October 4: Brief Notes on The Man Who Laughs (1928)

 

As far as silent horror films go, The Man Who Laughs is one of the most widely known, it's popular recognition falls only behind the likes of Nosferatu (1922) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).  A myriad of trivia is regularly tossed out in regards to the film, including that is actually a Universal horror film (making Gwynplaine a "Universal monster"), and, most famously of all, that the character/visage of Gwynplaine was the inspiration for the Joker character in the DC Batman comics.  And, it arguably remains the best adaptation of a Victor Hugo novel. I wanted to breifly touch on just a few lesser known aspects of the film (including a few personal notes of favor on my part); elements that make the film a true milestone in the world of cinema.

The first important aspect of the production being a Universal film: Universal was the studio that gave us the 1923 Hugo adaptation The Hunchback of Notre Dame starring the great chameleon Lon Chaney. It was such a success that the studio fully intended to have him star in another Hugo adaptation of L'homme qui rit, this was the first step at Universal to put the film, translated into English as The Man Who Laughs, into production. There was even a contract drawn up with Chaney; but the studio had failed to acquire the rites to the novel for film adaptation from the French studio that owned them. The result was that the project was shelved and Chaney's stared in the now extremely famous production of The Phantom of the Opera instead. The success of that film allowed German ex-pat producer Carl Laemmle to return to The Man That Laughs project with complete control of the production. He wasted no time in hiring a bevy of fellow Germans for the production, including Conrad Veidt, who who effectively lured to Hollywood by the studio; and director Paul Leni. He too had been brought to Hollywood by Laemmle. To round out the cast, Mary Philbin (most definitely an American thespian!), who appeared as the female lead in Phantom, was cast as Dea.

Leni got his start--like so many directors of late 1920's gothic films turned out of American studios--as an expressionist director in Germany. His direction of the expressionist master-class Das Wachsfigurenkabinett (Waxworks) had garnered international attention and prompted Laemmle to hire him for Universal. By the time that he was brought on to this Hugo project, he had already directed two mystery films for Universal (the Charlie Chan vehicle The Chinese Parrot and The Cat and the Canary--now a late 20's horror classic). Leni was as "arthouse" as they came (his Rebus shorts, initially shot as theatrical "extras," are/were partially or fully animated avant-garde films--at least one of which survives), but his first two Hollywood efforts showed the constraints of such a director working in the money machines that were the Hollywood studios. The Man Who Laughs however shows that he was finding his place. The film contains much of his pre-Hollywood direction style and hints at great works to come (even with the coming of sound). Alas, this was not be. Leni died in 1929 at just the age of 44 from sepsis brought on my a tooth infection of all things. It was a huge loss to the art of filmmaking!

Another interesting little point of trivia of the film is that having been made and released right on the cusp of all sound films, a partial soundtrack was later made for the film with the brand new (and quickly monopolistic) Movietone sound system. This simplistic soundtrack, which mostly consisted of tones from bells and knocks, with the occasional brass flourish, was constructed around the song "When Love Comes Stealing." 

In regards to the plot of film, there are those who consider it a dark romance, or work of strange tragedy; even a few who dispute it being any type of horror film at all. This despite it's undeniable gothic foundations.  For me personally, it is a film about the horror of being ostracized by society, of being an outcast, a rejected human being. If you have endured even the mildest of bullying in a school environment or any situation where a bad actor has agency or power over you, then you know first hand this is indeed a horror film. The horror of institutional shame, and the desperate need to flee from it, are the things post traumatic stress are made of. So for me, a person who lives with PTSD, this is high on my list of scariest horror films out there. It is also high of my list of the best of the best horror ever made in these United States. Sad, sickening and devastatingly beautiful!

Spooktober 23: The Man Who Laughs (1928)

 

Paul Leni is one of my favorite directors, and Conrad Veidt one of my favorite actors. This 1928 send up of Victor Hugo's 1869 novel is one of the most influential and tragic films from the 1920's of any genre, and pairs the two with perfection. So influential was it, that it gave the world the visage of The Joker in the Batman comic book series from DC; not to mention a whole host of other characters by fans of the film who would go onto the make films themselves (see, for example, William Castle's Mr. Sardonicus). The film was released as fully silent film at first, only to be reworked as a partial sound film with an original score and sound effects a year later. There was never any added dialogue however. Veidt's on screen acting career would go on to hit a rocky road for a time with the coming of sound due to his thick German accent. His performance as Gwynplaine in The Man Who Laughs remains, however, one of the most well known and memorable in cinema history. 

 

