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Rating:  - A Poor Man's Pagliacci
The Man Who Laughs is considered by many to be an essential silent film. Its use of the grotesque certainly makes an impact on the viewer. When Gwynplaine (Conrad Veidt) was a young boy, he was surgically forced to smile at all times as a reminder of the tyranny done to his father by those in power. As an heir to the throne, he was meant to be killed, but he manages to stay alive after being adopted by a showman. He is loved by a blind girl named Dea (Mary Philbin), but Gwynplaine's eerie appearance causes him a great deal of pain. His smile is put on display nightly for the townsfolk of the country for them to laugh at his ailment. When the rebellious duchess (Olga Baclanova) sets her sights on him, a new world of trouble and heartbreak opens up for Gwynplaine.
The message of the film is ambiguous. In some ways, it seems that one is to feel sorry for Gwynplaine who suffers from the smile inflicted upon him. At the same time, it is impossible not to be slightly put off by his appearance. The original choice for the part was Lon Chaney who doubtless would have been more sympathetic in the part. But was that what the film makers were going for? As it stands, The Man Who Laughs is an enjoyable and memorable film.
Also included on this DVD are some great extra features. One featurette talks about the making of the film. Another is a home video montage of many stars including Veidt. Finally, there are some photo galleries.
Rating:  - Beauty's only skin-deep
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.
Rating: - An underrated masterpiece of silent cinema
"The Man Who Laughs" is one of those near-forgotten silent films that deserve much more praise and attention, especially as it was well received in the late 1920s following the success of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "The Phantom of the Opera" which are in a similar category. In fact, Lon Chaney would have suited this role of yet another pitiful grotesque mutant, but due to his contract with MGM, the German-born producer, Carl Laemmle, chose a German crew which resulted in a definite German Expressionist flavour to this film. In the lead is Conrad Veidt, playing perhaps his best ever role as the mutilated man with a permanent grin on his face, and next to Mary Philbin, who starred in "The Phantom of the Opera", Veidt's performance is most moving and impressive. Unable to move his mouth due to the huge, grotesque grin, Veidt expresses the character's deep and strong emotions with his eyes and body language, for which the silent film is the perfect medium. The story for this unusual film is based on a 17th century French novel, but several changes were made to adapt it to the screen and win over American audiences especially. The scene is still 17th century with good sets and costumes of the period, and the overall mood is reminiscent of the gloomy, shadowy German Expressionist cinema of the 1920s, but Conrad Veidt's character demands viewers' full attention and almost detracts from the rest of the film's fine qualities. Working closely with fellow-German director Paul Leni (who directed "Waxworks", an earlier successful Expressionist film) Veidt manages to convey all the emotions of a man laughed at and treated like a clown due to his freakish face, at the same time struggling to feel worthy of a woman's love. Apart from this superb expressive character portrayal, the story is rich in royal court intrigues, not unlike stories such as The Three Musketeers and The Iron Mask, with treacherous assistants to the King, and a reckless, seductive duchess. `The Laughing Man', as he is called in his circus/freak show, becomes a pawn for the corrupt characters of the royal house, which separates him from his love and his circus show partner, Dea; the blind girl. There are some very stirring and beautiful scenes between these two players, and one of them is highlighted with the original Movietone soundtrack song, which was becoming all the fashion in the late 1920s. Restored to good-as-new condition like the picture quality, this soundtrack made for the film is well-suited and sounds very much like the music of early sound films. There are also a number of bonus features on this DVD such as a 20-minute short "the making of" documentary, a short candid home video of Veidt and other European stars such as Jannings and Greta Garbo, as well as extensive photo galleries of stills, photos and all kinds of promotional material concerning the film. There is also an insert with a good article written by the author of various books about early films and Conrad Veidt so that anyone from serious fan to general curious viewer should be well satisfied. While not as popular as Chaney's films `the Hunchback' and `the Phantom', "The Man Who Laughs" definitely deserves a place up there along with other top quality productions from the late silent era.
Rating:  - Good but not great
"Man Who Laughs" is good but not great (Metropolis is my standard of greatness). Visually, it's very good, especially the Expressionist -influenced elements. The first act shows enormous promise, but towards the middle it slips into a tired romance melodrama requiring the use of fast forward in a few places. This film (and the novel on which it is based) will be of some interest to fans of Batman because the protagonist is cosmetically similar to the Joker.
Rating: - Conrad Veidt in a silent masterpiece!!
This is one of the true great films of the silent era. Veidt plays a disfigured character with a permant grin on his face. For those of you who this sounds familiar too, this is where they came up with the famous comic book villian the Joker from Batman. This is a great dvd to introduce you to silent films. I often wish I could find an original movie poster or lobby cards for this film. The transfer is great! Watch and enjoy!!
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