The Man Who Laughs (1928 film)
Encyclopedia
The Man Who Laughs is an American
silent film
directed by the German Expressionist
filmmaker Paul Leni
. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo
's novel of the same name
and stars Conrad Veidt
as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin
as the blind
Dea. The film is known for the grim carnival freak-like 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
(1923). The film was one of the early Universal Pictures
productions that made the transition from silent films to sound films, using the Movietone sound system
introduced by William Fox
. The film was completed in April 1927 but was held for release in April 1928, with sound effects and a music score that included the song, "When Love Comes Stealing," by Walter Hirsch, Lew Pollack
, and Erno Rapee
.
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 Gwynplaine's father to death in an iron maiden
, after calling upon a surgeon, Dr. Hardquannone, to disfigure the boy's face into a permanent rictus 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 public's fascination with Gwynplaine's disfigurement. Their travels bring them before the deceased King's successor, Queen Anne
. That is when Queen Anne's jester, Barkilphedro, discovers records which reveal Gwynplaine's lineage and his rightful inheritance of his father's position in the court.
Gwynplaine's deceased father's estate is currently owned by the Duchess Josiana and Queen Anne decrees that the royal duchess must marry Gwynplaine, as its rightful heir, to make things right. Josiana, who knows who Gwynplaine is, arranges a rendezvous and is sexually attracted to, but also repelled by the "Laughing Man" image. Gwynplaine, made a Peer
in the House of Lords
, refuses the Queen's order of marriage and escapes, chased by guards. He finds Ursus and Dea at the docks, sailing from England under banishment, and joins them on the boat. The film leaves off the tragic
ending of Hugo's original novel, in which Dea dies while at sea and Gwynplaine drowns himself.
had large hits with Gothic
dramas such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame
(1923) and The Phantom of the Opera
(1925), the company encouraged film producer
Carl Laemmle
to produce a follow-up in a similar vein. Laemmle decided to film Victor Hugo
's The Man Who Laughs
. The title role was originally meant for Lon Chaney
(who starred in the previous Universal films), but he was under a long-term contract with MGM Studios.
Being of German
ancestry, Laemmle had connections with the German film scene, which gave him an inside track when negotiating with some of Germany's filmmakers and actors. Laemmle had seen director Paul Leni
's Waxworks
(1926) and was impressed with the movie's sets and ominous stylistics. Laemmle chose Leni to accept the challenge of crafting the film adaptation. In addition, Laemmle pursued Veidt, who played a prominent role in Waxworks, to star. Veidt had also previously starred in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
(1920).
Baclanova's resemblance to modern singer Madonna
in The Man Who Laughs has been noted by current critics.
Universal put over $1,000,000 into The Man Who Laughs, an extremely high budget for an American film at the time.
. In recent times, the assessment has been more positive. Critic Roger Ebert
declared it "One of the final treasures of German silent Expressionism".
Although actor Kirk Douglas
was long interested in producing a remake
, The Man Who Laughs has only been refilmed once in the sound era, as L'Uomo che Ride by Italian
director Sergio Corbucci
in 1966. Corbucci, however, changed the setting from Queen Anne's England to the 16th century Italian
court of the Borgias.
released a Region 1 DVD
.
J.D. Salinger Nine Stories, The Laughing Man.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
directed by the German Expressionist
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
filmmaker Paul Leni
Paul Leni
Paul Leni born Paul Josef Levi was a German filmmaker and a key figure in German Expressionist filmmaking, making Backstairs and Waxworks in Germany, and The Cat and the Canary , The Chinese Parrot , The Man Who Laughs , and The Last Warning in...
. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's novel of the same name
The Man Who Laughs
The Man Who Laughs is a novel by Victor Hugo, originally published in April 1869 under the French title L'Homme qui rit. Also published under the title By Order of the King...
and stars Conrad Veidt
Conrad Veidt
Conrad Veidt was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , The Man Who Laughs , The Thief of Bagdad and Casablanca...
as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin
Mary Philbin
Mary Philbin was a notable film actress of the silent film era. Philbin is probably best remembered for playing the roles of Christine Daaé in the 1925 film The Phantom of the Opera opposite screen legend Lon Chaney and Dea in The Man Who Laughs...
as the blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
Dea. The film is known for the grim carnival freak-like grin on the character Gwynplaine's face, which often leads it to be classified as a horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
stated, "The Man Who Laughs is a melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
, at times even a swashbuckler
Swashbuckler films
Swashbuckler films are an action-adventure subgenre often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, often set in Renaissance Western Europe with appropriately lavish costumes. Morality is often clear-cut, heroic characters are clearly heroic and even villains tend to have a...
