User reviews

Before I saw "He Who Get's Slapped" my 3 favorite movies were The Empire Strikes Back, Evil Dead 2, and Star Trek II.

This movie is 180 degrees from any of those movies, in fact, it's in a whole other universe. This silent film that opened in 1924 changed my movie tastes so much that it's amazing. I was just flicken channels one night after studying for a final for 3 hours and stopped on TCM for a second because Robert Osborne said that it starred Lon Chaney. In my niavete, I thought he was talking about the guy who played The Wolf Man, but this is in fact Lon Chaney Sr. Junior is the guy who had played Wolfie.

So I started watching it and was about to change it when I found out it was a silent film. But I stayed with it for a few minutes, and soon I was enraptured. 2 hours later, I was riveted to the edge of my seat as HE's struggle came to a climax. Well, the next day, I failed the test. But I learned more watching that movie than I could ever learn in Calc 320.

Since then, I have watched TCM religiously (when I'm not studying of course) and now I realize that 99% of movies made in modern times are vastly inferior to the old classic movies.

Black and White RULES

If you haven't seen He Who Gets Slapped. Track it down and WATCH IT. It is WAY better than The Phantom Menace.

Based on a play from Russian author Leonid Andreyev, 'He Who Gets Slapped' has some very dark themes - humiliation, adultery, betrayal, exploitation, and sadistic glee at someone else's expense. Lon Chaney stars as a scientist who early on suffers in two ways: his discoveries are stolen by his benefactor (Marc McDermott), and then his wife (Ruth King) tells him she's leaving him for the same scoundrel. Humiliated in public and private by being slapped and laughed at, he retreats from his life and takes up a career as a clown. His act? Being slapped and abused by 60 other clowns, much to the merriment of the audience. (Of course!)

It's a kind of ridiculous plot device to get him into this position, and then for his benefactor to cross paths with him five years later, but if you can suspend disbelief, you'll probably enjoy the film for its performances. You see some of the worst of human behavior shown in unflinching ways, and Chaney is the perfect guy for the part. He's fantastic, and to see him dressed up as a pathetic, bitter clown is something else. The film also includes Norma Shearer early in her career (just 22 years old); she plays a new performer to the circus. She begins having romantic feelings for her fellow horseman (John Gilbert), and there is a lovely scene of them out on a picnic, the charm of which helps lighten the tone of the movie. Shearer is so pretty that she also attracts Chaney (who we feel sorry for), and McDermott (who we hiss at). Love and self-sacrifice are the best of human behavior, and provide a counterbalance to the rest of the film.

Another aspect I found interesting was that it reminded me of a couple of Chaney's later films in the 1920's that I had seen before, both directed by Tod Browning. 'The Unknown' (1927) also takes place in a circus, and in one of its best scenes, features Chaney's horror and angst to being laughed at. 'Where East is East' (1929) also features 'murder by using a wild animal', though in that film, it was a gorilla, and here, it's a lion. It's interesting that these themes were recycled, and perhaps a testament to the power of their darkness.

A celebrated circus clown, HE Who Gets Slapped, plots the punishment of two evil aristocrats.

Lon Chaney, the Silent Screen's master chameleon, adds another portrait to his gallery of pathetic grotesques. This time he plays a scientist who becomes a clown after his former life is destroyed by his adulterous wife and a faithless friend. A young woman provides him with someone to secretly adore, until her wicked father threatens to ruin her happiness. Chaney's face is an absolute wonder to watch as it registers pain, anguish, distress and unrequited passion, underlining the modern reassessment of him as one of cinema's greatest actors. Uninhibited in his circus costume & makeup, he provides no doubt but that he, under different circumstances, could have become a marvelous big top clown.

This was the first release of the new film company merger Metro-Goldwyn, thus making Chaney their first star, and was an important rung up the ladder for the two performers playing the young lovers. Norma Shearer & John Gilbert would soon be major movie celebrities--here they give good account of themselves as the circus' daredevil & bareback riders, and as Chaney's truest friends (both unaware of his love for Miss Shearer). In a film full of circus excitement, the director has given the young couple a moment of unexpected beauty: whilst on a picnic their innocent affections are noticed by a passing peasant, who gives the call of the cuckoo as the perfect grace note to their bucolic joy.

Marc McDermott as a brutal Baron and Tully Marshall as a dissolute Count make villains well worthy of the harshest retribution. Comic Ford Sterling plays one of Chaney's fellow clowns.

