MovieChat Forums > Mr. Sardonicus (1961) Discussion > Why did the grin occur?

Why did the grin occur?

posted 16 years ago by IrishLass240
12 replies | jump to latest

I am watching the movie, but am not clear as to why the grin developed, first in the father and then the son. Why would the father have such a horrible grin in his grave? Then, did the son develop it because of the emotional reaction of robbing the grave? Or are we to assume that there was a supernatural element, a curse of sort? Then, why did he, a seemingly kind farmer and good husband, become such a horrible person after winning the lottery with his father's ticket? Does anyone have any ideas?

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[–] novastar_6 16 years ago

The grin on his father it's explained as some kind of recoil, an involuntary muscle response or something...and it happened to Sardonicus, I think he said from the guilt and shock of what he had done and what he had seen.

[–] mojo2004 16 years ago

That explains why the son had it.There was no explanation for why the his father had it! The son became a horrible madmad because of the guilt he felt for robbing his father's grave.

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[–] poppab66 16 years ago

It was just the condition of a normal corpse. When dead people rot, the skin pulls back like that and looks like they got some weird grin on the face. It was sardonicus that interpereted it to be his dead father grinning or mocking him in some way. Then, the guilt and shock of that made his own face freeze like that. At least thats what i took away from the story after sardonicus explained it to the doctor.

[–] novastar_6 16 years ago

I guess that's why these days they wire your jaw shut, eh?

[–] scotbpens 16 years ago

In psychiatry, it's called conversion disorder or conversion hysteria, in which extreme psychological trauma can cause physical symptoms, like breaking out in a rash, paralysis, or loss or speech or hearing. Never heard of a mental shock making anyone's face freeze in a horrible grin, though.

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[–] wongsaur 14 years ago

There is an old superstition and folk belief that I heard about when I was a kid. If you walk around making wierd faces and someone slaps/hits you on the back real hard, the expression will remain frozen on your face. Parents and older siblings warned us about this. Some of the neighborhood kids would purposely make extreme faces and let a playmate slap them on the back and they would keep the ugly look on the face for awhile to scare everyone.

[–] vestdennis 12 years ago

I know the first time I saw that scene, when he returns from the graveyard, scared the holy crap of of me! I had nightmares for days afterwards...

[–] Randy-144 13 years ago

I can understand the plot device of his face being frozen due to the shock of seeing his father's corpse, but what I couldn't accept was the extreme width of his mouth. If one's lips when smiling can be measured as distance X then those lips can't be stretched to 2X in a permanent grimace as we first see in the scene when Elenka lets out a series of screams when she sees him. (See link)
http://baragon2001.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=300000000000000000000 &action=display&thread=66
The few times the camera shows his face while speaking, his mouth doesn't move at all; it's like he a ventriloquist. Although it's obvious that the makeup department made up his mouth, they went for a look that is closer to comical than frightening -- like Jack Nicholson's face as the Joker in "Batman". I think if they had gone for a look more like Lon Chaney in "Phantom of the Opera" then it would have been more believable.

[–] richard-III 12 years ago

Better look at Conrad Veidt in 'The Man who laughs' (1928). I have read somewhere that the Joker in Bob Kane's Batman was inspired by him.

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[–] vl2 14 years ago

Pretty sure the reason he became so cold and evil was because after his face froze like that, he was basically shunned by the world.

[–] freakyfelix 13 years ago

I have no idea, I couldn't get that far into the movie. I really wanted to like it, but I couldn't get past the slow pace and stiff acting. Best part was the opening.

[–] SAMRubinsky 10 years ago

Could YOU read that script with a straight face? Could ANYONE?