He Who Gets Slapped

Slap him once, slap him 100 times -- the Big Top crowd roars. The clown known to delighted throngs as HE has made a comedic art of getting batted around. Life has battered him even more. Behind the mask, HE hides the torment of once being a brilliant scientist whose research and wife were stolen by a colleague. And behind the mask, when the time comes, HE realizes his revenge. Lon Chaney wears one of the most renowned of his "1000 Faces" in an acclaimed silent that helped make major stars of Norma Shearer and John Gilbert. Victor Seastrom directs, guiding scenes ranging from light-hearted circus vignettes to dark pathos. This first-ever film solely created by MGM also marks the studio's first use of Leo the Lion.