The Man Who Laughs, 1928 film with spontaneous music by Lyndon Owen and Aidan Thorne

Directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni, it was released at the end of the silent era, and is often cited as the inspiration for The Joker, nemesis to DC Comics’s Batman.

“one of the final treasures of German silent Expressionism”
“precisely the kind of all-stops-out romantic adventure that needs the silent rather than sound medium for maximum impact”
“its perfect director, for his bravura Expressionist style lifts this tempestuous tale above the level of tear-jerker to genuinely stirring experience”

The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 1869 novel of the same name, and it stars Mary Philbin as the blind Dea and Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine. The film is known for the grotesque grin on the character Gwynplaine’s face, which often leads it to be classified as a horror film. Film critic Roger Ebert stated “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.”