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The Man Who Laughs (1928)
Director: Paul Leni
Writer: Victor Hugo (novel), J. Grubb Alexander (adaptation)
Cast: Mary Philbin, Conrad Veidt, Julius Molnar
Genre: Drama,Mystery
I swear that's Madonna circa 1990 in that screen shot. And yeah I've said that before about Freaks. That's Olga Baclanova in both films btw. I think it's a fine film that's based on the French author Victor Hugo's work, Hugo also wrote Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And in the last chase scene when Gwynplaine is trapped in a castle looking tower, the crane shot of him looking down at the pursuing crowd below from atop of the buildings pinnacle, reminded me of the same scene with Lon Chaney in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
To me The Man Who Laughs isn't so much about the story or the world building or even the look of the film. To me it's about one thing...the sustained look of nervous fear on the face of the great Conrad Veidt. Matching that frozen look of a nightmarish grin carved in his face, is the beautifully serene gaze of the elfin like Mary Philbin as Dea. Those expressions spoke volumes and conveyed inner being that no narrative could.
The Man Who Laughs (1928)
Writer: Victor Hugo (novel), J. Grubb Alexander (adaptation)
Cast: Mary Philbin, Conrad Veidt, Julius Molnar
Genre: Drama,Mystery
"When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured."
I swear that's Madonna circa 1990 in that screen shot. And yeah I've said that before about Freaks. That's Olga Baclanova in both films btw. I think it's a fine film that's based on the French author Victor Hugo's work, Hugo also wrote Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And in the last chase scene when Gwynplaine is trapped in a castle looking tower, the crane shot of him looking down at the pursuing crowd below from atop of the buildings pinnacle, reminded me of the same scene with Lon Chaney in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
To me The Man Who Laughs isn't so much about the story or the world building or even the look of the film. To me it's about one thing...the sustained look of nervous fear on the face of the great Conrad Veidt. Matching that frozen look of a nightmarish grin carved in his face, is the beautifully serene gaze of the elfin like Mary Philbin as Dea. Those expressions spoke volumes and conveyed inner being that no narrative could.