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Poster for The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs

THE BREAKING HEART BEHIND THE LAUGHING FACE.

1928 · 1h 50m · Not Rated Drama, Horror, Romance
Directed by Paul Leni

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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.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
100%
Tomatometer
Fresh

As usual in Hugo, love is measured in sacrifice, yielding a sincere and extravagant sense of romance.

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Fresh

This production has been fashioned with considerable skill. It is, of course, a gruesome tale in which the horror is possibly moderated but none the less disturbing.

Mordaunt Hall, New York Times
Fresh

One of the final treasures of German silent Expressionism.

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh

The Man Who Laughs is a truly great, a devastatingly beautiful film.

TIME Magazine
Fresh

Baclanova is amusing as a decadent duchess, but it's Leni's pictorial genius -- aided here by what must have been an enormous budget -- that marks the film as one of the most exhilarating of late silent cinema.

Time Out

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