LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1928), produced and directed by Herbert Brenon, returns Lon Chaney to playing the role of a tragic clown, a type of role he earlier portrayed in his earlier screen adaptation to HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (MGM, 1924). Though it's easier to confuse one film from the other, particularly where Lon Chaney and his clowning are concerned, yet for this silent melodrama, taken from the play elements by David Belasco, and story by Tom Cushing, it's somewhat predictable Chaney to say the least.
Opening title: "Spring comes early in the Italian hills. Peasants hearts are light - and the voice of the traveling circus is heard in the land." This strange tale opens with Tito (Lon Chaney) and Simon (Bernard Siegel), a couple of sideshow entertainers traveling through an Italian village where they entertain and invite the public to attend their upcoming circus show where they perform as clowns. Following their performance, Tito rests up by the lake where he washes his clothes. At a distance he hears some crying, only to find an abandoned infant girl whose feet are tied to a branch. Releasing her from her bondage, rather than taking her to an orphanage, Tito decides to adopt her, much to the chagrin of Simon until he names the baby Simonetta. Years pass. Simonetta (Loretta Young), now a young girl, is being trained by Tito to become a tight rope walker. Later, while accidentally getting her foot caught in barb wire, Simonetta is rescued by the passing Count Luigi Babelli (Nils Asther), who takes to her beauty. After inviting her to his home, Simonetta's presence causes friction between Luigi and his girlfriend, Lucretta (Gwen Lee). During their argument, Simonetta leaves. Later, Luigi finds himself suffering from uncontrollable laughter due to life of self-indulgence while at the same time, Tito suffers from depression involving Simonetta. As both men pay a visit to a neurologist (Emmett King) in Rome, he advises individually that they find a girl to truly love and marry. In order to break from his crying spells, Tito resumes life as Flick the clown, while Luigi attempts winning the love of a circus girl. Situations become complex as Simonetta learns the true love from both men, and whether or not they can ever overcome their inner troubled emotions. Others members of the cast include: Cissy Fitz-gerald (Giancinta); and Julie Devalora (The Nurse).
Aside from the know-how melodramatic elements given by the legendary Lon Chaney, LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH is also notable for being the first major movie role for the third-billed Loretta Young, then about age 15, yet looking very much like a grown mature woman here. Radiant, beautiful and still new to the movie business following numerous uncredited bit parts dating back to the early 1920s or beyond. Young, whose role could have been performed by other MGM contract performers as Anita Page, Dorothy Sebastian or HE WHO GETS SLAPPED co-star, Norma Shearer, shows how she can hold her own even at a very young age as a serious actress. Working opposite the ever popular Lon Chaney certainly proves to be a big advantage to her career. Nils Asther, better known to film scholars mostly for his co-starring roles in silent dramas opposite another popular MGM performer, Greta Garbo, performs his task well as the troubled young Count.
Out of circulation for decades, LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH, a sort-after Lon Chaney melodrama, premiered on Turner Classic Movies cable channel (TCM premiere: February 26, 2003), accompanied by a new original score composed by J. Scott Salinas. Though one would wish for the original score that accompanied this 1928 production, the Salinas orchestration proves to be quite satisfactory during its current clock time of 74 minutes. For such an unusual story with no laughs, and very much a one man (Chaney) show, it's plausible though its fine performances made believable by Chaney and his co-stars. Available on DVD, LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH is a welcome edition to the other Chaney movies during his MGM years (1924-1930) and worthy viewing for the presence of a girl named Loretta when she was young. (***)
Opening title: "Spring comes early in the Italian hills. Peasants hearts are light - and the voice of the traveling circus is heard in the land." This strange tale opens with Tito (Lon Chaney) and Simon (Bernard Siegel), a couple of sideshow entertainers traveling through an Italian village where they entertain and invite the public to attend their upcoming circus show where they perform as clowns. Following their performance, Tito rests up by the lake where he washes his clothes. At a distance he hears some crying, only to find an abandoned infant girl whose feet are tied to a branch. Releasing her from her bondage, rather than taking her to an orphanage, Tito decides to adopt her, much to the chagrin of Simon until he names the baby Simonetta. Years pass. Simonetta (Loretta Young), now a young girl, is being trained by Tito to become a tight rope walker. Later, while accidentally getting her foot caught in barb wire, Simonetta is rescued by the passing Count Luigi Babelli (Nils Asther), who takes to her beauty. After inviting her to his home, Simonetta's presence causes friction between Luigi and his girlfriend, Lucretta (Gwen Lee). During their argument, Simonetta leaves. Later, Luigi finds himself suffering from uncontrollable laughter due to life of self-indulgence while at the same time, Tito suffers from depression involving Simonetta. As both men pay a visit to a neurologist (Emmett King) in Rome, he advises individually that they find a girl to truly love and marry. In order to break from his crying spells, Tito resumes life as Flick the clown, while Luigi attempts winning the love of a circus girl. Situations become complex as Simonetta learns the true love from both men, and whether or not they can ever overcome their inner troubled emotions. Others members of the cast include: Cissy Fitz-gerald (Giancinta); and Julie Devalora (The Nurse).
Aside from the know-how melodramatic elements given by the legendary Lon Chaney, LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH is also notable for being the first major movie role for the third-billed Loretta Young, then about age 15, yet looking very much like a grown mature woman here. Radiant, beautiful and still new to the movie business following numerous uncredited bit parts dating back to the early 1920s or beyond. Young, whose role could have been performed by other MGM contract performers as Anita Page, Dorothy Sebastian or HE WHO GETS SLAPPED co-star, Norma Shearer, shows how she can hold her own even at a very young age as a serious actress. Working opposite the ever popular Lon Chaney certainly proves to be a big advantage to her career. Nils Asther, better known to film scholars mostly for his co-starring roles in silent dramas opposite another popular MGM performer, Greta Garbo, performs his task well as the troubled young Count.
Out of circulation for decades, LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH, a sort-after Lon Chaney melodrama, premiered on Turner Classic Movies cable channel (TCM premiere: February 26, 2003), accompanied by a new original score composed by J. Scott Salinas. Though one would wish for the original score that accompanied this 1928 production, the Salinas orchestration proves to be quite satisfactory during its current clock time of 74 minutes. For such an unusual story with no laughs, and very much a one man (Chaney) show, it's plausible though its fine performances made believable by Chaney and his co-stars. Available on DVD, LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH is a welcome edition to the other Chaney movies during his MGM years (1924-1930) and worthy viewing for the presence of a girl named Loretta when she was young. (***)