The Man Who Laughs Featuring Conrad Veidt

The Man Who Laughs is a 1928 American silent horror film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name and stars Mary Philbin as the blind Dea and Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine. Just 12 years later, comic book creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane, who was working on Detective Comics and Batman, were inspired by the film, and created one of the most diabolical villains in comic book history, the Joker.