New York State Writers Institute - Classic Film Series

The Man Who LaughsTHE MAN WHO LAUGHS

May 3, 2002 (Friday) at 7:30 p.m.
Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue
(Free and Open to the Public)

(American, 1928, 110 minutes, b&w, 16mm)

Directed by Paul Leni
Starring Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin, Olga Baclanova
Silent with live piano accompaniment provided by
Mike Schiffer

The Man Who Laughs

A Scottish nobleman who has rebelled against King James II in 17th-century Britain is executed. His young son is tortured and permanently disfigured with the corners of his mouth carved into a fixed grin. The film is based on the novel L'Homme qui rit (1869), by Victor Hugo.