The Man Who Laughs (1928 film)

The Man Who Laughs
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Leni
Screenplay by	J. Grubb Alexander Walter Anthony Mary McLean Charles E. Whittaker [fr]
Based on	The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo
Produced by	Carl Laemmle
Starring	Mary Philbin Conrad Veidt Brandon Hurst Cesare Gravina Stuart Holmes Samuel de Grasse George Siegmann Josephine Crowell
Cinematography	Gilbert Warrenton
Edited by	Edward L. Cahn Maurice Pivar
Music by	Jeff Rapsis Berklee College of Music
Production company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	April 27, 1928 (1928-04-27) (NYC Premiere) November 4, 1928 (1928-11-04)
Running time	110 minutes (10 reels)
Country	United States
Language	English Intertitles

The Man Who Laughs is a 1928 American synchronized sound romantic drama film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both sound-on-disc and sound-on-film processes. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1869 novel of the same name, and stars Mary Philbin as the blind Dea and Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine. The film is known for the grotesque grin on the character Gwynplaine's face, which often leads it to be classified as a horror film. Film critic Roger Ebert stated "The Man Who Laughs is a melodrama, at times even a swashbuckler, but so steeped in expressionist gloom that it plays like a horror film."

The Man Who Laughs is a romantic melodrama similar to films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The film was one of the earliest Universal Pictures films that made the transition from silent films to sound films using the Movietone sound system introduced by William Fox. The film was completed in August 1927 but was set for general release as a "sound" film in October 1928 with sound effects and a musical score which included the song "When Love Comes Stealing".

The film entered the public domain in the United States in 2024.^[1]

Today, the film is best known as the visual inspiration for the classic comic book supervillain, the Joker.