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The Man Who Laughs

Deluxe Blu-ray/DVD Dual-Format Edition

Conrad Veidt (Actor), Mary Philbin (Actor), Paul Leni (Director) Format: Blu-ray
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 429 ratings
IMDb7.6/10.0
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The Man Who Laughs (Flicker Alley) [Blu-ray + DVD]

Based on the novel by Victor Hugo and masterfully directed by Paul Leni!

Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Edition

Flicker Alley, in partnership with Universal Pictures, are proud to present Universal Pictures’ new 4K restoration of the 1928 silent classic, The Man Who Laughs, accompanied by a newly recorded orchestral score by the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra. The composers, in reel order, are Phil Carlson, Benjamin Knorr, Marcelle Simpson, Sonia Coronado, Daniel Tauber, Emi Nishida, and Dai Haraguchi.

The story centers on the extraordinary adventures of Gwynplaine (Conrad Veidt), whose wide and mirthless grin inspired DC Comics’ legendary Batman villain, the Joker. Veidt's character has become well known to most cinephiles. Orphaned as a child, Gwynplaine is punished by the king for his father’s transgressions by having his face carved into a hideous grin. Disfigured and alone, Gwynplaine rescues a blind girl named Dea (Mary Philbin), and both end up starring in a sideshow where they fall in love. Because she cannot see, Dea does not know about her lover’s tormented grin.

The Man Who Laughs marks Leni’s penultimate work. Having grown up in Germany during the era of Expressionism, Leni embraces haunting characters, twisted sets, harsh angles, and deep shadows. Heralded as one of the best American silents emulating German Expressionism, The Man Who Laughs presents Leni at his creative directorial peak.

Originally released silent, the film was enough of a hit for Universal in 1928 that the studio released it with a synched musical score using the Movietone sound-on-film process, presented here as a secondary audio track.

Special Features Include:

  • Paul Leni and The Man Who Laughs - A visual essay by film historian and author, John Soister
  • Celebrating Universal’s Masterpiece - A booklet essay by film historian and author, Kevin Brownlow.
  • Notes On the New Score - A short essay by composer Sonia Coronado from Berklee Silent Film Orchestra
  • Optional Secondary Audio Track - The film’s original 1928 Movietone score
  • Rare Image Gallery - A slide show of vintage marketing materials, trade ads, memorabilia, and more.

Part of Universal Pictures’ ongoing silent restoration initiative, The Man Who Laughs honors the studio's rich film history that has spanned more than a century. The primary source element for this restoration was a 35mm composite fine grain from the Universal Pictures vault, created in 1954 from the nitrate original camera negative. NBCUniversal's restoration team was able to stabilize and deflicker the film, as well as repair scratches, warps, and dirt. The 4K digital restoration was completed by NBCUniversal StudioPost.

The Man Who Laughs (Flicker Alley) [Blu-ray + DVD]

The Man Who Laughs (Flicker Alley) [Blu-ray + DVD]

The Man Who Laughs (Flicker Alley) [Blu-ray + DVD]

Product Description

Flicker Alley, in partnership with Universal Pictures, are proud to present Universal Pictures' new 4K restoration of the 1928 silent classic, The Man Who Laughs, accompanied by a newly recorded orchestral score by the Berklee School of Music. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, the story centers on the extraordinary adventures of Gwynplaine (Conrad Veidt), whose wide and mirthless grin inspired DC Comics' legendary Batman villain, the Joker. Veidt's character has become well known to most cinephiles. Orphaned as a child, Gwynplaine is punished by the king for his father's transgressions by having his face carved into a hideous grin. Disfigured and alone, Gwynplaine rescues a blind girl named Dea (Mary Philbin), and both end up starring in a sideshow where they fall in love. Because she cannot see, Dea does not know about her lover's tormented grin.Masterfully directed by Paul Leni, The Man Who Laughs marks Leni's penultimate work. Having grown up in Germany during the era of Expressionism, Leni embraces haunting characters, twisted sets, harsh angles, and deep shadows. Heralded as one of the best American silent emulating German Expressionism, The Man Who Laughs presents Leni at his creative directorial peak. Originally released silent, the film was enough of a hit for Universal in 1928 that the studio released it with a synched musical score using the Movietone sound-on-film process, presented here as a secondary audio track.

