This horror classic was produced by Universal (beginning that studio's string of brilliant horror movies) in response to the success of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. Universal chose two luminaries of German Expressionism, director Paul Leni and actor Conrad Veidt, for the film and in doing so introduced a new and highly influential aesthetic to American movies.

The film stars Veidt as Gwynplaine, the son of an aristocrat who is kidnapped for political reasons before being disfigured by a gypsy surgeon, who leaves the boy's face paralyzed in a contorted smile. Finding refuge in a traveling theatre troupe, Gwynplaine's lineage is eventually discovered and he soon finds himself being pulled back into the social and political world he was taken from as a boy. Featuring a masterful performance from Veidt along with beautiful and haunting photography, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS is one of the silent era's great horror films.