I suppose it's too late to approach the American Dental Association about sponsoring tomorrow's screening of 'The Man Who Laughs' (1928) in Plymouth, N.H. It's one film in which teeth play a featured role!
But it's not too late for you to make your way tomorrow night to the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, where I'll accompany this classic silent thriller on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
Lots more info on the screening and the film is in the press release pasted in below.
Meanwhile, a few recent notes from the road:
• Since late September, I've been out straight with my day job as director of the Aviation Museum of N.H., as this time of year brings our annual fundraising Gala plus holiday preparations and so much else. Hence the lack of silent film posts and updates as we head into high Halloween season. However, I do have a busy line-up of spooky screenings in the coming two weeks and I'll try to highlight them here.
• The first part of October brought several silent film adventures, including my debut at the Pittsburgh Silent Film Festival on Friday, Oct. 3 scoring 'The Big Parade' and then on Saturday, Oct. 4 (the next day!) accompanying a program of rare local silent films presented by noted archivist Ed Lorusso in Augusta, Maine. This was another of those occasions when I combined the art of silent film music with the joys of long haul trucking. I do plan to write about this and other screenings, so stay tuned.
• This is the first 'Nosferatu'-free Halloween season I've experienced in at least a decade. The main reason, I think, is that 2025 is the 100th anniversary of the Lon Chaney 'Phantom of the Opera,' and this time around everyone wants to run that. I've done it twice in recent weeks, and will do it three more times before Halloween is out. At every screening, I get laughs with this line: "If you've joined us this evening to hear the haunting melodies of the famous musical version of 'Phantom' by Andrew Lloyd Webber, you will be sadly disappointed."
Okay, before the Phantom makes his next appearance, it's Conrad Veidt in 'The Man Who Laughs' at the Flying Monkey. And remember—in silent film, no one can hear you scream!
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MONDAY, OCT. 6, 2025 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com
'The Man Who Laughs' (1928) to screen with live music on Thursday, Oct. 23 at Flying Monkey
PLYMOUTH, N.H. — Based on a Victor Hugo novel, it paved the way for early horror classics such as 'Dracula' (1931) and 'Frankenstein' (1931).
Live music will be provided by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.
The movie was a popular and ground-breaking silent film adaptation of a sprawling Victor Hugo novel set in 17th century England.
Veidt stars as Gwynplaine, a child born of English nobility. After his father is executed, a cruel King James II orders a royal surgeon to hideously disfigure young Gwynplaine's face into a permanent smile, so that he may always laugh at his father's foolishness.
Abandoned and shunned, young Gwynplaine is left to make his way on his own. He learns to conceal his face from strangers, befriending Dea, a blind girl who is not aware of his disfigurement.
The pair are then adopted and put to work by a travelling impresario, who makes use of Gwynplaine's startling face in his theatrical productions.
Gwynplaine and Dea grow to adulthood and eventually fall in love, but complications arise when Gwynplaine's noble lineage is revealed, entitling him to his father's estate—provided he marry another woman of noble birth.
Veidt, who starred earlier in the German expressionist horror classic 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' (1919), played the role of Gwynplaine by using a prosthetic device inside his mouth to force his face into a hideous grin and display outsized teeth.
This striking look was later adapted by Batman creator Bob Kane as a model for the physical appearance of iconic villain 'The Joker.'
Critics have praised 'The Man Who Laughs' for its dark visual style and daring story content.
"'The Man Who Laughs' is a melodrama, at times even a swashbuckler, but so steeped in Expressionist gloom that it plays like a horror film," wrote Roger Ebert in 2004. "The film is more disturbing than it might have been because of Leni's mastery of visual style."
Director Leni, originally trained as an artist, made ample use of shadows and darkness in 'The Man Who Laughs,' which set the stage for many legendary Universal horror classics soon to follow, including 'Dracula' (1931) and 'Frankenstein' (1931).
'The Man Who Laughs' (1928) will be screened with live music by Jeff Rapsis on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 Main St., Plymouth, N.H.
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