Laugh, Clown, Laugh

Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)

What did he hide behind his painted smile?

A despairing clown suffering a broken heart and a self-indulgent count who uncontrollably laughs learn to help each other with their problems, but both fall in love with the same young woman.

Date of release
1928-04-14
TMDB
7.4 / 10 (41)
Runtime
1h 14m
Genres
Drama
Director
Herbert Brenon

Casting

Interesting facts

Laugh, Clown, Laugh is a 1928 American silent drama film starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young. The film was directed by Herbert Brenon and produced by Irving G. Thalberg for MGM Pictures. A sound version of this film was released in the second half of 1928 and featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The film was written by Elizabeth Meehan, based on the 1923 Broadway stage production Laugh, Clown, Laugh by David Belasco and Tom Cushing, which in turn was based on the 1919 play Ridi, Pagliaccio by Fausto Maria Martini.

Production

The film is based on the 1923 Broadway stage production Laugh, Clown, Laugh which starred Lionel Barrymore as Tito, and his second wife Irene Fenwick in the role of Simonetta. The play by David Belasco and Tom Cushing, which in turn was based on a 1919 Italian stage play Ridi, Pagliaccio by Fausto Maria Martini, ran at the Belasco Theatre from November 28, 1923, to March 1924, for a total of 133 performances.

MGM was thinking of offering Chaney this film in 1925 but delayed production for several years, because Chaney had already appeared as a clown in the 1924 film He Who Gets Slapped and due to speculation that Lionel Barrymore might wish to reprise his role from the stage production. Instead, MGM would pair Barrymore with Chaney in West of Zanzibar.

As a trouping comic stage actor in his youth, Chaney would have been acquainted with clown performers. In preparation for this film and He Who Gets Slapped, Chaney also studied the clown makeup of circus performers and 19th-century clown stage actors like Joseph Grimaldi and George L. Fox, the latter of Humpty Dumpty fame. The film was said to have been Chaney's favorite of all his roles.

This film was Loretta Young's first major movie role, at the age of fourteen. In interviews near the end of her life, she expressed her gratitude toward Chaney for his kindness and guidance, and for protecting her from director Brenon's sometimes harsh treatment.

The theme song "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" was composed by Ted Fio Rito while its lyrics having written by Lewis and Young and was featured in the sound version of the film which was released in the latter half of 1928. It became a hit record. Chaney's set musicians played the song at his 1930 funeral.

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