Horrorfest 28: The Man Who Laughs

This is another in a long line of flicks I've read about but never watched until recently. Back when I was a kid, reading horror movie books from the library, silent films like this were basically impossible to come by, even at the video store. Now, thanks to DVD and other technologies, these titles are widely available for anyone curious enough to check them out.

THE MAN WHO LAUGHS is probably most famous for the grotesque makeup created by Universal's master, Jack Pierce, who went on to create the famous Frankenstein's monster look. Lon Chaney, from HUNCHBACK and PHANTOM, was originally slated to star but that didn't end up working out. Even though Chaney is well-known as the man of a thousand faces and created several insane makeup effects of his own, Jack Pierce's work here is a step above.

The film stars Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine, the title character, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS. As a child, he had a cruel grin carved into his face in an act of revenge, so he's left with a devilish smile that he can never get rid of. He grows up to become a sideshow carnival attraction of some acclaim. Veidt was also in the immensely influential German expressionist film THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, widely regarded as the world's first horror film. In that film, his bony frame and hypnotic movements delivered the chills. In this one, the makeup twists his mouth into a menacing grin for the entire film, so he does most of his acting with his eyes.

To be honest, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS isn't really a horror film -- sure, the idea of having a monstrous grin carved onto your face permanently is horrific, and the sight of Gwynplaine's gaping smile is also terrible. But, beyond that, the story is mostly a romantic melodrama, as Gwynplaine falls in love with a blind girl (Mary Philbin), who loves him in return. But, he can't trust her love because she can't see him. When a good-for-nothing party-girl of a Duchess (Olga Baclanova) decides to flirt with him, Gwynplaine decides if he can prove to himself a woman like her would be into him, then that's proof enough that he also deserves the love of the beautiful blind girl.

So, because of the romantic melodrama, it's okay the Veidt's eyes do most of the work, and boy do they ever work. Despite the fact that he has a ghastly grin plastered on his face for the entire running length of the film, Veidt accomplishes the nearly impossible feat of making the audience feel his emotions and sympathize with him. You never forget that he's human under that grin, and his performance transcends the terrifying makeup while also being enhanced by it. There's little more tragic than a dude who's smiling even though he's in pain.

These days, the movie is probably most often referenced with its connection to BATMAN, specifically, the story that the face of THE MAN WHO LAUGHS was the inspiration for the Joker character. The latest film, DARK KNIGHT, even goes so far as to have the grin carved into the Joker's face, making the character that much closer to Gwynplaine. However, Gwynplaine's scars produce a romantic hero while The Joker's scars produce an unbalanced psychopath bent on revenge.

Another effective, if hammy, performance in the film comes from Brandon Hurst as the villain Barkilphedro. He starts as a sinister court jester and works his way up the ranks of royalty until he's a close advisor with the most powerful people in England. It's his discovery of a royal link between Gwynplaine and his deceased father, a rebellious Lord, that moves the treacherous plot into motion.

Somehow this flick seems a little more advanced than Chaney's epics, HUNCHBACK and PHANTOM. It was produced in 1928, so it has a few years on the Chaney films, and that might be it. Or, it might be the direction of Paul Leni, who was straight out of the school of German expressionism and added a level of weird gothic grandiosity to the whole affair.