Born Today July 8: Paul Leni

1885-1929

Famed German expressionist silent film director Paul Leni was born Paul Josef Levi on this day in Stuttgart.  His artistic bent was evident early in his life, and by the age of 15 was an avant-garde painter with obvious talent.  This led his to study at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts; during his time at art school he started work as a set designer for various stage productions.  His work for the live stage led to his transition to work on set design in the budding film industry.  He then added costume design to his resume (in this capacity, he worked for--amongst others--one Ernst Lubitsch).  In fact, though remembered today as a director, a very large portion of his film credits stem from being in the art department of many productions; the experience in that field led him to be a very artistic, hands on type of director.  The first film that he is credited with "Art Director" was Ein Augestoßener: 1, Teil-Der junge Chef in 1913.  He next served as the Production Designer for The Black Triangle (1914).  He finally made his directorial debut in 1916 with Das Tagebuch des Dr. Hart, or Dr. Hart's Diary, a kind of propaganda film. He would have a long career in the silent era in his native Germany, including a series of animated shorts; but by 1926 the call of Hollywood was too great to ignore.  In 1927 he directed his first film on American soil with the famous Cat And The Canary for Universal Pictures.  He would go on to direct just three more films; one of which is a solid Gothic horror masterpiece:  The Man Who Laughs (1928) starring Conrad Veidt of The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari fame (I wrote a piece about Veidt's character Cesare for a blogathon, that can be found here).  His last film would be The Last Warning (1929), a horror mystery that was a partial silent; the film featured some scenes tinted with a gold treatment similar to that of the Handshiegl Color Process.  Leni died suddenly at the age of 44 of the 2nd of September 1929, the cause of death was listed a "blood poisoning;" he had a massive septic infection from an untreated tooth infection.  For such a talented and well known silent director, I can find zero information about his burial and/or cremation.  The world truly lost a real talent, right on the cusp of becoming a formidable Hollywood director in the age of talking films.

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Born Today February 26: Victor Hugo

1802-1883

French Romantic writer Victor Marie Hugo was born on this day in Besançon, Doubs, France.  His parents held opposite belief patterns; his father was a "freethinking republican" whose hero was Napoleon and served in his army; his mother, on the other hand, was a devout Catholic who was a staunch royalist.  His godfather, who was a Napoleonic general with secret royalist allegiance (and possible lover of his mother), was executed by Napoleon in 1812 when Hugo was 10.  His early life saw him and his siblings living through some of the most politically turbulent times in Europe (actually the world), with Napoleon being declared emperor when Hugo was just two years of age; and with the Bourbon Monarchy being restored to power by the time he was 13.  Hugo displayed a fascination with poetry at a very early age. By 1822, he had published his first volume of poetry; this gained him a royal pension from King Louis XVIII.  This was followed by several more volumes in the years to come.  His first work of fiction came 1823 with a novel; by 1829 he had come out with The Last Day of a Condemned Man; a large work of fiction that would go on to be hugely influential on a whole host of writers.  By 1827 he had published successful plays; in the case of that year it was  Cromwell.  In 1830, he became abnormally famous for his time with his play Hernani staged to huge success across the European continent.  In 1831 one of the works that he is best known was published; the novel (translated) The Hunchback Of Notre Dame was an instant success and was immediately translated into several language; it also had the effect of shaming the city of Paris into restoring that great cathedral, as the book began to attract thousands of tourists every year.  1832 saw him venture into the world writing librettos for opera, in the this case, for no less a composer than Verdi!  In 1834, he published a short story based on true events--that of a condemned murderer who had been executed by the state; Hugo later made the observation, that the story had been the smallest seed from which his great Les Misérables would grow.  That great novel did not appear until 1862.  In 1843, Hugo suffered the worst lose of his life when his favored eldest daughter drowned after a boating accident at the age of 19 (she was also newly married, her husband perished trying to save her); those who knew him said that he never quite recovered from lose.  Laments of this lose were immortalized in poetry by him.  Also in the 1840's, he got involved with French politics.  He was a staunch Republican who wished to stand for a complete democratic form of government.  He fled the country for Belgium after Louis Napoleon sized power in France in 1851.  His exile would last until 1870. When back in France, he resumed his political activities; he would basically remain politically engaged for the remainder of his life. Given the enormity of his literary influence, it is hardly surprising that his works were used early on in the formation of narrative film. The first of these came in 1905 with the now famous Esmeralda, which was co-directed by Alice Guy, who is believed to be the very first female director. It would be 4 more years (as far as anyone knows) that the next film (one of many for the year !), based on his work would be released.  That film was Rigoletto, and was an Italian production.  The year 1909 would also see the first filming of Les Misérables, it would be broken into 3 separate releases and was probably the first trilogy in film (links for the films can be found here, here and here).  It is also no surprise that there was a proliferation of films made from his work during the silent era, given the well known nature of his work.  The two most well known, considered horror classics to this day, came in the 1920's.  The first of these was The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, which was directed by Wallace Worsely and starred Lon Chaney Sr., released in 1923.  The second was The Man Who Laughs, which came out in 1928, and was directed by the great Paul Leni and starred Conrad Veidt of The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920) fame.  The first sound film to be made using his work was a short from 1929, The Bishop's Candlesticks, a Paramount production.  The last silent films to be made using his work, were produced in Japan in 1929 and 1931.  The first full length sound film to be produced was a whopping 4 hours and 41 minute version of Les Misérables in 1934.  The most recent released film of his work dates from last year, with the comedy French Movie.  Two additional films have been announced:  a television adaptation of Les Misérables, with no release date information; and The Hunchback, slated for release later this year.  Hugo died in Paris on the 22nd of May of pneumonia.  He was given a lavish state funeral and it is estimated that close to 1 million people (some estimates put it at 2 million!) turned out on the streets the day of his funeral.  In addition to being one literature's greatest and most prolific writers, he was also an avid artist, producing more than 4,000 drawings during his lifetime.  He is interred in a tomb in The Pantheon in Paris.

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The Man Who Laughs (1928)

This is perhaps German director Paul Len's masterpiece!!