Backdrop fallback

The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs

Share

The Man Who Laughs

"THE BREAKING HEART BEHIND THE LAUGHING FACE."

1928

1h 50m

7.3(230 votes)

Drama

Romance

Horror

Overview

When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.

Where to Watch

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

Universal Pictures

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

Conrad Veidt

Conrad Veidt

Gwynplaine / Lord Clancharlie

Mary Philbin

Mary Philbin

Dea

Cesare Gravina

Cesare Gravina

Ursus

Brandon Hurst

Brandon Hurst

Barkilphedro

Olga Baclanova

Olga Baclanova

Duchess Josiana

Sam De Grasse

Sam De Grasse

King James II

Stuart Holmes

Stuart Holmes

Lord Dirry-Moir

Josephine Crowell

Josephine Crowell

Queen Anne

Julius Molnar

Young Gwynplaine

Károly Huszár

Károly Huszár

Innkeeper

Creative team

Directed by: Paul Leni
Written by: May McLean
Marion Ward
Produced by: Carl Laemmle

Similar Movies

The Sky Devils

The Sky Devils

Farghali, Awad, and Ahmed are three soldiers who meet for the first time after a successful operation against the Zionist forces during the 1948 war. Orders are issued to paratroopers to land in land seized by the Zionists, and in the plane we learn that every pilot has a story.

Mister T.

Mister T.

Warsaw, Poland, 1953. Mr. T., a renowned writer, lives in a hotel and earns his living by giving private lessons.

Village of the Damned

Village of the Damned

In a small English village everyone suddenly falls unconscious. When they awake every woman of child bearing age is pregnant. The resulting children have the same strange blond hair, eyes and a strong connection to each other.

Clown Nightmare

Clown Nightmare

Clown creatures from another dimension take over Kentucky. Jerry uses parts from the Dark Web to build a time machine, and accidentally opens a portal to another dimension, or universe? A dimension filled with clown creatures. Clown creatures that want to kill for their own amusement.

The Thug

The Thug

Haridy arrives at the vegetable market in search of a job opportunity, he works for Master Abu Zaid and after a while he separates and marries Hossnyia. Haridy forms an alliance against Abu Zaid, but he soon becomes more powerful and his condition turns to worse.

Sanjuro

Sanjuro

In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

If the Father and the Son

If the Father and the Son

After Clown Teddy lost his son, he lost his gift for laughter. He opened a joke shop and lives above the shop. His landlady has had a foster son since birth, and Teddy decides to raise the child, who always believed that Teddy was his father. When the mother suddenly appears five years later and wants her son, Teddy decides to run away with the child and goes back onstage with his son. Will the family catch up with them, or will the mother never get her son back?

Yojimbo

Yojimbo

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Miracle on 34th Street

Miracle on 34th Street

Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity.

One Hundred and One

One Hundred and One

“If you jerk off a 100 times, you die.” This threat rings through the ears of our main character. One day he has to choose between imminent hell and the impetuousness of adolescence.

High and Low

High and Low

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

By the Time You Read This

By the Time You Read This

A dark comedy about a perfectionist trying to write a suicide note.

I Vitelloni

I Vitelloni

Five young men dream of success as they drift lazily through life in a small Italian village. Fausto, the group's leader, is a womanizer; Riccardo craves fame; Alberto is a hopeless dreamer; Moraldo fantasizes about life in the city; and Leopoldo is an aspiring playwright. As Fausto chases a string of women, to the horror of his pregnant wife, the other four blunder their way from one uneventful experience to the next.

The Early Years

The Early Years

Based on a true story, set during the drainage of the Maliq swamp.

Sabotage

Sabotage

Karl Anton Verloc and his wife own a small cinema in a quiet London suburb where they live seemingly happily. But Mrs. Verloc does not know that her husband has a secret that will affect their relationship and threaten her teenage brother's life.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss

In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Broke and alone on New Year's Eve, Wilson just wants to spend the rest of a very bad year in bed. But, when his best friend convinces him to post a personal ad, he meets a woman bent on finding the right guy to be with at midnight.

Lifeboat

Lifeboat

During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the ship they were traveling on is destroyed by a German U-boat.

Brighton Rock

Brighton Rock

Centring on the activities of a gang of assorted criminals and, in particular, their leader – a vicious young hoodlum known as "Pinkie" – the film's main thematic concern is the criminal underbelly evident in inter-war Brighton.

All the Real Girls

All the Real Girls

In a sleepy little mill town in North Carolina, Paul is the town Romeo. But when his best friend's sister returns home from boarding school, he finds himself falling for her innocent charm. In spite of her lack of experience and the violent protests of her brother, the two find themselves in a sweet, dreamy and all-consuming love.

Recommended Movies

Winter's Tale

Winter's Tale

A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her.

The Yellow Handkerchief

The Yellow Handkerchief

A road trip through Louisiana transforms three strangers who were originally brought together by their respective feelings of loneliness.

Nine Lives

Nine Lives

Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.

Borrowed Hearts

Borrowed Hearts

Single mom Kathleen Russell (Roma Downey) and her daughter Zoey pretend to be Kathleen's boss's "family" so he can close a major business deal with the mysterious Mexican financier Javier Del Campo.

Christmas Cottage

Christmas Cottage

Inspired by the picturesque paintings of Thomas Kinkade, The Christmas Cottage tells the semi-autobiographical tale of how a young boy is propelled to launch a career as an artist after he learns that his mother is in danger of losing the family home.

The Tomb of Ligeia

The Tomb of Ligeia

Verden Fell is shattered after the death of his lovely wife. But, after an unexpected encounter with Lady Rowena Trevanion, Fell soon finds himself married again. Nevertheless, his late wife's spirit seems to hang over the dilapidated abbey that Fell shares with his new bride. Lady Rowena senses that something is amiss and, when she investigates, makes a horrifying discovery -- learning that Fell's dead wife is closer than she ever imagined possible.

Not Easily Broken

Not Easily Broken

A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.

The Unknown

The Unknown

On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder—a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's desperation to remain with Nanon will only end in tragedy.

The Paradine Case

The Paradine Case

In London, barrister Anthony Keane takes the case of Maddalena Paradine, a beautiful woman accused of poisoning her blind husband. Though happily married, Keane becomes infatuated with his enigmatic client and convinced of her innocence. His obsession clouds his judgment as he builds a defense implicating her servant, André Latour—an act that leads to devastating consequences both in court and at home.

Breathe

Breathe

Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.

Life in a Year

Life in a Year

A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.

Pursued

Pursued

A boy haunted by nightmares about the night his entire family was murdered is brought up by a neighboring family in the 1880s. He falls for his lovely adoptive sister but his nasty adoptive brother and mysterious uncle want him dead.

Ali and Nino

Ali and Nino

Muslim prince Ali and Georgian aristocrat Nino have grown up in the Russian province of Azerbaijan. Their tragic love story sees the outbreak of the First World War and the world’s struggle for Baku’s oil. Ultimately they must choose to fight for their country’s independence or for each other.

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?

The Magic of Ordinary Days

The Magic of Ordinary Days

Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.

Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey

A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.

An Autumn Romance

An Autumn Romance

When librarian Taylor Harris suddenly loses her job, she decides to visit her brother in a small town in Montana. There, she gets involved in the fight to help save her brother's hotel from tycoon Joel Sheenan, who wants to renovate it.

Turtles All the Way Down

Turtles All the Way Down

Aza confronts her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts.

Spellbound

Spellbound

When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an impostor. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him, but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however is convinced his impostor is innocent of the man's murder, and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.