The Man Who Laughs (1928)

Directed by Paul Leni
Written by J. Grubb Alexander and Walter Anthony
Based on the Novel by Victor Hugo
Starring Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin, Olga Baclanova and Cesare Gravina

When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James II in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son is surgically disfigured to have a perpetual smile. When the child is adopted by an old man, he becomes a sideshow at fairs across the country and gains much fame.

This is not the dark story I was expecting after reading exerts from the novel. And nowhere close to as depressing as we have been accustomed from Victor Hugo, this film is teeters on the edge of it's brooding source material, but never falters. Made for a pre-great depression audience, I can only assume the tragic tones of the book were not favored in the production of this classic movie.

It is categorized as horror, although only by the silent-era's standards. But it fails to create the unsettling tones of other films in the genre back then. Films like "The Cabinet of Dr. Caliagari" and "Nosferatu" were proof that America had a long way to come before equaling the quality of German silent-horrors, in which they were unmatched.

That is not to say that "The Man Who Laughs" is a bad film. There is a reason that the film studios didn't destroy the copies of this film to make space for newer movies (which sadly was quite frequent). This is a classic. Although I would categorize it more as a romantic-drama by today's standards. It fits better in that genre, in my opinion.

And at times, comedic.

Conrad Veidt was incredible as the titular character. He perfectly encapsulated a man insecure with his own appearance, who wanted nothing but to not be laughed at. To think of how many hours he worked with that huge smile on his face, but also having to express sadness through his eyes is truly astonishing.

With all of these silent films I have been watching, I am beginning to believe that the golden age of cinema was, in fact, the silent era, not the 40+ years following it. The scale and ingenuity of these films make them incomparable to any films to come in later years. The amount of emotion they expressed with no works, apart from the few shown on title cards, is and impressive feat.

And, yes. The Joker was inspired by the character design of Gwynplaine.

My Rating: 6/10