The Studio gave this silent film fine production values, while director Victor Sjöström added little embellishments of cinematic flair, dealing with scenes of mysterious clown figures representing fate, which enhance the film.

I saw this film first on Public Television (the score that is still used, I believe, was developed when the film was restored in Chicago) and have always loved it in all it's raging perversity. It is beyond ironic that one of the major studios was launched on a film who's premise was that the public is a malevolent, cruel ass. We are never allowed to forget that as horrible as the villain is; the drooling, jeering, sadistic vermin in the circus crowd are worse.

The spookiness of the direction, I think, is what hooked me. All the leads are excellent and perfectly cast. This is the ultimate in melodrama, and it's drawn is such broad strokes that it's hard to imagine as a talkie.

Bravo to Turner Classic Movies for making available, once again, the cinematic art of one of the best actors ever, Lon Chaney. As Andreyev's disappointed scientist turned circus clown, Paul Beaumont, Chaney makes the most of every scene he's in, and never disappoints. We feel the agony of his hopeless love for the lovely bareback rider Consuelo, as well as the seething anger toward the man who ruined his life, the despicable Baron Renard. It's a far better performance, in my opinion, than his similar role four years later in "Laugh, Clown, Laugh," much more understated and, therefore, much more involving.

But that's not to take away from the other performances, by any means. Norma Shearer, in her first major role as Consuelo, is suitably attractive and gives a good performance, but to see her at her best is to see such '30's classics as "A Free Soul" and especially "Marie Antoinette." There, she was a mature actress; here, she was a promising newcomer. John Gilbert already shows that he had the goods to become one of the top leading men of the '20's, managing to convey virility even in multicolored tights. And Marc McDermott and old veteran Tully Marshall make two of the best silent villains ever as the aforementioned Baron and as Consuelo's father, an impoverished nobleman ready to force his daughter into marrying the Baron just to improve his fortunes, respectively. You're genuinely glad, at an almost visceral level, when they wind up getting what they deserve in the end.

I don't know who composed the music score used in the print seen on TCM, but it's excellent and really compliments the action.

Victor Seastrom's moody direction is perfect, especially his use of a globe-spinning clown to serve as sort of a Greek chorus at various points in the film.

In short, this is a true silent classic, silent film making at its' best, and well worth seeing.

We really are lucky he spent so much time at MGM since the survival rate of their silents is better than any of the other studios. This is one of the few silent films that my husband enjoys, and I think all of the credit goes to Lon Chaney. He demonstrates such genuine emotion. I really believe that if the Academy Awards had started a few years before they did, Chaney would have won at least one Best Actor award.

Scientist Paul Beaumont (Lon Chaney) makes a great discovery - in what field it is never said - only to have his benefactor, The Baron Regnard, steal his findings and his wife. In what is supposed to be his big day before the academy - of what field it is never said - Regnard claims the findings are his own. When Beaumont claims the ideas are stolen, Regnard slaps Beaumont and the whole academy laughs at him.

Having lost his work and his wife, Beaumont becomes a clown in a circus. A clown that gets laughs by getting slapped, and takes the name "He" as in "He Who Gets Slapped". Now personally, I don't see what is so funny about a clown being slapped, and how do you get such a job with no resume anyways? But I digress.

"He" has an unrequited love for a bareback rider (Norma Shearer as Consuelo), who is from a formerly wealthy family that has lost all of its money. This is OK by Consuelo, but her dad wants to marry her off to the evil Baron, who really wants the girl as a mistress since he prefers disposable people, but her father convinces the Baron that marriage is the only way he can have her, and - by the way - there will be a not so small fee/loan involved for Consuelo's dad in exchange for the girl.

Now "He" is in a good position. The Baron has been hanging around the circus because of Consuelo, and "He" recognizes the Baron and knows that he can only bring unhappiness to Consuelo, but the Baron has no idea "He" is Beaumont, with all of that clown makeup.

How does this all work out? I'll just say there is not your typical MGM sappy happy ending like you get starting in the late 20s, and Leo The Lion finally gets his big break in the movies.

Why is this film taking place in France yet half the people have Italian names? I really have no idea, but I love the change between scenes with the laughing clown spinning the globe. In 1924 films did not yet have soundtracks, yet there was a score composed for this film by William Axt. Did MGM just distribute this score to theatres for the orchestras to play?

This film has a very experimental feel about it, Chaney is always worth watching, and it is interesting to see Norma Shearer and John Gilbert so early in their careers. Highly recommended.