, but so steeped in Expressionist gloom that it plays like a horror film."
The Man Who Laughs is a Romantic
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
, similar to films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American film directed by Wallace Worsley and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. It stars Lon Chaney, Sr., Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, Brandon Hurst. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel,...
(1923). The film was one of the early Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
productions that made the transition from silent films to sound films, using the Movietone sound system
Movietone sound system
The Movietone sound system is a sound-on-film method of recording sound for motion pictures that guarantees synchronization between sound and picture. It achieves this by recording the sound as a variable-density optical track on the same strip of film that records the pictures...
introduced by William Fox
William Fox (producer)
William Fox born Fried Vilmos was a pioneering Hungarian American motion picture executive who founded the Fox Film Corporation in 1915 and the Fox West Coast Theatres chain in the 1920s...
. The film was completed in April 1927 but was held for release in April 1928, with sound effects and a music score that included the song, "When Love Comes Stealing," by Walter Hirsch, Lew Pollack
Lew Pollack
Lew Pollack was a song composer active during the 1920s and the 1930s.Pollack was born in New York. Among his best known songs are "Charmaine" and "Diane" with Ernö Rapée, "Miss Annabelle Lee", "Two Cigarettes in the Dark", "At the Codfish Ball" , and Go In and Out The Window, now a...
, and Erno Rapee
Erno Rapee
Ernö Rapée was one of the most prolific American symphonic conductors in the first half of the 20th Century...
.
Plot summary
Taking place in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the year 1690, The Man Who Laughs features Gwynplaine, the son of an English nobleman who has offended King James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
. The monarch sentences Gwynplaine's father to death in an iron maiden
Iron maiden (torture device)
An iron maiden is a torture device, consisting of an iron cabinet, with a hinged front, sufficiently tall to enclose a human being. It usually has a small closeable opening so that the torturer can interrogate the victim and torture or kill a person by piercing the body with sharp objects , while...
, after calling upon a surgeon, Dr. Hardquannone, to disfigure the boy's face into a permanent rictus grin
Glasgow smile
A Glasgow smile refers to the wound that results from slashing a person's face from the edges of the mouth to the ears. The cut, which is usually made with a utility knife or a piece of broken glass, leaves a scar that makes the victim appear to be smiling broadly...
. 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
Charlatan
A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, fame or other advantages via some form of pretense or deception....
. 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 public's fascination with Gwynplaine's disfigurement. Their travels bring them before the deceased King's successor, Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
. That is when Queen Anne's jester, Barkilphedro, discovers records which reveal Gwynplaine's lineage and his rightful inheritance of his father's position in the court.
Gwynplaine's deceased father's estate is currently owned by the Duchess Josiana and Queen Anne decrees that the royal duchess must marry Gwynplaine, as its rightful heir, to make things right. Josiana, who knows who Gwynplaine is, arranges a rendezvous and is sexually attracted to, but also repelled by the "Laughing Man" image. Gwynplaine, made a Peer
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, refuses the Queen's order of marriage and escapes, chased by guards. He finds Ursus and Dea at the docks, sailing from England under banishment, and joins them on the boat. The film leaves off the tragic
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
ending of Hugo's original novel, in which Dea dies while at sea and Gwynplaine drowns himself.
Production
After Universal PicturesUniversal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
had large hits with Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
dramas such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American film directed by Wallace Worsley and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. It stars Lon Chaney, Sr., Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, Brandon Hurst. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel,...
(1923) and The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force...
(1925), the company encouraged film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle , born in Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany, was a pioneer in American film making and a founder of one of the original major Hollywood movie studios - Universal...
to produce a follow-up in a similar vein. Laemmle decided to film Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's The Man Who Laughs
The Man Who Laughs
The Man Who Laughs is a novel by Victor Hugo, originally published in April 1869 under the French title L'Homme qui rit. Also published under the title By Order of the King...
. The title role was originally meant for Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
(who starred in the previous Universal films), but he was under a long-term contract with MGM Studios.
