In West of Zanzibar the screenplay concerns a vengeful stage magician (Lon Chaney) named Phroso who becomes paralyzed in a brawl with a rival (Lionel Barrymore). The screenplay is based on the 1926 play Kongo by Charles de Vonde and Kilbourn Gordon. Walter Huston starred in the stage play and later played Phroso again in the 1932 sound film remake of the same story which was also called Kongo.
Anna played by Jacqueline Gadsden cannot bring herself to tell her professional magician husband, The Great Phroso played by Lon Chaney, that she is leaving him.
Her lover, an ivory trader named Crane played by Lionel Barrymore, informs Phroso that he is taking Anna away with him to Africa, and when an argument ensues, Crane pushes the distraught husband away from him so forcefully that he falls over a railing and is crippled, losing the use of his legs.
After leaving the hospital, Phroso learns to get around the neighborhood by propelling himself on a small wooden platform. After a year, he learns that Anna has returned from Africa apparently because Crane tired of her and threw her out. He finds his wife dead from starvation in a church, with a baby beside her. He swears to avenge himself on both Crane and the child.
Doors & bar open at 11am. Drinks, refreshments, tea and coffee and snacks available. Movie screens at 12 noon. $15 for adults and free for kids 13 and under.
Film duration 65 minutes