Premise: A failed scientist punishes himself by becoming a circus clown whose act's mainstay is uttering platitudes, and then getting slapped for it. He falls in love with an innocent young girl who adores him, but of course doesn't take him seriously as she is, of course, in love with her dashing young partner. While unbeknown st to her, she has been, of course, promised in marriage to an evil lascivious baron.

A film custom made for all of us who hate clowns and find their appearance scary in itself. Chaney's HE is a gentle but tormented and slightly twisted character who in the end is pushed to retribution via horrifying measures. The plot and theme are ones we see often in old cinema, but the treatment here is better than average. The whole clown/circus thing, is given maxim weirdness, both in content and shot composition. In particular, the scene break shots which attempt to offer metaphors for the action, IE the clown holding a spinning globe, kinda get under your skin. The bizarre self chastisement routine of the main character, is an elaborate well thought out production that is unsettling to say the least. Chaney was one of a kind, and watching his very old films I think really offer us a glimpse into the collective psyche of past generations.

He Who Gets Slapped is based on the Russian Leonid Andreyev's 1914 play about a circus melodrama. The arty silent film was the first movie made entirely under MGM's control and the first to feature the MGM lion, but it was not its first release as the studio chose to delay its opening until the busy holiday season. Young 'genius' executive Irving Thalberg, just under studio head Louis B. Mayer, produced it; during filming he was seeing Norma Shearer, and three years later they were married.

It marked the American debut of Swedish director Victor Seastrom, who masterfully helms it. Though the film itself is an intermittently entertaining and inventive silent melodrama showcasing the very physical acting skills of Lon Chaney, a screen legend whose premature death in 1930 robbed cinema of a unique talent. Here he plays obsessed scientist Paul Beaumont, whose work 'on the origins of mankind' is stolen by his devious patron, the Baron de Regnard (Marc McDermott) – who also makes off with Beaumont's wife for good measure.

Utterly devastated by life's savage cruelties, Beaumont literally runs away to the circus where he starts a new life as a clown. Known as 'HE who gets slapped' – or simply 'HE' for short – his act consists of enduring nightly physical abuse at the hands of his impassive fellow clowns, to the explosive delight of the circus's boorish audiences: a more economic definition of schadenfreude (taking joy at the misfortunes of others) would be harder to imagine.

But though HE (the character's "name" is capitalized in all inter titles) becomes a roaring success, it turns out that fate hasn't yet done with him – he secretly dotes on Consuelo (Norma Shearer), a bare-back rider in love with her fellow performer Bezano (John Gilbert). HE can just about stand this state of affairs – but when the dastardly Baron returns to the scene and starts moving in on Consuelo, HE is spurred into a drastic act of revenge.

Chaney gives a heartbreaking naturalistic performance, it's one his most toned down and believable work, possibly showing the most painful expressions to ever grace the screen. This is largely due to the director, Sjostrom, who didn't believe in the over the top acting style of the age. It's certainly a contender for Chaney's best film (and performance), but despite being one of his oldest that's still available, it's certainly one of his most modern. Of course, his circus act is great, with the ironic climax finally turning the tables on the viewer. Chaney is incredible!!!

A circus clown (Lon Chaney Snr.) tries to hide his personal real life tragedy by being a clown in a troupe of circus clowns. He falls in love with a bareback rider (Norman Shearer) in the process which ends up with tragic consequences.

A very odd, good quality, creepy and poetic drama from Swedish director Victor Sjostrom with Chaney once again going through a physicial transformative process to create his appearance. The dream sequence is particularly creepy.

Struggling scientist Lon Chaney (as Paul Beaumont) is dedicated to proving his theories on the "origin of mankind." He is lucky to have found a wealthy sponsor in Marc McDermott (as Baron Regnard). In a shocking betrayal, the Baron steals Mr. Chaney's notes and takes credit for his hard work. Chaney can't find comfort with his beloved wife Ruth King (as Maria); apparently, she was the reason the amorous Baron had the couple move into his Paris villa. The sneaky lovers soon slap Cheney out of the mansion, calling him a fool and a clown. Impoverished and alone, Chaney joins the circus. He becomes a clown called "HE (who gets slapped)"...

