Conrad Veidt’s creepy smile was engineered by makeup master
Jack Pierce, who later created the looks for both Frankenstein’s Monster and
the Mummy, using Boris Karloff as his canvas. The history books draw a straight
line from Veidt's role as Gwynplaine, a performer whose grin was carved onto him as
a young boy, to the “Clown Prince of Crime,” the Joker.
These illustrations are from an edition of the novel oddly
titled “By Order of the King.” (Makes
sense. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
was first titled Notre Dame de Paris.)
The silent movie absolutely nails and even exceeds these
depictions of the characters, as you can see here. Shown are several images of
Gwynplaine, including one in the House of Lords, his blind love Dea, his royal suitor
Josiana, and the wet blanket she’s pledged to marry, Dirry-Moir, who comes off
as an even bigger dope in the film. The last image is in a frame because I
snapped it in Victor Hugo’s home in Paris, which is now a museum. Sorry for the angle: it was all I could do to keep from being reflected in the glass.
The film is absolutely worth your time. It’s actually still effectively creepy in spots. It follows the template of The Hunchback of Notre Dame: a monster who isn’t a monster, a slice of life of Paris from every stratum of its society, and in both cases the story’s action is kickstarted by a band of outsiders who crash Parisian society.