Product details

  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 4 ounces
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Paul Leni
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 50 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ June 7, 2019
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin, Olga Baclanova, Brandon Hurst, Cesare Gravina
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Flicker Alley
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07PK6K31Q
  • Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 429 ratings

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
429 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Joseph M. Reninger
5.0 out of 5 stars Well done adaptation of a tough story
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2021
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Gwynplaine (Conrad Veidt) is the son of disgraced nobleman Lord Clancharlie under English King James II. The king punishes the nobleman by turning the ten-year old Gwynplaine (Julius Molnar) over to Comprachicos, a band of gypsies who disfigure people and sell them. The king gets the idea from his sadistic jester Barkilphedro (Brandon Hurst). The Comprachicos give Gwynplaine a broad, ridiculous grin. James banishes the Comprachicos from England but they leave Gwynplaine behind. Gwynplaine flees through the snows, discovering a baby cradled by a dead mother. He takes the baby and winds up at the house of Ursus the Philosopher (Cesare Gravina), who takes both of them in as his children. Ursus is also a traveling showman.

Once the children are grown, the trio wanders England putting on shows featuring Gwynplaine as "The Man Who Laughs." The show is popular but Gwynplaine is ashamed of his disfigurement. The baby has grown up to be Dea (Mary Philbin), who is blind but still performs in the show. She loves Gwynplaine but he can't believe any woman would love him with the way he looks. They go to a popular fair near London where the doctor from the Comprachicos has his own freak show (including a five-legged cow!). The doctor recognizes his work. He also knows that the spoiled Duchess Josiana (Olga Baclanova) has inherited the Clancharlie estate. The doctor plans to blackmail Josiana. The plan doesn't work out because Barkilphedro, who has become a noble, intercepts the letter. He offers the information to Queen Anne so she can get rid of Josiana, or better yet, humiliate her by forcing her to marry Gwynplaine, who is now destined to wind up in the House of Lords. Tragedy ensues.

Veidt's makeup inspired the look of Batman's arch-nemesis, The Joker. Barkilphedro seems more like the inspiration for Joker's personality. He's sadistic and vicious, ready to take advantage of anyone for his own benefit or even just his own amusement. Gwynplaine is a sensitive and caring man who can barely stand other people seeing his face. Veidt gives the character lots of pathos and delivers a great performance, though often only his eyes are visible. The rest of the cast is also good. The movie is a silent film and the actors use the typical exaggerated gestures common in the silent era.

The sets are impressive, capturing the gloominess of the story and the roughness of the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century England. Leni's directorial style is nice, with occasional expressionistic flourishes that heighten the drama. I was a little worried when I bought this BluRay/DVD because the cover art looks unprofessional, but the film looks great and the score is fine.

Recommended, highly for silent film buffs.
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Barbara Underwood
5.0 out of 5 stars An underrated masterpiece of silent cinema
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2007
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"The Man Who Laughs" is one of those near-forgotten silent films that deserve much more praise and attention, especially as it was well received in the late 1920s following the success of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "The Phantom of the Opera" which are in a similar category. In fact, Lon Chaney would have suited this role of yet another pitiful grotesque mutant, but due to his contract with MGM, the German-born producer, Carl Laemmle, chose a German crew which resulted in a definite German Expressionist flavour to this film. In the lead is Conrad Veidt, playing perhaps his best ever role as the mutilated man with a permanent grin on his face, and next to Mary Philbin, who starred in "The Phantom of the Opera", Veidt's performance is most moving and impressive. Unable to move his mouth due to the huge, grotesque grin, Veidt expresses the character's deep and strong emotions with his eyes and body language, for which the silent film is the perfect medium. The story for this unusual film is based on a 17th century French novel, but several changes were made to adapt it to the screen and win over American audiences especially. The scene is still 17th century with good sets and costumes of the period, and the overall mood is reminiscent of the gloomy, shadowy German Expressionist cinema of the 1920s, but Conrad Veidt's character demands viewers' full attention and almost detracts from the rest of the film's fine qualities. Working closely with fellow-German director Paul Leni (who directed "Waxworks", an earlier successful Expressionist film) Veidt manages to convey all the emotions of a man laughed at and treated like a clown due to his freakish face, at the same time struggling to feel worthy of a woman's love. Apart from this superb expressive character portrayal, the story is rich in royal court intrigues, not unlike stories such as The Three Musketeers and The Iron Mask, with treacherous assistants to the King, and a reckless, seductive duchess. `The Laughing Man', as he is called in his circus/freak show, becomes a pawn for the corrupt characters of the royal house, which separates him from his love and his circus show partner, Dea; the blind girl. There are some very stirring and beautiful scenes between these two players, and one of them is highlighted with the original Movietone soundtrack song, which was becoming all the fashion in the late 1920s. Restored to good-as-new condition like the picture quality, this soundtrack made for the film is well-suited and sounds very much like the music of early sound films. There are also a number of bonus features on this DVD such as a 20-minute short "the making of" documentary, a short candid home video of Veidt and other European stars such as Jannings and Greta Garbo, as well as extensive photo galleries of stills, photos and all kinds of promotional material concerning the film. There is also an insert with a good article written by the author of various books about early films and Conrad Veidt so that anyone from serious fan to general curious viewer should be well satisfied. While not as popular as Chaney's films `the Hunchback' and `the Phantom', "The Man Who Laughs" definitely deserves a place up there along with other top quality productions from the late silent era.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jay
5.0 out of 5 stars Very important film no one knows much about.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2023
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I expected this to be interesting. But frankly I was bowled over by just how good a film it was.

