The Man Who Laughs (1928)

Forever disfigured by a wide and mirthless grin on his face, the orphaned son of a nobleman, Gwynplaine, rescues the blind baby-girl, Dea, in cold seventeenth-century England. Taken in by the paternal carnival philosopher, Ursus, the unloved boy grows into a kind and honest man who chooses, however, to hide his grotesque deformity behind a black cloak, utterly convinced that the beautiful Dea will never truly love him because of his horrible secret. Feeling unworthy of Dea's noble feelings, Gwynplaine will soon cross paths with the aristocratic temptress, Duchess Josiana, as a cruel and long-standing conspiracy in the palace of Queen Anne presents him with the burden of choice. Will poor Gwynplaine, the Man who Laughs, renounce everything in the name of love?

Paul Leni

J. Grubb Alexander Victor Hugo Walter Anthony

Brandon Hurst Carmen Castillo Cesare Gravina Charles Brinley Conrad Veidt George Siegmann Henry A. Barrows Josephine Crowell Julius Molnar Károly Huszár Les Bates Mary Philbin Olga Baclanova Richard Bartlett Sam De Grasse Stuart Holmes Tom Amandares Zimbo the Dog