The man who laughs

director: Paul Leni, USA 1928, 110 min, drama

Musical accompaniment: Black [sheep in a] Box & Glaswald

In England in 1690 Gwynplaine lives as the son of a nobleman who had insulted King James II and was sentenced to death for doing so. He himself is disfigured for punishment: By a perpetual, mad grin, he is henceforth condemned to laugh forever at his foolish father.

The years go by, and together with the blind Dea and the quack Ursus, Gwynplaine earns his money through showpieces in which the audience is made to laugh at the sight of Gwynplaine’s bizarre face.