Certainly a quirky narrative and both male and female leads where exceptional and drew me in to the point I’d forgotten it was a silent film by the end and was just going with the flow.

Definitely recommended. Also for those Batman fans. Watch the film and see the origins of the Joker character. Tim Burton pays homage with his Joker in regards to the nerves on his face being severed making the rictus grin. But frankly this is done way better and Conrad Veidt manages to look so much more disturbing. Different sort of character but Veidt manages to convey every emotion through with only his eyes. Absolute master.
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Henry
5.0 out of 5 stars eternityto Love
Reviewed in Italy on June 13, 2024
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Classic and beautiful 100%
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Marc’79
5.0 out of 5 stars The Man Who laughs
Reviewed in Spain on April 14, 2021
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Fantastic!!!...
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Diana Avril
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitivamente mi película favorita de todos los tiempos
Reviewed in Mexico on August 17, 2020
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Esta adaptación para mi es una obra maestra inspirada de una extraordinaria obra literaria de un gran genio, Victor Hugo.
A pesar de que estamos acostumbrados a que las obras originales siempre estén por encima de una adaptación a la pantalla grande, creo que esta adaptación llega a ser tan icónica como la obra literaria original, es evidente que es imposible plasmar con el mayor de los detalles todas las escenas en los libros y que van a haber cambios tanto en el orden de la trama como en la personalidad o el aspecto de algunos personajes. Pero yo encuentro algunas cosas que incluso me gustaron más que como eran en la original, yo creo que esta película está al nivel de la obra literaria.
Algo que me encanta de esta adaptación, a diferencia de otras más modernas, es que el protagonista es como tenía que ser, un hombre originalmente atractivo que con el maquillaje y una dentadura falsa anclada a las comisuras de Conrad Veidt hacen las veces de una deformación que realmente acentúa todas sus expresiones y le hace ver sonriendo todo el tiempo, una risa permanente y enorme es lo que se necesitaba y Jack Pierce (el maquillista lo logró de una forma espectacular), al grado de que el aspecto del personaje ha sido también inspiración para el villano más popular de todos los tiempos, el Joker.
He comprobado por mi misma que el aspecto de Gwynplaine cuando no le conocen, a algunos les provoca risa, a otros miedo y eso es justo lo que Víctor Hugo estaba buscando. Además de que admiro mucho el trabajo de Conrad Veidt porque aún sin los recursos auditivos de la época y con la dentadura postiza que le inmovilizaba la mirad del rostro el fue capaz de expresar todos los sentimientos más profundos, descritos por Victor como relámpagos de una forma magistral mediante sus ojos, cejas y su cuerpo. Me temo que hace falta mas reconocimiento para este actor en nuestra época.
También aplaudo a los demás actores porque hicieron lo justo con sus personajes, y aun cuando son visualmente diferentes a los que se describe en el libro lograron captar la esencia de cada uno de ellos.
Y por supuesto aplaudo a Paul Leni por trabajo tan sublime, esta película toma referencia y estilo de el cine expresionista alemán adaptándolo al cine de horror y suspenso de finales de la década, y ha servido como una valiosa referencia para las películas de los monstruos de Universal posteriores, fue el parte aguas que abrió el estilo tanto visual como narrativo. Una película conmovedora.
