Friday, September 12, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Los Feliz Theatre, Los Angeles
### **ABOUT THE FILM:** In 1924, newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer staked its claim as a major Hollywood studio with HE WHO GETS SLAPPED, a film as bold and haunting as anything produced in the silent era. Lon Chaney delivers one of his most devastating performances as Beaumont, a scientist betrayed by his wife and patron, who flees his ruined life to become a circus clown whose only act is to be slapped—over and over—for the audience’s amusement. Director Victor Sjöström, already a legend of Swedish cinema, was hired to co-adapt (with Carey Wilson) Russian playwright Leonid Andreyev’s dark, psychologically charged stage work for the film. Sjöström’s other major works include THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE (1921), THE SCARLETT LETTER (1926) and THE WIND (1928), and stars as the lead character in Ingmar Bergman’s WILD STRAWBERRIES (1957). The supporting cast is also remarkable: young Norma Shearer and John Gilbert, both on the cusp of stardom, shine as circus bareback riders and Beaumont’s only friends. Marc McDermott’s cruel Baron Renard and Tully Marshall’s lecherous Count make villains worthy of Beaumont’s most ruthless revenge. FORMAT: DCP DISTRIBUTOR: Flicker Alley COUNTRY: USA