Written by J. Grubb Alexander And Walter Anthony And Mary McLean And Charles E. Whittaker
Directed by Paul Leni
Gwynplaine: "A king made me a clown! A queen made me a Peer! But first, God made me a man!"
There's always that ovie from that one actor that you haven't watched but know you should. The one actor would be Conrad Veidt and the one film of course would be The Man Who Laughs.
It's a film that has quite the reputation, both in the genre of movie it belonged, the adaptation of a classic novel from Victor Hugo and of course, it's even a movie where the central character's appearance would later go on to inspire one of the most iconic fictional villains of all time.
Getting to the movie itself, I can see this movie has been lauded so much. Conrad Veidt's transformation into Gwynplaine was something to behold. A victim of a surgeon named Hardquanonne (George Siegmann) knife at the behest of the King James II (Sam De Grasse).
The act was done to spite Gwynplaine's father, Lord Clancharlie (Conrad Veidt), who was executed early in the movie. Time passed by and Gwynplaine and Dea (Mary Philbin) were travelling and performing the plays by Ursus (Cesare Gravina) while also being in love with each other.
Despite his frozen smile, Gwynplaine also attracted the attention of the Duchess (Olga Baclanova), who found him both repulsive and arousing. She also saw his royal heritage as something to boost her own social standing while being openly mocking of Gwynplaine.
The second half of the movie varied between Gwynplaine being both a prisoner, a free man and believed dead by various characters as well as a deeper connection between Gwynplaine and the blind Dea. Their love story did have a sweetness to it along with Gwynplaine's dynamic with Homo the Dog and the more antagonistic one with the brutal Barkilphedro (Brandon Hurst).
- The book this movie's based on came out in 1869. This adaptation followed a successful version of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1923).
- The popular villain whose look would be inspired by this film of course was the Joker.
- Standout music: When Love Comes Stealing, composed by Ernö Rapée.
- Chronology: Late 17th and early 18th Century England.
The Man Who Laughs nearly a century later has held up as an extraordinary film. Conrad Veidt gives such a compelling performance throughout this entire movie.
Rating: 9 out of 10