Being of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
ancestry, Laemmle had connections with the German film scene, which gave him an inside track when negotiating with some of Germany's filmmakers and actors. Laemmle had seen director Paul Leni
Paul Leni
Paul Leni born Paul Josef Levi was a German filmmaker and a key figure in German Expressionist filmmaking, making Backstairs and Waxworks in Germany, and The Cat and the Canary , The Chinese Parrot , The Man Who Laughs , and The Last Warning in...
's Waxworks
Waxworks (film)
Waxworks is a 1924 fantasy/horror silent film directed by Paul Leni. The film is about a writer who accepts a job from a waxworks proprietor to write a series of stories about the exhibits of Caliph of Baghdad , Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper in order to boost business.Although...
(1926) and was impressed with the movie's sets and ominous stylistics. Laemmle chose Leni to accept the challenge of crafting the film adaptation. In addition, Laemmle pursued Veidt, who played a prominent role in Waxworks, to star. Veidt had also previously starred in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene from a screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. It is one of the most influential of German Expressionist films and is often considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era. This movie is cited as...
(1920).
Baclanova's resemblance to modern singer Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
in The Man Who Laughs has been noted by current critics.
Universal put over $1,000,000 into The Man Who Laughs, an extremely high budget for an American film at the time.
Cast
- Conrad VeidtConrad VeidtConrad Veidt was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , The Man Who Laughs , The Thief of Bagdad and Casablanca...
as Gwynplaine - Mary PhilbinMary PhilbinMary Philbin was a notable film actress of the silent film era. Philbin is probably best remembered for playing the roles of Christine Daaé in the 1925 film The Phantom of the Opera opposite screen legend Lon Chaney and Dea in The Man Who Laughs...
as Dea - Brandon HurstBrandon HurstBrandon Hurst was an English stage and film actor. He studied linguistics in his youth and began playing in theatre in 1880s. He was nearly fifty years old when he acted in his first film Via Wireless as Edward Pnickney in year 1915 and continued acting in the 129 other films until his death 1947...
as Barkilphedro - Julius Molnar Jr. as Gwynplaine (child)
- Olga Vladimirovna BaklanovaOlga BaclanovaOlga Vladimirovna Baclanova, or Baklanova, was a Russian-born actress, who achieved prominence during the silent film era. She was billed as the Russian Tigress and remains most noted by modern audiences for portraying the leading lady in Tod Browning's unique horror movie Freaks , which features...
as Duchess Josiana - Cesare GravinaCesare GravinaCesare Gravina was an Italian actor of the silent era. He appeared in 60 films between 1912 and 1929.He was born in Naples, Italy.-Selected filmography:* The Fatal Ring * Madame X...
as Ursus - Stuart Holmes as Lord Dirry-Moir
- Samuel de GrasseSam De GrasseSamuel Alfred De Grasse was a Canadian actor. Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, he trained to be a dentist....
as King James II Stuart - George SiegmannGeorge SiegmannGeorge Siegmann was an American actor in the silent film era. His more notable roles include Silas Lynch in Griffith's Birth of A Nation , the guard in the 1927 film The Cat and the Canary, Porthos in The Three Musketeers , Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist , and Dr...
as Dr. Hardquanonne - Josephine CrowellJosephine CrowellJosephine Crowell was a Canadian film actress of the silent film era. She appeared in 94 films between 1912 and 1929....
as Queen Anne Stuart - Charles Puffy as Innkeeper
- Zimbo the Dog as Homo the Wolf
- Carmen Costello as Dea's mother (uncredited)
- Carrie DaumeryCarrie DaumeryCarrie Daumery was a Dutch-born American film actress. She appeared in 63 films between 1908 and 1937.She was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands and died in Los Angeles, California...
as Lady-in-Waiting (uncredited) - Nick De RuizNick De RuizNick De Ruiz , was an American actor. He appeared in 36 films between 1920 and 1938.He was born in Santa Barbara, California, USA and died in Los Angeles, California.-External links:...
as Wapentake (uncredited) - Louise Emmons as Gypsey hag (uncredited)
- John GeorgeJohn George (actor)John George was a dwarf actor who appeared in at least 130 movies from 1916 to 1960. George worked in films of all genres alongside countless stars although often for only the briefest of appearances....