Audiences love laughing at Chaney, especially when he is slapped. The popular clown is attracted to beautiful bareback rider Norma Shearer (as Consuelo), but she is more interested in her athletic partner, John Gilbert (as Bezano). When the duplicitous Mr. McDermott visits the circus, he decides to pursue Ms. Shearer. Making it easy, greedy father Tully Marshall (as Count Mancini) agrees to sell Shearer to the Baron. Fortunately for all, Chaney gets the last laugh...

The first film produced by the merged MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) studios, "He Who Gets Slapped" turned out to be a spectacular start. Producer Irving Thalberg had three important stars at the starting gate, under the artful direction of Victor Sjostrom (as Victor Seastrom), and with a crew headed by Cedric Gibbons. The relatively subtle (to Chaney) performances of McDermott and Ms. King highlight the early running. Sjostrom gives it a deranged feel, interjecting ants into a ceremonial love-making picnic for Shearer and Gilbert. The ugly audience and manic soundtrack laughter contribute to the mood. A terrific climax appropriately involves the studio's mascot. Chaney is marvelous throughout, as are Mr. Sjostrom and the MGM crew.

********* He Who Gets Slapped (11/9/24) Victor Sjostrom ~ Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Marc McDermott

After my mixed response to THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923), I decided to augment my current Silent-film schedule with a mini-Lon Chaney marathon. Others I intend to watch in the coming days are THE MONSTER (1925), THE BLACK BIRD (1926), MR. WU (1927) and WHERE EAST IS EAST (1929). All of these I have recorded off Cable TV, and so far all have received a single viewing.

So, let's start with HE WHO GETS SLAPPED and THE UNKNOWN which, incidentally, have many things in common. They are both set in a circus and involve love triangles which end in tragedy. However, the style adopted by the two films' directors, Victor Sjostrom and Tod Browning respectively, is completely different – and this goes for the characters Chaney plays, too.

I had been instantly impressed by HE WHO GETS SLAPPED, and a second viewing only consolidates my high opinion of it. The film - MGM's very first production, incidentally – was considered highbrow material at the time, not only because it was helmed by a foreigner but also due to the unusually intricate nature of the plot (complete with a healthy dose of symbolism) and a clear emphasis on composition and lighting throughout (one amazing shot has Chaney alone in the circus arena when the lights are being turned off for the night, with the screen entirely black except for Chaney's painted face!).

Chaney is superb as the humiliated scientist-turned-clown (drawing an interesting parallel to Emil Jannings in two Expressionist masterworks, Murnau's THE LAST LAUGH [1924] and Von Sternberg's THE BLUE ANGEL [1930]). His whole life's work is stolen from him and he decides to go into self-willed exile (an influence perhaps on Chaney's future characterization as Erik, the 'Phantom' of the Paris Opera House?) at a circus. Chaney's reaction shots in this film are nothing short of sensational. The sheer masochism in evidence here (a distinctly un-American touch) must not have gone down well with the studio, to say nothing of the gruesome ending when he finally wreaks his revenge. I cannot say for sure, but most of what Chaney was to accomplish in his famed collaboration with Tod Browning, on films like THE UNHOLY THREE (1925) and THE UNKNOWN, is already evident in this film - except that the actor here is less given to uncanny make-up design (which might have overshadowed his acting abilities at times), while the handling is altogether more sophisticated and artful!

Only the middle section drags a bit, as it stresses the budding relationship between Norma Shearer and John Gilbert (though this is contrasted with her father's scheming with a lecherous Baron who, incidentally, turns out to be Chaney's deadly enemy!), but the rest is riveting stuff – this film deserves to be better known, and I long for the day Warners gets to release a Box Set of Lon Chaney classics on DVD!!

Stepping into the role created on Broadway by Richard Bennett, Lon Chaney stars in this film as a once famous scientist who chose the life of a circus clown out of shame.

At least now I know where the business with James Stewart in The Greatest Show on Earth came from. But whereas Stewart was guilty of a mercy killing, Chaney leaves because he's found that his wife's been two timing him with a titled nobleman.

Years later Chaney is a famous attraction at the circus in Paris and he's falling big time for young Norma Shearer who is a bareback rider and also a member of the nobility who has fallen on hard times. She can't see Chaney no way, no how. She's got her eyes on trapeze artist John Gilbert.

But wouldn't you know it, Marc McDermott that self same cad who took Chaney's wife from him has designs on Shearer. And her dad Tully Marshall who's a lecherous old reprobate himself wants to get back in the chips himself so he's quite willing to pawn off Shearer to the old rake.

