Paul Leni's The Man Who Laughs
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brandon Hurst, Conrad Veidt, Julius Molnar Jr., Mary Philbin, Olga BaclanovaBrand: Kino International
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); Japanese (Dubbed)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Silent
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-30
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 3102
Studio: Kino Video
Product features:
- MAN WHO LAUGHS, THE (DVD MOVIE)
Movie Reviews of Paul Leni's The Man Who Laughs
Movie Review: Beauty's only skin-deep
Summary: 5 Stars
Based on the well-known Victor Hugo novel, this story begins in the year 1690, when Lord Clancharlie is brought before King James II, bound and humiliated, and told that his young son Gwynplaine has been permanently disfigured by a band of Gypsies known as the Comprachicos. On order of the King, the Comprachicos have just been ordered to leave England, but little Gwynplaine is left behind, during the cold of winter. (Supposedly he's ten years old in the beginning, but I'd peg the little boy playing the young Gwynplaine as a few years younger than that.) He shortly discovers a woman sitting in the snow, dead, with a baby girl in her lap. He takes the baby to the nearest house he can find, to a philosopher named Ursus. It is discovered that the baby, Dea, is blind, and when Ursus orders Gwynplaine to stop laughing and is told he's not laughing, discovers to his horror that his face really is mutilated into a permanent grotesque smile.
Years go by and Gwynplaine (Conrad Veidt) and Dea (Mary Philbin) are all grown up, and touring England with Ursus as part of a circus and as performers in a play he's written, 'Le Homme Qui Rit,' 'The Man Who Laughs.' Though Gwynplaine is a real person with all of the normal human feelings and emotions, the crowds out there only laugh at him and see him as nothing more than a clown, someone who's expected to take all of their laughs and jeers without feeling pain. But Dea, who has grown up with him, isn't able to see what he looks like on the outside, and loves the beautiful man on the inside, even though Gwynplaine doesn't think she'd still love him and want to marry him could she see his horrifying permanent smile. (He's actually a dead ringer for the Joker.) Around this time it is discovered that Lord Clancharlie's son is alive and well, and that this heir must marry Duchess Josiana (Olga Baclanova), who stands to lose her estates inherited from Lord Clancharlie if she goes ahead with her marriage to Lord Dirry-Moir instead of this newly-discovered rightful heir. Duchess Josiana doesn't seem too committed to the idea of either marriage, preferring to have fun at local carnivals instead of attending to royal functions, but one couldn't easily say no to a royal edict in this era. All sorts of complications arise after the discovery of Gwynplaine's true identity, leading up to some very dramatic developments in both the circus and at court, and culminating in a dramatic chase through the streets of London at night, leaving the viewer wondering till the very end if there's going to be a happy ending or not.
Extras are a featurette on the making of the film and the long backstory behind it (the idea was five years in the making, and originally Carl Laemmle wanted Lon Chaney to play the star role), an excerpt of 'Die Filmstadt Hollywood,' showing Conrad Veidt and some other actors off the set, an excerpt of the Italian version of the film, information about the restoration (much of it drawn from the Italian release, which explains why somewhere in the middle, an untranslated Italian intertitle suddenly shows up), galleries of photos and promotional materials, and an excerpt from Hugo's original novel, which contains the original (notably different) ending. After reading the ending of the book, I'm actually glad the film had a different ending, and I usually prefer the book over the movie!
Though perhaps not quite so well-known as other silents, this one is a real emotional powerhouse, from the last really great year for silents. The artform was truly at its height in 1928, and would not have worked nearly so well as a talkie. Though Conrad Veidt could barely move his mouth due to the device holding it in that permanent Joker-like grin, he does a masterful job at expressing all of his emotions with his eyes. He says with his eyes what many speaking actors could never come even close to saying with words. And since the film was directed by Paul Leni, a recent import from Germany (who sadly died suddenly in 1929 at the age of only 44), it has a very Expressionistic influence on it, what with the lighting, mood, and sets. It has much more of a dark Gothic than Hollywood or 18th century England feel to it. Overall, I'm very happy that this film ended up being my 800th silent, a real milestone deserving of remembrance.
Summary of Paul Leni's The Man Who Laughs
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