as Dwarf (uncredited) - Jack A. Goodrich as Clown (uncredited)
- Lila LaPon as Featured (uncredited)
- Torben MeyerTorben MeyerTorben Emil Meyer was a Danish character actor who appeared in over 190 films in a 55-year career.-Early career:...
as Spy (uncredited) - Joe Murphy as Hardquanone's messenger (uncredited)
- Edgar Norton as Lord High Chancellor (uncredited)
- Frank PugliaFrank PugliaFrank Puglia was an Italian film actor. Puglia had small but memorable roles in films including Casablanca and 1942's The Jungle Book. Born in Sicily, the actor started his career as a teen on stage in Italian operas. He emigrated to the U.S...
as Clown (uncredited)
Uncredited
- Henry A. BarrowsHenry A. BarrowsHenry Arthur Barrows was an American actor in films from 1913 to 1936.Henry Barrows was born in Saco, Maine. He died in Los Angeles, California in 1945 and was interred there in the Los Angeles National Cemetery...
- Richard Bartlett
- Les Bates
- Charles BrinleyCharles BrinleyCharles Brinley was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 140 films between 1913 and 1939. He was born in Yuma, Arizona and died in Los Angeles, California.-Filmography:-External links:...
- Allan CavanAllan CavanAllan Cavan was an American film actor. He appeared in 145 films between 1917 and 1941. He was born in Concord, California and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* The Scarlet Car...
- D'Arcy CorriganD'Arcy CorriganD'Arcy Corrigan was an Irish-born lawyer who became a character actor, playing some 49 film roles, typically very brief but impressive, such as his ominously silent, darkly shrouded Ghost of Christmas Future in the popular 1938 version of the film A Christmas Carol...
- Howard Davies
- J.C. Fowler
- Charles Hancock
- Broderick O'Farrell
- Lon Poff
- Henry RoquemoreHenry RoquemoreHenry Roquemore or Henry Rocquemore was an American character actor who primarily played bit parts. He appeared in 229 silent and sound films from 1927 until 1943...
- Templar Saxe
- Allan Sears
- Scott Seaton
- Louis SternLouis SternLouis Stern, president of Louis Stern Fine Arts in West Hollywood, California, is a leading American art dealer with a wide range of interests and expertise. He established himself in the mid-1960s as a specialist in Impressionist and Modern art and gradually expanded his purview...
- Al Stewart
- Anton Vaverka
- Delno Fritz (Sword Swallower)
Critical reception
Initially, the critical assessment of The Man Who Laughs was mediocre, with some critics disliking the morbidity of the subject matter and others complaining that the Germanic looking sets did not evoke 17th century EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In recent times, the assessment has been more positive. Critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
declared it "One of the final treasures of German silent Expressionism".
Although actor Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
was long interested in producing a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
, The Man Who Laughs has only been refilmed once in the sound era, as L'Uomo che Ride by Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
director Sergio Corbucci
Sergio Corbucci
Sergio Corbucci was an Italian film director. He is best known for his very violent yet intelligent spaghetti westerns...
in 1966. Corbucci, however, changed the setting from Queen Anne's England to the 16th century Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
court of the Borgias.
Influence on other works
- Veidt's character has been listed as one of the inspirations for BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
's archnemesis The JokerJoker (comics)The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
. - The 2006 Brian De PalmaBrian De PalmaBrian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
film The Black DahliaThe Black Dahlia (film)The Black Dahlia is a 2006 neo noir crime film directed by Brian De Palma. It is based on the novel of the same name by James Ellroy, writer of L.A. Confidential and starred Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank. The story is based on the murder of Elizabeth Short...
shows scenes from The Man Who Laughs and incorporates some related plot points. - Rob ZombieRob ZombieRob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
's 2010 album Hellbilly Deluxe 2Hellbilly Deluxe 2Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool is the fourth solo studio album by former White Zombie frontman Rob Zombie. The album is a companion to Rob Zombie's debut album Hellbilly Deluxe...
has a song entitled "The Man Who Laughs". The lyrics page in the CD booklet features pictures from the 1928 film.
DVD
In 2002, Kino EntertainmentKino
Kino may refer to:In film and theatre:* Kino , a worldwide group of amateur filmmakers* Kino Flo, a manufacturer of lighting equipment for use in motion pictures.* Kino International, a movie theater in Berlin...
released a Region 1 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
J.D. Salinger Nine Stories, The Laughing Man.
External links
- The Man Who Laughs Indepth review