Rating: 4/5
Hooptober 6.0 | 14/32 | Makeup: Jack Pierce
CW // Child Abuse and Mutilation, Torture, Murder, Sexism
17th Century England His Majesty, King James II, lay in bed, surrounded by statues of saints and scholars. Barkilphedro, the king’s jester, exits a secret passage behind one statue. He awakens the king to inform him they have captured Lord Clancharlie.
In excitement, the king jumps out of bed. They enter a room to find Lord Clancharlie in chains. Lord Clancharlie asks for his son, Gwynplaine. The jester pulls at the corners of his mouth to make a forced grin. The jester sold Gwynplaine to the Comprachicos, who carved Gwynplaine’s face into a permanent grin.
The guards take Lord Clancharlie and force him into an iron maiden. The king banishes the Comprachicos from England. They flee, leaving young Gwynplaine in a snowstorm.
Gwynplaine wanders barefoot through the snowstorm. He finds a dead woman clinging to a baby, still living. He takes the baby into his arms.
They come to the door of Ursus, who takes them in. Ursus discovers the baby, named Dea, is blind. And that Gwynplaine has a permanent smile cut into his face.
As adults, Gwynplaine and Dea, along with Ursus and Homo the dog, travel the countryside, performing plays. Gwynplaine’s fame as “The Laughing Man” pulls him into a life of unwanted scandal and despair.
I loved Paul Leni’s The Cat and the Canary and need to see his film Waxworks. Paul Leni would make one more movie before dying of sepsis in 1929.
This movie’s biggest claim to fame is Jack Pierce’s design for Gwynplaine’s permanent smile, the primary source for Joker’s design in Batman.
Thankfully, the movie is more than that, with beautiful sets, exquisite costumes, dynamic cinematography, and dramatic lighting. The stage show has some great costumes, including a huge demon mask.
It’s also a little sexy! In one scene, the filmmakers cleverly obscure the bathing Duchess with water ripples and framing.
Conrad Veidt’s performance as Gwynplaine is emotional and contorted, similar to his performance in The Hands of Orlac. He has to go even bigger with a permanent smile, but it works.
The filmmakers based this on a Victor Hugo novel. It has that similar rambling, episodic quality, which is the only thing keeping more from outright loving this.
Homo the dog is so good!
This movie entered the public domain this year, so you can even watch the full movie on Wikipedia if your heart desires.