The Man Who Laughs

Paul Leni's silent classic THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (1928) is an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name and tells the story of disfigured carnival ‘freak’ Gwynplaine and his trials and tribulations in 17th century England.

England 1680: King James II sentences his political enemy Lord Clancharlie (Conrad Veidt) to a gruesome death in the ‘Iron Maiden’. Before his execution, Lord Clancharlie begs for the safety of his only son Gwynplaine (Julius Molnar Jr.). Instead, he is coldly informed by the scheming court jester Barkilphedro (Brandon Hurst) that the boy has been ‘purchased’ by comprachico (child-buyer) Dr. Hardquanonne (George Siegmann) who, as a cruel punishment, permanentlly disfigured the unfortunate child by mutilating his mouth into a perpetual grin so that the boy will laugh forever at his ‘fool of a father’. Hardquanonne’s band of gypsies are exiled shortly after but refuse to take Gwynplaine with them, instead they desert him in the cold of winter. Wandering aimlessly through a snowstorm the boy stumbles across a young mother who, frozen to death, holds her baby girl which is still alive but, as it transpires, blind. The boy takes pity and wraps the infant in his cape. While stomping through the snow, Gwynplaine encounters Ursus (Cesare Gravina), a quack living in his caravan. Ursus offers shelter and names the baby girl Dea. Years pass and Gwynplaine is now an adult (also played by Conrad Veidt) who has joined Ursus’ travelling carnival as a freak show attraction called ‘The Laughing Man’. With them travels Dea (Mary Philbin) who, due to her blindness, has no idea about Gwynplaine’s disfigurement… although the two have become romantically involved he avoids kissing her out of fear that she might discover his grotesque grin and stop loving him.

Months pass and the circus is travelling from town to town and from village to village with Gwynplaine as its firm sensation. Meanwhile at the court of Queen Anne (Josephine Crowell), Barkilphedro (who already had his fare share in Lord Clancharlie’s death sentence) stumbles across some records which reveal the disfigured man’s royal lineage and rightful inheritance… which means bad news for unscrupulous vamp Duchess Josiana (Olga Baklanova) – illegitimate daughter of King James II - who currently possesses the estate and is betrothed to the dimwitted Lord Dirry-Moir (Samuel de Grasse). On advice Josiana visits the Southwark Fair where she attends Gwynplaine’s performance and later on requests his visit in court where she, giving in to her kinky tastes, attempts to seduce him though he does the right thing and leaves in a hurry. The Queen makes it clear that if the proper ownership of the estate is to be restored she is to break up with Lord Dirry-Moir (who has been disinherited) and marry Gwynplaine instead… leading to his kidnapping by the scheming Barkilphedro while Ursus, his circus troupe and a heartbroken Dea are made to believe that Gwynplaine is dead. At the palace Gwynplaine, who has been granted his peerage and thus his seat in the House of Lords, renounces his title and leaves the palace in a hurry yet again… only this time is he pursued by a horde of angry guards adamant to bring the ungrateful man back to the palace… What follows is a breathtaking derring-do chase with Gwynplaine hoping to reach the docks (and his beloved Dea) before the circus, which now has been banned from England, sails away direction France though thanks to Ursus’ pet wolf Homo – the real hero who saves the day – a happy ending is in sight… unlike in Hugo’s novel in which both Dea and Gwyplaine die at the end, just like Quasimodo and the gypsy girl Esmeralda in ‘The Hunback of Notre Dame’.

17th century England is vividly portrayed and the combination of melodrama, horror, pathos and action rightly elevated this film to the status of a masterpiece although critics were mixed upon the film’s initial theatrical release. Conrad Veidt gives one of the best performances of his career, enduring an uncomfortable make-up and prostetics which served as a direct influence to The Joker in the DC ‘Batman’ comics!

The 4K restored THE MAN WHO LAUGHS is presented in a limited O-Card Slipcase edition (first print run of 2000 units). Bonus material includes two different film scores, archive gallery, collectors booklet, a brandnew video essay by David Cairns and Fiona Watson, the featurette ‘Paul Leni and The Man Who Laughs’ plus interview with horror expert Kim Newman.