The Unknown 1927 Alonzo is an armless knife thrower and gun shooter for a circus or so he appears He is actually a criminal with his arms intact He and his accomplice, Cojo a little person, are hiding from the police Alonzo views his disguise as perfect, especially since it keeps from view an unusual deformity of his left hand that would immediately give him away as the criminal the police are searching for Nanon, the daughter of Zanzi, the circus owner, is the target in his act Although Alonzo is in love with her, Nanons father despises him Malabar, the circus strong man, is attracted to Nanon but she is repulsed by his uninhibited sexual advances and desire to touch and hold her Her phobia extends to the touch of any mans hand Alonzo feeds her fears in the hopes that Nanon will fall in love with him since he is armless Because Zanzi discovers Alonzo really has arms, Alonzo kills him, but Nanon witnesses the killing without seeing Alonzos face however, she does see the telltale deformity of his left hand As Alonzo continues to plot to steal Nanon away from Mirabar, Cojo makes him realize that she will hate him once she discovers he has arms and the deformity showing that he is her fathers murderer Alonzo decides to have both his arms amputated, which he succeeds in doing through blackmailing a surgeon While Alonzo is away recuperating from the surgery, Nanon gets over her fear of being touched and falls completely in love with Mirabar Discovering this upon his return, Alonzo hatches a scheme to kill Mirabar as he attempts his latest, most dangerous stunt