Unholy Three (1925)

Three dime museum freaks -- Hercules (a strongman, played by Victor McLaglan), Professor Echo (a ventriloquist, played by Lon Chaney), and Tweedledee, a dwarf (played by Harry Earles) -- perform in a sideshow, while Rosie O'Grady (Mae Bush), who is in league with them, goes through the crowd picking pockets. Seeking larger stakes, the three men hit upon a plan to make themselves rich.

They open a store stocked with parrots that will not talk, and Echo, disguised as an old woman, works in the store, making the birds seem to talk by ventriloquism. After the birds are sold, if there are any complaints by dissatisfied customers, Echo goes to the customer's house, pushing Tweedledee, disguised as a baby, in a baby carriage. The two men then look over the customer's house, memorising the layout, while Echo makes the bird talk again by ventriloquism, silencing the customer's complaint.

They later return and rob the likely houses. They hire Hector, a gentle clerk, and Rosie falls in love with him. However on Christmas Eve, Hercules and Tweedledee kill someone while on a job, and Hector is blamed for the crime. Rosie and "The Unholy Three" take to the hills, and Rosie promises to stay with Echo if he will save Hector; Echo returns to the city and has Hector acquitted by testifying for him--sitting on the witness stand mumbling the Lord's Prayer. Echo later allows Rosie to go to Hector, and a gorilla kills Hercules and Tweedledee.

The ventriloquism theme must have been interesting in a silent film.

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