her alternating laughter and tears, bringing to mind the tagline for the film "a little laughter, a little tear." In a classic scene that is every murder mystery, the detective is in the room with the unholy three but does not know it. Tweedledee put the evidence linking them to the Arlington murder in a toy elephant. The detective, nonchalantly swinging his foot, hits the elephant and starts a long and anxious scene. The silent sounds in this scene reveal the impending discovery and move the film into its final act. A scene with many interruptions lets the plot introduce several characters at once and tells the story of each character. All in all, The Unholy Three uses sound to move the plot forward and reveal a part of the character that would otherwise remain hidden.

Echo, the ventriloquist, throws his voice in manners of deception. Through this deception the viewer's see the movie's tagline "a little laughter, a little tear." This tagline is a theme throughout the film and comes across in one scene where sound is particularly important. Harold proposes to Rosie and she laughs revealing her character to be heartless. When Harold gets angry at her laughter she says she was just "kiddin" an act she does through most of the film. Her character develops only into a true character in this proposal scene. She laughs, Harold leaves and then she starts to cry. A little laughter, a little tear.... She cries and spots a doll dressed in a wedding dress. The sight makes her laugh and cry simultaneously before she throws something at the doll making a crashing noise that brings Harold back into the room. Without this crashing noise, Harold would have walked away disheartened. With the noise he is brought back into the room to see Rosie's tear-strewn face and realizes that she does truly love him after all. They have their loving moment full of past confessions and laughter and Harold leaves. Echo steps out of the closet where he has heard the whole episode. Through sound he too has witnessed the change in Rosie's character.

Sound is also important in the pivotal scene with the detective and the toy elephant. The police investigator is in the room with the unholy three and says the smallest thing could be a clue and kicks a toy elephant with his foot. It is unclear whether the toy elephant is some sort of jack in the box or it just has a secret compartment but it is clear that the jewels that link the unholy three to the Arlington murder are stashed inside the elephant. The viewer can only imagine the noise the elephant makes as its head bobs up and down, but when the investigator picks up the elephant and shakes it the audience knows a rattle from the jewels inside is heard from the look on the policeman's face. He is puzzled, intrigued and shakes the elephant again. The unholy three are anxious about being caught and inch closer to the man of the law. Tweedledee starts to throw a fit and yell "cow" over and over again hoping to get his toy returned to him. The investigator shakes the toy and teases Tweedledee with it until Hercules steps in and gives the toy back confessing he cannot stand to see a child being teased. This scene moves the plot along without much dialogue. The audience knows the unholy three are guilty, they have the jewels, and this piece of evidence which could easily tumble out of the elephant in the investigator's hands would put them away. They are very near getting caught in this scene and the audience can practically see the wheels turning in their heads about how to get the toy away from the investigator. In a bizarre twist on the child vs. human game that everyone knows, the unholy three are trying to get the forbidden toy out of the mature investigator's hands and into the unruly grown man who only appears to be a child.

The last instance that has sound moving plot is right before the Arlington murder. The unholy three are about to go out and Harold and Rosie come into the store to decorate for Christmas. Harold knocks over a birdcage which alerts the trio that someone is in the store. Rosie goes in to talk with them, Harold gets curious and starts to eavesdrop but sets down the tree audibly and they are alerted to him standing outside the door. Later as Echo, Rosie and Harold are sitting by the tree, Echo hears the car crank and come to life which alerts him to his comrades leaving him behind. In each of these cases in this small scene, the plot progresses without the characters saying much of anything. The audience knows the three criminals are about to rob a house but are thwarted by the arrival of Rosie and Harold. Rosie and Echo have an argument depicting their relationship when Harold eavesdrops and it is cut short. Echo realizes the "trick" is being pulled without him when the car starts.

In all three scenes, the sound that is absent moves the plot forward. Although the audience cannot hear the sound they can imagine what sounds would be made in the scene and, from the reaction on the subsequent character's faces, the audience can see the effect of the sound to the scene. In many cases the sound helps show the character's true colors as well. The viewers get a chance to see Rosie's softer side during her emotional breakdown. The fear and anxiety during the policeman's scene shows the unholy three's conniving and fragile state of mind. Echo's jealousy comes across in the scene with the interruptions. He cannot leave Rosie alone with Howard and therefore is left behind by his friends. Sound in each case lets the viewers see more from the characters and also moves the plot forward without dialogue.

Works Cited

The Unholy Three. Dir. Tod Browning. Perfs. Lon Chaney, Mae Busch. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1925.