The Man Who Laughs (1928)
Directed by: Paul Leni
Starring: Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin
Length: 110 min
Genre: Drama
Based on: Novel "The Man Who Laughs" by Victor Hugo
Gwynplaine (Conrad Veidt) is the son of a nobleman who has offended the king. The king kills the nobleman and has his surgeon carve a smile onto Gwynplaine's face. He is left behind by the gypsies he was left with and wanders around until he finds an abandoned blind child named Dea (Mary Philbin).
Years later, Gwynplaine and Dea perform plays for a public fascinated by Gwynplaine's disfigurement. Gwynplaine has also fallen in love with Dea, but will not allow himself to be with her. Queen Anna, the king's successor, is informed of Gwynplaine's lineage by her jester. The Queen arranges a marriage between a duchess and Gwynplaine and has Dea and the rest of Gwynplaine's friends banished. Gwynplaine escapes the castle, though, and flees the country with Dea. Happily ever after. The end.
A pretty good movie, but formulaic. The ending was changed to a happy ending, as is the usual case with movies made from tragedies. Gwynplaine
, in case you can't tell from the picture above, was the inspiration for The Joker. Without this movie, The Joker might look very different today.
Universal wanted another "gothic drama" following the success of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera, and had originally wanted Lon Cheney for this movie, but he had signed a long term deal with MGM. The film's producer, Carl Laemmle, had connections to the German film industry, and recruited Paul Leni (The Cat and the Canary) and Conradr Veidt (played Cesare in The Cabinent of Dr. Caligari) for this movie.
My Rating: 7/10
IMDB Rating: 8.0/10 (900 Votes)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% (6 reviews)