The Man Who Laughs (1928)

Director:

Paul Leni

Writers:

J. Grubb Alexander (adaptation)
J. Grubb Alexander (continuity)
(more)

Release Date:

4 November 1928 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Plot:

Gwynplaine, son of Lord Clancharlie, has a permanent smile carved on his face by the King, in revenge for Gwynplaine's father's treachery...

Plot Keywords:

Haunted By Past | Humanity | 17th Century | Love Triangle | Disfigured Face

Cast

Mary Philbin	...	Dea
Conrad Veidt	...	Gwynplaine
Julius Molnar Jr.	...	Gwynplaine as a child
Olga Baclanova	...	Duchess Josiana
Brandon Hurst	...	Barkilphedro
Cesare Gravina	...	Ursus
Stuart Holmes	...	Lord Dirry-Moir
Sam De Grasse	...	King James II
George Siegmann	...	Dr. Hardquanonne
Josephine Crowell	...	Queen Anne
Charles Puffy	...	Innkeeper
Zimbo the Dog	...	Homo the Wolf (as Zimbo)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Henry A. Barrows	...	(uncredited)
Richard Bartlett	...	(uncredited)
Les Bates	...	(uncredited)
Charles Brinley	...	(uncredited)
Allan Cavan	...	(uncredited)
D'Arcy Corrigan	...	(uncredited)
Carmen Costello	...	Dea's Mother (uncredited)
Carrie Daumery	...	Lady-in-Waiting (uncredited)
Howard Davies	...	(uncredited)
Nick De Ruiz	...	Wapentake (uncredited)
Louise Emmons	...	Gypsey Hag (uncredited)
J.C. Fowler	...	(uncredited)
John George	...	Dwarf (uncredited)
Jack A. Goodrich	...	Clown (uncredited)
Charles Hancock	...	(uncredited)
Lila LaPon	...	Featured (uncredited)
Torben Meyer	...	The Spy (uncredited)
Joe Murphy	...	Hardquanones messenger (uncredited)
Edgar Norton	...	Lord High Chancellor (uncredited)
Broderick O'Farrell	...	(uncredited)
Lon Poff	...	(uncredited)
Frank Puglia	...	Clown (uncredited)
Henry Roquemore	...	(uncredited)
Templar Saxe	...	(uncredited)
Allan Sears	...	(uncredited)
Scott Seaton	...	(uncredited)
Louis Stern	...	(uncredited)
Al Stewart	...	(uncredited)
Anton Vaverka	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Paul Leni

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
J. Grubb Alexander		adaptation
J. Grubb Alexander		continuity
Walter Anthony		titles
Victor Hugo		novel "L'Homme Qui Rit"
May McLean		uncredited
Marion Ward		uncredited
Charles E. Whittaker		uncredited

Produced by
Paul Kohner	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
William Axt		(uncredited)
Sam Perry		(uncredited)
Erno Rapee		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Gilbert Warrenton

Film Editing by
Edward L. Cahn		(as Edward Cahn)

Art Direction by
Charles D. Hall
Thomas F. O'Neill		(as Thomas O'Neil)
Joseph C. Wright		(as Joseph Wright)

Costume Design by
David Cox
Vera West

Makeup Department
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Paul Kohner	....	production supervisor

Editorial Department
Maurice Pivar	....	editorial supervisor

Music Department
Joseph Cherniavsky	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Walter Anthony	....	titles
Charles D. Hall	....	technical director
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter
Lew Landers	....	production staff member (as Louis Friedlander)
Jay Marchant	....	production staff member
R.H. Newlands	....	technical researcher (as Prof. R.H. Newlands)
Thomas F. O'Neill	....	technical director
Bela Sekely	....	story supervisor (as Dr. Bela Sekely)
John M. Voshell	....	production staff member
Joseph C. Wright	....	technical director (as Joseph Wright)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1928) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• Magnus Opus (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Sunrise Silents (2004) (worldwide) (DVD) (NTSC) (PAL)

Also Known As:

Hombre que ríe, El (Spain) [es]
Homem Que Ri, O (Brazil) [pt]
Homme qui rit, L' (France) [fr]
Mann, der lacht, Der (Germany) [de]
Nauruihminen (Finland) [fi]
Uomo che ride, L' (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (musical score and sound effects) | Silent

Filming Locations:

Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Lon Chaney was originally cast as Gwynplaine, but at the last minute, he withdrew.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Barkilphedro first reads the blackmail note from Doctor Hardquanonne, we are shown a shot of the full text of the note. Toward the bottom, it says, "You are rich...". Seconds later, we see close-ups of the note. Words have been rearranged on the page to make the close-ups more readable and the lower portion now says, "You will be penniless," -- a phrase that didn't appear anywhere in the original text.

Quotes:

Gwynplaine: [Via subtitles, to the House of Lords] A king made me a clown! A queen made me a Peer! But first, God made me a man!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Black Dahlia (2006)

Soundtrack:

WHEN LOVE COMES STEALING

Veidt and Leni and Victor Hugo

A lord refuses to kiss the hand of King James II, so is doubly punished: he perishes in the "Iron Lady" [onscreen in a memorably handled sequence] while his son is sent to a surgeon who [offscreen] carves a grin on his face "so he can forever laugh at his father". Sheltered by a kindly playwright ["like Shakespeare, only much better!"], the boy grows up to join his troupe of itinerant players as the star attraction: "The Man Who Laughs". His fortunes lead him to a blind girl, an ambitious duchess, and Queen Anne, who reinstates him to the nobility, but with further complications.

Conrad Veidt, in a career stretching from CALIGARI to CASABLANCA, always found the emotional authenticity in bizarre roles. Here, in the familiar 19th century figure of the suffering clown, his performance is transfixing: whether tremulous as the girl's hand explores his face, or mortified by the laughter of the House of Lords, Veidt's face makes the role more than a simple martyr: he is man struggling with unjust destiny ["A king made me a clown, a queen made me a lord, but first God made me a man!"].

Big-hearted and unashamedly dramatic, this is clearly the work of Victor Hugo, rags to riches in scope, offering consolation in love. The spirit of the French Revolution is very much in the air in this world of cruel privilege and class antagonism, full of secret doors, dungeons, and volatile mobs. While not as richly populated as Les Miserables and Hunchback, this adaptation still has spectacular set-pieces and elaborate settings.

Considerably less revolutionary is the conventional portrayal of women: virgin and vamp are the only alternatives. The former is the blind girl played by Mary Philbin [who had earlier unmasked Lon Chaney's Phantom]. With blond ringlets arranged to make her face heart-shaped, she edges close to simpering yet rises to genuinely moving moments. The vamp is Olga Baclanova [who became the blonde tormentor in Tod Browning's FREAKS], here writhing around in a black negligee and looking startlingly like Madonna.

Today, the films of Paul Leni are hard to track down, but worth the effort. Starting as an art director, Leni developed his visual command in Berlin; this Germanic style stands out in some beautifully designed compositions, such as a dynamic night sequence: a ship, full of gypsies being deported, heaves through a furious snowstorm. Yet Leni always works at the heart of the human values in the story, sustaining intense moments for all his actors. While some scenes are staged in darkness to rival a film noir, Leni also floods Veidt and Philbin with light, often focusing on one nuance per shot, an old-fashioned but effective strategy.

Filmed on the cusp of the sound revolution, this semi-silent has added sound effects and rather vague non-stop music but no spoken dialogue.