Naturally of course Chaney has his plans for the whole lot of them and it's settled in a gruesome manner for the silent screen. The film is highly melodramatic and would be considered camp today, but for the subtle performance of Chaney. For the silent screen, with a minimum of histrionics, Chaney does get you to feel a lot of empathy for the character.

It's one of that fine collection of characters Chaney created when the screen didn't speak and should be seen.

He Who Gets Slapped (1924) is an arty film, beautifully directed with interesting visuals and symbolism, but the aspect which always sticks with me is Lon Chaney's heartbreaking performance as the lovelorn scientist turned clown who sacrifices himself to save the happiness and virtue of aristocrat turned bareback rider Norma Shearer.

The first time I saw this film, I sobbed all through the last fourth. Chaney is just so moving without begging for sympathy or milking the pathos of his character's situation. Shearer and John Gilbert as the innocent young lovers contrast greatly with the worldliness and cynicism of the older characters who hold the couple's fate in their greedy hands.

While director Victor Sjostrom's best Hollywood work was undoubtedly The Wind (1928), I still prefer this film overall. The characters are all reminiscent fairy tale figures, true, but this simplicity is quite powerful.

Lon Chaney plays a brilliant scientist whose work is completely stolen by a supposed friend and his wife leaves him for that person. Totally humiliated and in contempt he becomes a clown who allows himself to be slapped--and laughs when it's done. However tragedy follows him even when he does that.

I caught this on TCM. I was expecting a horror movie--Chaney Sr. did plenty of those. What I got was a good, strong melodrama. Plotwise it's nothing new but the direction is excellent (especially the things they do with the turning globe/ball) and all the performances are superb (Chaney in particular). It's disturbing to watch at times (Chaney's circus show as a clown borders on sadism), but always fascinating. It shows how a man is totally destroyed yet, in the end, has the last laugh. Well worth catching.

If you are looking for horror and shocks, this really isn't the Lon Chaney movie for you. The film is more a tragedy about a decent man who is betrayed and subsequently retreats to the circus--where he plays a clown that is beaten up and mistreated to the delight of the audiences. The film is intended to be critical of human nature and how the misery of others is oddly entertaining, though the scenes where Chaney ran around as the clown being slapped about just didn't seem funny or very magical. It was as if in this character, he just wasn't quite hitting his usual stride. However, in the rest of the film, we have a dandy morality play that still hold up well over time (as do most of Chaney's films). Not great, but certainly very good and well worth a look.

Lon Chaney had stated that he needed a strong director to keep him from over-acting and here he found one in Victor Sjöström's (Seastrom's) sober direction. The Swedish director who later directed "The Wind" in Hollywood was a dream for this production and Chaney was at his level best. Tod Browning, had directed this wonderful actor several times with what seems like a camera nailed to the floor whereas Sjöström's camera had a beautiful fluidity that the script needed badly. It was a courageous move on the part of MGM (or just Irving Thalberg???) to hire a "foreign" director for their first film but the choice was brilliant. The audience throughout the circus acts was horrendous in its own way, sometimes almost frightening, and we are made to see that cruelty isn't necessarily funny at all and that laughs aren't always "laughs". This film was worth the wait!

Very unusual film that's worth watching for Chaney, but is hampered by spotty direction and silly dialog cards.

The concept is bizarre. Who likes to see people slapped? Was this a thing in the 20's?

Although it's not the entire plot. It's a metaphor. Albeit a heavy-handed metaphor.

Chaney shows himself to be the master even without Browning at the helm, but the film really suffers from the story-telling.

80 years is a loooooong time. I can't believe MGM's really been around that long. But when it came to making this picture, they were off to a great start. Getting Lon Chaney from Universal was a very wise choice (it'd be hard to see someone else in the part he played), the supporting cast which included Norma Shearer (future Best Actress Oscar winner), John Gilbert (future star of "The Big Parade" (1925) and "Queen Christina" (1933)), as well as notable character actors Tully Marshall and Ford Sterling, it is nothing short of splendid. Lon Chaney's deep, gripping facial expressions, especially in his scenes with rival Baron Regnard (played by Marc McDermott) are the most expressive I've ever seen on film. TCM aired a print with a synchronized music & effects track (which sounds as if it was recorded maybe in the 1960's or 1970's) on Oct. 30th, 2003, and I was so enthralled with how it looked that I taped it and now have it in my collection. If you ever happen to come accross this movie, watch it! You will not be dissapointed. Because MGM means great movies, doesn't it?