He Who Gets Slapped (film)

'''''He Who Gets Slapped''''' is a 1924 American [[silent film|silent]] [[psychological thriller]] [[tragedy]] film starring [[Lon Chaney]], [[Norma Shearer]], and [[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]],''[[Variety Film Reviews|Variety]]'' film review; November 12, 1924, page 24.''[[Harrison's Reports and Film Reviews|Harrison's Reports]]'' film review; November 8, 1924, page 178. and directed by [[Victor Sjöström]] (credited as Victor Seastrom). The film was written by Victor Seastrom and Carey Wilson, based on the Russian play ''[[He Who Gets Slapped]]'' (''Тот, кто получает пощёчины''; ''Tot, kto polučájet poščóčiny'') by playwright [[Leonid Andreyev]], which was completed by Andreyev in August 1915, two months before its world premiere at the [[Moscow Art Theatre]] on October 27, 1915.{{cite book|author=Андреев Л.Н.|title=Собрание сочинений в шести томах|volume=5|work=М.: Художественная литература|year=1995}} A critically successful Broadway production, using an English language translation of the original Russian by [[Gregory Zilboorg]], was staged in 1922, premiering at the Garrick Theatre on January 9, 1922, with [[Richard Bennett (actor)|Richard Bennett]] playing the "HE" role on stage.Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 142. {{ISBN|1-879511-26-6}}.{{cite book|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.3366/j.ctt1bh2kpq.12.pdf|title=A Slap in the Face of American Taste: Transporting He Who Gets Slapped to American Audiences|work=Border Crossing: Russian Literature into Film|editor=Alexander Burry and Frederick H. White|author=Frederick H. White|chapter=A Slap in the Face of American Taste|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2016|pages=140–164|jstor=10.3366/j.ctt1bh2kpq.12|isbn=9781474411424}} The Russian original was made into a Russian movie in 1916.

'''''He Who Gets Slapped''''' is a 1924 American [[silent film|silent]] [[psychological thriller]] [[tragedy]] film starring [[Lon Chaney]], [[Norma Shearer]], and [[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]],''[[Variety Film Reviews|Variety]]'' film review; November 12, 1924, page 24.''[[Harrison's Reports and Film Reviews|Harrison's Reports]]'' film review; November 8, 1924, page 178. and directed by [[Victor Sjöström]] (credited as Victor Seastrom). The film was written by Victor Seastrom and Carey Wilson, based on the Russian play ''[[He Who Gets Slapped]]'' (''Тот, кто получает пощёчины''; ''Tot, kto polučájet poščóčiny'') by playwright [[Leonid Andreyev]], which was completed by Andreyev in August 1915, two months before its world premiere at the [[Moscow Art Theatre]] on October 27, 1915.{{cite book|author=Андреев Л.Н.|title=Собрание сочинений в шести томах|volume=5|work=М.: Художественная литература|year=1995}} A critically successful Broadway production, using an English language translation of the original Russian by [[Gregory Zilboorg]], was staged in 1922, premiering at the Garrick Theatre on January 9, 1922, with [[Richard Bennett (actor)|Richard Bennett]] playing the "HE" role on stage.Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 142. {{ISBN|1-879511-26-6}}.{{cite book|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.3366/j.ctt1bh2kpq.12.pdf|title=A Slap in the Face of American Taste: Transporting He Who Gets Slapped to American Audiences|work=Border Crossing: Russian Literature into Film|editor=Alexander Burry and Frederick H. White|author=Frederick H. White|chapter=A Slap in the Face of American Taste|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2016|pages=140–164|jstor=10.3366/j.ctt1bh2kpq.12|isbn=9781474411424}} The Russian original was made into a Russian movie in 1916.

''He Who Gets Slapped'' was the first film produced entirely by the newly formed [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]. It was not, however, MGM's first released movie, as the film was held until the Christmas season when higher attendance was expected. The movie was highly profitable and critically hailed. It was also the first film to feature [[Leo the Lion (MGM)|a lion as the mascot for MGM]]. Created by Howard Dietz, the lion logo was first used for the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation film ''[[Polly of the Circus (1917 film)]]'' and passed on to MGM when Goldwyn merged with two other companies to form MGM. Coincidentally, a real lion plays a key plot point in the Chaney film's plotline.{{cite book|title=MGM--when the Lion Roars|author=Peter Hay, Woolsey Ackerman|year=1991|page=36|isbn=9781878685049|publisher=Turner Publishing}}

''He Who Gets Slapped'' was the first film produced entirely by the newly formed [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]. It was not, however, MGM's first released movie, as the film was held until the Christmas season when higher attendance was expected. The movie was highly profitable and critically hailed. It was also the first film to feature [[Leo the Lion (MGM)|a lion as the mascot for MGM]]. Created by Howard Dietz, the lion logo was first used for the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation film ''[[Polly of the Circus (1917 film)|Polly of the Circus]]'' and passed on to MGM when Goldwyn merged with two other companies to form MGM. Coincidentally, a real lion plays a key plot point in the Chaney film's plotline.{{cite book|title=MGM--when the Lion Roars|author=Peter Hay, Woolsey Ackerman|year=1991|page=36|isbn=9781878685049|publisher=Turner Publishing}}

The film was important in the careers of Chaney, Shearer, Gilbert, and Seastrom. Victor Seastrom called Chaney "the finest actor in the history of the screen or the stage". George Davis, a popular European clown, coached Chaney in his clown role. The circus sequences took two weeks to film on the studio's largest stage. Stills exist showing details of Chaney's makeup as both Paul Beaumont and "HE".{{cite web | url=http://lonchaney.org/filmography/138.html | title=He Who Gets Slapped (1924) }}

The film was important in the careers of Chaney, Shearer, Gilbert, and Seastrom. Victor Seastrom called Chaney "the finest actor in the history of the screen or the stage". George Davis, a popular European clown, coached Chaney in his clown role. The circus sequences took two weeks to film on the studio's largest stage. Stills exist showing details of Chaney's makeup as both Paul Beaumont and "HE".{{cite web | url=http://lonchaney.org/filmography/138.html | title=He Who Gets Slapped (1924) }}