See Lon Chaney horror film 'The Unknown' Oct. 30

Get in the mood for Halloween with a screening of the 1927 film "The Unknown," starring Lon Chaney Sr. and Joan Crawford, in one of her earliest starring roles.

The free showing will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, in the Crimi Auditorium at Aurora University, 407 S. Calumet Ave., Aurora. The movie will be accompanied live by Jay Warren, Chicago's foremost pipe organ expert.

The horror film stars Chaney as Alonzo the Armless, a carnival knife thrower who fakes being a circus freak that can only use his feet to toss knives, and Joan Crawford as the carnival girl he loves from afar.

The film is directed by Tod Browning, who is best known as the director of 1931's "Dracula" and the 1932 cult classic "Freaks." Browning and Chaney did their first film together in 1919, and later went on to partner in other films, including "The Unholy Three," until Chaney's death in 1930 at age 47.

The evening also will feature Buster Keaton's 1920 two-reel comedy film "One Week." The 19-minute comedy tells the story of two newlyweds, played by Keaton and Sybil Seely, who get a build-it-yourself kit house as a wedding present.

As a regular photoplay organist for the Silent Film Society of Chicago, Warren has accompanied most of the great silent films throughout his 40-year career. He has been featured annually for the society's highly regarded Silent Summer Film Festival since its beginning in 2000.

For a dozen years, he played the huge E.M. Skinner pipe organ for silent films at the University of Chicago's famed Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. He also performs film accompaniment on the Letourneau pipe organ in the Crimi Auditorium of Aurora University.

He also has made several silent film photoplay appearances on the five-manual Wurlitzer located at the Sanfilippo Foundation's Place de la Musique in Barrington.

To learn more about the Chicago Area Theatre Organ Enthusiasts and other upcoming events, visit www.facebook.com/CATOE61/.

For more on the Silent Film Society of Chicago, visit www.facebook.com/SilentFilmChicago/.