Otra cosa que agradezco de esta edición es el material adicional, y el hecho de que agregaran una versión con una banda sonora nueva que acompaña la película en el 150 aniversario del lanzamiento del libro y que al mismo tiempo conservara la versión clásica que me enamoró la primera vez que vi la película.
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Jo84
5.0 out of 5 stars Victor Hugo-Verfilmung mit Conrad Veidt
Reviewed in Germany on May 9, 2019
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"The Man who Laughs" ist ein amerikanischer Stummfilm aus dem Jahr 1928 des deutschen Regisseurs Paul Leni (1885-1929), der in Hollywood unter dem Produzenten Carl Laemmle entstand. Es handelt sich um eine Verfilmung des Victor Hugo-Romans "L`Homme qui rie", ein Melodram mit Anleihen aus dem Grusel- bzw Horrorgenre, mit dem die Filmfirma Universal Pictures damals große Erfolge feierte. Mit Conrad Veidt ("Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari", "Casablanca", 1893-1943) konnte ein damals sehr bekannter und beliebter Schauspieler für die Titelrolle des Gwynplaine gewonnen werden. Mit Mary Philbin(1902-1993) und Olga Baclanova (1896-1974) spielten zudem auch zwei sehr schöne Frauen mit.
Die Handlung beginnt im Jahr 1690 in England, wo Gwynplaine als Sohn eines Edelmanns heranwächst. Dieser ist jedoch so töricht den König James II. zu beleidigen und wird hingerichtet. Gwynplaine wird durch einen Chirurgen ein immerwährendes irres Grinsen ins Gesicht operiert: Er soll sein Leben lang über seinen törichten Vater lachen. Gwynplaine irrt umher und findet im Schneesturm ein Baby, das blinde Mädchen Dea. Beide können bei dem fahrenden Spielmann Ursus unterkommen und wachsen heran. Gwynplain ist als "der Mann der lacht" die Hauptattraktion geworden und Dea liebt ihn über alles. Er selbst findet sich jedoch häßlich und nicht wert von Dea geliebt zu werden. Es existiert auch noch das Vermögen seines Vaters, von dem Gwynplain gar nichts ahnt. Dieses wird von der Herzogin Josiana verwaltet. Die Königin befiehlt ihr, Gwynplain zu heiraten, wenn sie weiterhin im Luxus leben will. Dieser wird zum Spielball politischer Interessen und mit Gewalt von Dea getrennt. Verzweifelt versucht er zu Dea zurückzufinden, die ihn mittlerweile tot glaubt...
Mit über einer Million Dollar Produktionskosten gehörte der Stummfilm damals zu den teuersten Produktionen überhaupt, was man ihm an den Massenszenen und opulenten Studiobauten auch durchaus ansieht. . Leider war er damals kein besonders großer Erfolg, da die Stimmung des Films dem Publikum zu morbide war. Heute gilt er als Schlüsselwerk des expressionistischen Films, der viele andere Werke beeinflusste. So diente die Figur des Gwynplain als Inspiration für die Erschaffung des Jokers, des Erzfeindes von Batman.
Die Tonspur des Films ist eine Art Kompromiss aus Stummfilm und den Anfängen des Tonfilms. Dieser wurde stumm mit englischen Zwischentiteln gedreht und mit sehr guter Musik von Walter Hirsch, Lew Pollack und Erno Rapee versehen. Sogar zwei Arien werden von Frauenstimmen gesungen. Dazu gibt es einige wenige Toneffekte / Geräusche, und in den Massenszenen Stimmengewirr, das fast wie realer Tonfilm wirkt. Diese spanische DVD-Pressung enthält den nahezu 109 Minuten langen Film im englischen Original ohne Bonusmaterial. Das Bild ist wechselhaft und zwischendurch etwas unscharf, aber überwiegend ganz okay
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