The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs is a novel by Victor Hugo,
originally published in April 1869 under the French title L'Homme qui
rit. Although among Hugo's most obscure works, it was adapted into a popular
1928 film, directed by Paul Leni and starring Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin and
Olga Baclanova.

Hugo wrote The Man Who Laughs, or the Laughing Man, over a
period of fifteen months while he was living in the Channel Islands, having been
exiled from his native France due to the controversial political content of his
previous novels. Hugo's working title for this book was On the King's
Command, but a friend suggested The Man Who Laughs.

- Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.