press release
Flicker Alley and Blackhawk Films
proudly present Lon Chaney
in director Victor Sjöström’s
1924 tale of revenge
He Who Gets Slapped
in a Flicker Fusion Blu-ray edition
He Who Gets Slapped
Deluxe Blu-ray Edition
M.S.R.P. $29.95
UPC: 6-17311-60079-1
(Los Angeles, CA – July 31, 2025) – Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and let Flicker Alley and Blackhawk Films delight and terrify you with the strangest attraction ever beheld! Lon Chaney takes center stage as HE, a tortured clown whose signature act is receiving an endless series of slaps to the face.
Unbeknownst to the cheering crowd, however, HE is disgraced scientist Paul Beaumont who, robbed of his research and publicly humiliated by the evil Baron Regnard (Marc McDermott), has spent the last five years intricately staging a most bizarre and twisted revenge.
Originally a 1914 Russian stageplay by expressionist author Leonid Andreyev, He Who Gets Slapped became a hit on Broadway in 1922 and was immediately targeted by Louis B. Mayer as the first project at his new studio, soon to be amalgamated as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM.) Directed by Victor Sjöström (The Phantom Carriage, The Wind), Chaney’s tragic and deeply haunting performance as HE is seminal to a grand tradition of scary movie clowns.
He Who Gets Slapped makes its high definition debut through the generous support of the Sunrise Foundation for Education & the Arts. The film was restored by Blackhawk Films in 2024 from a first generation 35mm safety print and a 16mm dupe negative. It is presented with two different scores: an original piano composition by Antonio Coppola and an original orchestral score by Alloy Orchestra, recorded live in 2013.
Bonus Materials Include:
Unbeknownst to the cheering crowd, however, HE is disgraced scientist Paul Beaumont who, robbed of his research and publicly humiliated by the evil Baron Regnard (Marc McDermott), has spent the last five years intricately staging a most bizarre and twisted revenge.
Originally a 1914 Russian stageplay by expressionist author Leonid Andreyev, He Who Gets Slapped became a hit on Broadway in 1922 and was immediately targeted by Louis B. Mayer as the first project at his new studio, soon to be amalgamated as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM.) Directed by Victor Sjöström (The Phantom Carriage, The Wind), Chaney’s tragic and deeply haunting performance as HE is seminal to a grand tradition of scary movie clowns.
He Who Gets Slapped makes its high definition debut through the generous support of the Sunrise Foundation for Education & the Arts. The film was restored by Blackhawk Films in 2024 from a first generation 35mm safety print and a 16mm dupe negative. It is presented with two different scores: an original piano composition by Antonio Coppola and an original orchestral score by Alloy Orchestra, recorded live in 2013.
Bonus Materials Include:
- Audio Commentary - By Emmy award-winning makeup artist and Lon Chaney expert Michael F. Blake
- He Who Gets Smacked (1925) - From producer Mack Sennett and director Lloyd Bacon, this comedic short stars Ralph Graves as Jimmie, a hapless department store worker who accidentally volunteers for a professional boxing match
- Koko at the Circus (1926) - Will Koko and Fritz the Dog’s circus act be replaced by a giant? Find out in this animated short from Max Fleischer’s Out of the Inkwell series, directed by Dave Fleischer, featuring a stunning new restoration by Fabulous Fleischer Cartoons Restored
- Leo: The Truth and the Lion (2025) - An original featurette that explores the early days of MGM’s beloved Leo the Lion
- Image Galleries - Featuring production stills and promotional material
- Booklet Insert - Presenting an article by Thomas Gladysz exploring the life of Victor Sjöström and the production of He Who Gets Slapped
- Limited Edition Spot Gloss Slipcover - Optional packaging upgrade with exclusive artwork, available only at FlickerAlley.com
- English SDH Subtitles
- Blu-ray Authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity in Motion
- All Region Encoding (A,B,C)
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About Blackhawk Films
Blackhawk Films® was founded in 1927 as a producer of film advertising for merchants and as a distributor of regional newsreels. From 1950 until 1995, Blackhawk expanded and began distributing new 8mm and 16mm prints of Laurel & Hardy comedies from Hal Roach Studios as well as other classic film titles through its legendary monthly catalog. Today, Blackhawk Films® is both a unique collection of classic films (more than 5000 titles), and a restoration laboratory established in Burbank, CA, handling cinematic masterpieces for the biggest archives and film owners throughout the world.
About Flicker Alley, LLC
Flicker Alley, LLC was founded in 2002. Each Flicker Alley publication is the culmination of hundreds of hours of research, digital restoration, graphic design, music composition, and scoring. Collectively, they reflect the creativity, expertise, and shared passion of many talented collaborators. The Flicker Alley brand has grown to enjoy national and international acclaim. The company is a four-time recipient of the National Society of Film Critics Film Heritage Award for publishing "rare early U.S. and foreign silent film.”
Blackhawk Films® was founded in 1927 as a producer of film advertising for merchants and as a distributor of regional newsreels. From 1950 until 1995, Blackhawk expanded and began distributing new 8mm and 16mm prints of Laurel & Hardy comedies from Hal Roach Studios as well as other classic film titles through its legendary monthly catalog. Today, Blackhawk Films® is both a unique collection of classic films (more than 5000 titles), and a restoration laboratory established in Burbank, CA, handling cinematic masterpieces for the biggest archives and film owners throughout the world.
About Flicker Alley, LLC
Flicker Alley, LLC was founded in 2002. Each Flicker Alley publication is the culmination of hundreds of hours of research, digital restoration, graphic design, music composition, and scoring. Collectively, they reflect the creativity, expertise, and shared passion of many talented collaborators. The Flicker Alley brand has grown to enjoy national and international acclaim. The company is a four-time recipient of the National Society of Film Critics Film Heritage Award for publishing "rare early U.S. and foreign silent film.”
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