The Man Who Laughs is a 1928 American romantic drama silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1869 novel of the same name, and stars Mary Philbin as the blind Dea and Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine. The film is known for the grotesque grin on the character Gwynplaine's 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."
The Man Who Laughs is a romantic melodrama similar to films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The film was one of the earliest Universal Picture films that made the transition from silent films to sound films using the Movietone sound system introduced by William Fox. The film was completed in August 1927 but was set for release in October 1928 with sound effects and a musical score which included the song "When Love Comes Stealing."
Plot
In late 17th-century England, court jester Barkilphedro informs King James II of the capture of Lord Clancharlie, an exiled nobleman, who has returned for his young son, Gwynplaine. The King tells Lord Clancharlie that a grin was carved upon the boy's face by Hardquanonne, a Comprachico surgeon. Lord Clancharlie is executed in an iron maiden.
Shortly afterward, the King issues a decree banishing all Comprachicos from England. A group of Comprachicos prepares to set sail from England, abandoning young Gwynplaine. The boy struggles through a snowstorm and rescues a baby girl whose mother had frozen to death. They are taken in by Ursus, a kindly philosopher-showman, and his pet wolf, Homo. Ursus realizes that the baby girl, named Dea, is blind.
Years later, Gwynplaine and Dea, now adults and in love, travel the countryside with Ursus, performing plays he has written for them. Gwynplaine's frozen smile has earned him widespread popularity as "The Laughing Man," but he is deeply ashamed of his disfigurement, believing himself unworthy of Dea's affections. Hardquanonne recognizes Gwynplaine at the Southwark Fair and sends a letter to the Duchess Josiana, which is intercepted by Barkilphedro, now an influential agent of the court. The letter claims knowledge of a living heir to the estates of Lord Clancharlie – currently being occupied by the Duchess – and suggests that she pay Hardquanonne for his silence. Barkilphedro shows the letter to Queen Anne, and his men take Hardquanonne to Chatham Prison to be tortured. The Queen sends the Duchess's fiancé, Lord Dirry-Moir, to retrieve her after she shirks her duties at the royal court. Dirry-Moir finds the Duchess shamelessly cavorting with the local men at the Southwark Fair. A brawl breaks out, and she leaves for Kensington Palace.
From a balcony, the Duchess watches Gwynplaine's act at the fair, and finds herself both sexually aroused and repelled by his disfigurement. A messenger gives him a note arranging a rendezvous at midnight, and while conflicted over his feelings for Dea, he sneaks out of the caravan that night. His departure is heard by a worried and heartbroken Dea, who finds the letter. Gwynplaine is ushered inside the Duchess's estate, where she attempts to seduce him, but is interrupted by the delivery of a pronouncement informing her of Gwynplaine's noble lineage and the Queen's decree that she marry Gwynplaine, thereby legitimizing her occupation of the late Lord Clancharlie's estates, with her engagement to Dirry-Moir already having been annulled. The Duchess begins to laugh, causing Gwynplaine to rush away, devastated at again being made into a mockery.
Gwynplaine returns home and extracts the Duchess's letter clutched in Dea's hands as she sleeps. He tears the note into pieces before breaking down into tears, overcome by guilt. Dea wakes up, relieved to find he has returned. He guides her hands to feel his smile for the first time, and she reassures him that God made her sightless so she could see only the real Gwynplaine. Guards arrive to arrest Gwynplaine, and he is taken to Chatham Prison. When the guards later march out of the prison bearing Hardquanonne's coffin, Ursus mistakenly concludes that Gwynplaine has been executed. Barkilphedro arrives to notify Ursus he has been banished from England, and cruelly lies to him that the "laughing mountebank" is dead. Hearing this from the stage, Dea faints in shock.