The Penalty (film)

The Penalty is an American crime film starring Lon Chaney and originally released in 1920. The movie was directed by Wallace Worsley, and written by Philip Lonergan and Charles Kenyon, based upon the pulp novel by Gouverneur Morris. The supporting cast includes Charles Clary, Doris Pawn, Jim Mason, and Claire Adams.

The film follows gangster Blizzard Lon Chaney, whose legs were mistakenly amputated at a young age. Driven insane by the social pressures of being forced to walk on crutches, Blizzard becomes a crime lord. He tracks down the doctor who performed his operation, and plots a twisted revenge kidnap the doctors daughters fiance Clary, and graft his legs onto Blizzards stumps.The apparatus worn by Chaney to simulate amputated legs, which consisted primarily of two wooden buckets and multiple leather straps, was complex and incredibly painful. Chaneys knees sat in the buckets, while his lower legs were tied back. Studio doctors asked that Chaney not wear the device, but he insisted on doing so, so that his costume would be authentic. ........

Source: Wikipedia