Laugh, Clown, Laugh

Name: Laugh, Clown, Laugh
Director: Herbert Brenon
Released: 1928
Duration: 1 h 5 min
Cast: Lon Chaney, Bernard Siegel, Loretta Young, Cissy Fitz-Gerald, Nils Asther

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1928
Herbert Brenon
65 mins

Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

David Parkinson

Having sacrificed himself for Norma Shearer in He Who Gets Slapped, Lon Chaney does the noble thing by Loretta Young in Herbert Brenon's silent take on David Belasco and Tom Cushing's tragic stage play. Chaney is both avuncular and vulnerable as the clown who takes in an abandoned waif. By the time she's a teenager (played by Young), Chaney realises that he's in love with her - but also that her heart belongs to dashing nobleman Nils Ashter. In her first starring role, the 15-year-old Young is enchantingly natural. But it's Chaney's command of mime - whether slapsticking with Siegel or suppressing his bruised emotions - that makes this hoary and dated melodrama so moving.

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Credits

Cast

rolenameTitoLon ChaneySimonBernard SiegelSimonetteLoretta YoungGiacintaCissy Fitz-GeraldLuigiNils AstherLucretiaGwen Lee

Crew

rolenameDirectorHerbert Brenon

Details

Languages

English

Formats

Black and white