The Grinning Face

The Grinning Face
The Grinning Face
Directed by	Julius Herska
Written by	Victor Hugo (novel); Louis Nerz;
Starring	Franz Höbling; Nora Gregor; ; Anna Kallina;
Cinematography	Eduard Hoesch
Production; company	Olympic-Film
Release date	18 March 1921
Running time	87 minutes
Country	Austria-Germany
Languages	Silent; German intertitles;

The Grinning Face (German:Das grinsende Gesicht), aka The Man Who Laughs,^[2] is a 1921 Austrian-German^[3] silent horror film directed by Julius Herska and starring Franz Höbling, Nora Gregor and . It is an adaptation of the 1869 novel The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo.^[4]

The film was later remade by Paul Leni in 1928 as The Man Who Laughs, which starred Conrad Veidt in the Gwynplaine role.^[5]

Plot[]

In the late 17th century in France, the young son of a widowed lord is kidnapped by gypsies, who carve a permanent grin on the child's face. When the disfigured youth (Franz Hobling) grows up, he falls in love with a blind girl named Dea (Lucienne Delacroix), and joins a touring company as a performer. Calling himself Gwynplaine, he develops an act in which he reveals his hideous face to the crowds for money. A sexually perverse, seductive socialite named Josiane becomes attracted to him and seeks to possess him. He later learns he is heir to a fortune, but chooses instead to remain with his adopted family.

Cast[]

Franz Höbling as Gwynplaine
Nora Gregor as Herzogin Josiane
as Dea
Anna Kallina as Queen Anne of England
Eugen Jensen as Barkilphedro
as Lord Bolinbroke
as Ursus
as Lord David Dirry-Moir
as King James II of England
as Lord Linäus Claincharlie
as Lady Dirry-Moir
as Dr. Gerardus
as Dr. Hardqusnonne

References[]

^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 240.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 240.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 240.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
^ Prince p.55
^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 240.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

Bibliography[]

Prince, Stephen. The Horror Film. Rutgers University Press, 2004.

External links[]

The Grinning Face at IMDb

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[1] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 240.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[2] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 240.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[3] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 240.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[4] Prince p.55

[5] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 240.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

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v t The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo (1869)
Films	The Grinning Face (1921) The Man Who Laughs (1928) The Man Who Laughs (1966) The Man Who Laughs (2012)
Literature	"The Laughing Man" (short story)
Story within a story	The Black Dahlia
Other	Comprachicos The Grinning Man The Joker