HE Who Gets Slapped (1924)

A bitter clown endeavors to rescue the young woman he loves from the lecherous count who once betrayed him.

Director:

Victor Sjöström (as Victor Seastrom)

Writers:

Leonid Andreyev (adapted from the play by), Carey Wilson (adapted for the screen by)

Stars:

Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Lon Chaney	...	Paul Beaumont / HE
Norma Shearer	...	Consuelo
John Gilbert	...	Bezano
Ruth King	...	Marie Beaumont
Marc McDermott	...	Baron Regnard
Ford Sterling	...	Tricaud
Tully Marshall	...	Count Mancini
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pierre Watkin	...	Spectator in Audience at HE's Final Performance

Storyline

Story of an inventor who, suffering betrayal in life, makes a career of it by becoming a clown whose act consists of getting slapped by all the other clowns. He falls in love with another circus performer, and those who betrayed him enter his life yet again.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | clown | sad clown | circus | benefactor | 

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Taglines:

THE famous stage success now comes to take its place among the immortal heart dramas of the screen. It is unquestionably one of the most gripping stories ever filmed. (Print Ad- Beacon Daily Herald,((Beacon, NY)) 15 January 1925)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The first film to feature Leo the Lion roaring as MGM's logo. Designed by Howard Dietz, the logo was first used for the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation film Polly of the Circus (1917) and passed to MGM when Goldwyn merged with two other companies to form MGM. Fittingly and somewhat ironically, a real lion plays a key plot point in the film's story.

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Goofs

During part of the scene where the lion is loose in the room, Beaumont is seen with no, or hardly any, black makeup around his right eye. Before and after this scene, both eyes are made up.

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Quotes

Consuelo: [laughing] Bravo, HE - funnier than ever...

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Crazy Credits

In the version aired on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on April 29, 2020, just after the Leo (the MGM Lion) shot and prior to the credits intertitle, there was an approval stamp within a toroidal circle: Approved by Kansas State Board of Review Serial Number C8806; below that was a rectangular text box: KANSAS GROWS THE BEST WHEAT IN THE WORLD

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Alternate Versions

This silent film was originally shot at 18 fps, which gives a proper running time of 95 minutes. Most copies that circulate today, including the Warner Bros. "Archive" DVD release and the TCM television version, as well as "public domain" versions like the copy on archive.org, incorrectly play at 24 fps with an added music soundtrack, rattling in at a speedup of 71 minutes.

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Connections

Featured in Victor Seastrom (1981)

User Reviews

He Who Gets Slapped (1924) - TCM U.K. screening review

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!!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None English

Release Date:

22 December 1924 (USA)

Also Known As:

HE Who Gets Slapped

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$172,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min (restored) (Blu-ray) 95 min (original) 71 min (TCM print) (TV) (with soundtrack) 71 min (Warner Archive print) (DVD) (with soundtrack)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1