The Man Who Laughs (1928 film)

The Man Who Laughs is a 1928 American silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugos novel of the same name and stars Mary Philbin as the blind Dea and Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine. The film is known for the grim carnival freaklike grin on the character Gwynplaines face, which often leads it to be classified as a horror film. Film critic Roger Ebert stated, The Man Who Laughs is a melodrama, at times even a swashbuckler, but so steeped in Expressionist gloom that it plays like a horror film.

Taking place in England in the year 1690, The Man Who Laughs features Gwynplaine, the son of an English nobleman who has offended King James II. The monarch sentences Gwynplaines father to death in an iron maiden, after calling upon a surgeon, Dr. Hardquannone, to disfigure the boys face into a permanent grin. As a title card states, the King condemned him to laugh forever at his fool of a father.The homeless Gwynplaine is seen wandering through a snowstorm and discovers an abandoned baby girl, the blind Dea. The two children are eventually taken in by Ursus, a mountebank. Years pass and Gwynplaine falls in love with Dea, but refuses to marry her because he feels his hideous face makes him unworthy. The three earn their living through plays highlighting the publics fascination with Gwynplaines disfigurement. Their travels bring them before the deceased Kings successor, Queen Anne. That is when Queen Annes jester, Barkilphedro, discovers records which reveal Gwynplaines lineage and his rightful inheritance of his fathers position in the court. ........

Source: Wikipedia