I read Victor Hugo’s THE MAN WHO LAUGHS in 9th grade. First the Classics Illustrated version and then the book itself. I had already read HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and TOILERS OF THE SEA and loved them both. Caught in that awkward transitional age between junior high and high school during the turbulent 1960’s, I could identify with Hugo’s doomed romantic heroes and heroines.
It was only years later that I found out about a silent film version of the book and it was many years after that before I obtained a poor VHS copy of it. Now at last there is an excellent DVD home edition thanks to Kino Iwhich presents the film in as good a condition as we are ever likely to see. It consists of a combination of two prints one from England and the other from Italy which accounts for an Italian intertitle showing up in the middle of the disc (oops!).
As mentioned in another review the film is a gallery of the grotesque with emphasis being placed not surprisingly on faces. Just note Sam De Grasse as King James and venerable silent villian Brandon Hurst’s first appearances in the prologue and you’ll see what I mean. Check out Cesare Gravina as Ursus whose facial expressions are a show unto themselves. There are several well known silent film veterans in this film including George Siegmann and Josephine Crowell from BIRTH OF A NATION. Special mention must be made of Olga Baclanova (FREAKS) as the jaded duchess Josiana. This is her finest hour on film. The art direction and the cinematography are stunning and if you look up during the concert scene you’ll notice a ceiling (13 years before CITIZEN KANE).
The first two-thirds of the film are riveting but it runs out of steam when it turns too conventional at the end. Some of the camera speed seems a little fast at times and the original Movietone score, although beautifully restored (the best of that vintage I’ve ever heard), is occasionally annoying especially the sound effects and specifically the song WHEN LOVE COMES STEALING which was thrown in to help sell sheet music and promote the film. Too bad Kino couldn’t have offered us a modern score as well to choose from. That has now been remedied in the new Flicker Alley release of the same print which offers a newly composed score.
I give the film 5 stars for the performance of Conrad Veidt, the incredible lighting and photography, and the fact that as a silent film there is nothing quite like it. The DVD has a number of interesting extras as well. Finally as you can tell from the cover, it was this film that gave Batman creator Bob Kane the idea for the look of the Joker. It also plays an important part in the resolution of Brian De Palma’s THE BLACK DAHLIA.
The Capsule Critic 