Silent Film, "The Man Who Laughs" (1928) + 2 shorts

[Bob Pr.]

Last night was the 12th annual presentation of "Silents in the Cathedral", a joint presentation of Grace (Episc.) Cathedral, the Topeka/Shawnee County Public Library, & probably staff of the Kansas Silent Film Festival (which is presented annually in Feb.).

This "Silents in the Cathedral" event is always shown on October 30th and reflects a Halloween theme. Marvin Faulwell, frequently the accompanist for the KS SF Festivals, played the Cathedral organ for background mood. This film is on DVD and was projected on a screen at the front of the Cathedral. About 300-450 people attended.

The feature film was "The Man Who Laughs" based on the Victor Hugo book (1869), "L'Homme qui rit." Universal studio, having just lost their star Lon Chaney to MGM, imported the German director Paul Leni and star Conrad Veidt to do this extravagant historical costume/action/horror/romance film. While it currently earns 8/10 stars on IMDb's rating and is considered very influential on film making, it wasn't particularly financially successful. It opened on the cusp of the talkies. Universal considered dubbing voices and re-releasing it but Veidt (the star) spoke little English plus the wire prosthesis he wore to keep his face in such a hideous grin interfered with speech. (Veidt's facial appearance served as the model for "The Joker" in Batman comics, see http://www.imdb.com/media/rm18551027...30?slideshow=1 )

The story takes place during the turbulent reign in England of James II.

A nobleman -- opposed to this king's policies and actions -- flees the country but is captured durining his secret return attempting to find his young son, Gwynplaine.

The king orders this nobleman killed for insubordination and, in addition, on the malicious advice an associate, that his son's face be surgically altered to perpetually present a laughing appearance in re: his father's insubordination and death.

The boy Gwynplaine becomes separated from his caretakers in a snow storm and, while seeking shelter, he finds a baby being held in her dead mother's arms. He rescues her, putting her under his jacket for protection from the cold, and he finds a house that offers them shelter.

The baby girl (Dea) is blind and she and Gwynplaine are raised by a philosopher, teacher, who eventually forms a traveling show that tours towns and fairs, presenting a play featuring Gwynplaine & Dea (played as an adult by Mary Philbin, who has grown to be very beautiful). Dea loves Gwynplaine and vice-versa but he is reluctant to marry her because, since she is blind, she can't know how distorted his face is to everyone else.

Dea argues against these fears saying that God has granted her blindness so she can see Gwynplaine as he truly is.

In time, King James II is replaced by Queen Ann.

A pretty duchess, strong-willed and somewhat disobedient to her Queen, lives in the property formerly owned by Gwynplaine's father and to which Gwynpaine is obviously the rightful heir.

There are malicious, evil characters also involved with the queen who continually try to hurt Gwynplaine. As punishment for the duchess's disobedience, they advise the Queen to order the duchess and Gwynplaine to marry (and banish Dea and her caretakers from England). The Queen does so and Dea is heartbroken.

Gwynplaine rebels against this edict.

He's ordered to be arrested but he resists and escapes; a prolonged exciting chase ensues.

During this, the family dog -- which has always been close to Dea and Gwynplaine -- comes to the rescue and manages to achieve what we hope will be a far happier ending than the one ordered by the Queen. (These scenes also may well have served as the model for the later, "What, Lassie? Timmy's in the well and needs help?")

And the ending is happier! It's a fun show.

Several times, both at the conclusion as well as the section leading up to it, the audience erupted into loud clapping and whistling.

It's worth seeing; IMO not quite as good as the superb "Sunrise, A Song of Two Humans" (1927) which is on IMDb's list of alltime best 250 films and also won the first ever Oscar for best film.

I'll ETA comments on the 2 shorts that preceded the feature.

ETA: "The First 100 Years" -- Harry Langdon plays a somewhat non-assertive, just married young husband dealing with 2 very assertive maids/cooks. This short was a great choice for Halloween season because his home seemed infested with strange people, people disquised as coat/hat racks, etc. Langdon's humor and style is somewhat like that of Chaplin, Keaton, Stan Laurel, etc. -- some say he deserves inclusion with them; others say no way. IMO, he's close.

"Do Detectives Think" (1927, 19 min.) -- This was the first film featuring the partnership of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy from the Hal Roach studios and shows their inimitable style in its initial blossoming. James Finlayson plays the kooky judge whose life is blatantly threatened by a felon he convicted. When the man escapes from prison, he heads for the judge's mansion, the judge calls the local police for protection, and Laurel & Hardy are sent on the job. The felon gains entrance to the judge's home by using identity theft, posing as the new butler. You can imagine some of the chase scenes through the house. One "problem" occurs when L&H subdue the man and Laurel handcuffs the man -- Woops! Guess what? He cuffed Hardy instead, adding even more handicaps to the chase sequences. As a first work of the two, it's not quite as good as they later became but it sure gave them wonderful direction on the right path.