The Man Who Laughs

The film stars Veidt as Gwynplaine, the son of an aristocrat who is kidnapped for political reasons before being disfigured by a gypsy surgeon, who leaves the boy's face paralyzed in a contorted smile. Finding refuge in a traveling theatre troupe, Gwynplaine's lineage is eventually discovered and he soon finds himself being pulled back into the social and political world he was taken from as a boy. (official distributor synopsis)