April Movie of the Month: Laughing Sinners (1931)

Clark Gable  is third billed in this syrupy drama behind Joan Crawford, naturally, and Neil Hamilton (who?) Unlike most of this roles of 1931–A Free Soul, Dance Fools Dance, Night Nurse–Clark is far from a thug; he plays the ultimate good boy out to save Joan Crawford’s soul.

Clark  is Carl, a saintly Salvation Army officer who rescues Ivy (Crawford), distraught over being dumped by her boyfriend (Hamilton), from jumping off a bridge. Under Carl’s influence, Ivy gives up her hard-drinking, hard-partying nightclub lifestyle and joins the Salvation Army. Temptation proves to be too great though, when her ex-lover returns and she falls back into old habits.

If you are waiting for Clark to show up, you have twenty minutes  to spare before he saves Joan from jumping off a bridge.

You won’t be bowled over by their scorching chemistry like you are in Possessed by any means.  This film was shot in its entirety with Johnny Mack Brown (Clark’s co-star in The Secret Six) in the role of Carl. Preview audiences laughed at Brown’s performance and said on comment cards that he had no chemistry with Crawford. So Brown was cut out and all of his scenes were re-shot with Clark. None of Brown’s scenes exist, and I wonder if he really did such a horrible job. I find Clark miscast in this role; he is reduced to a sad-eyed Salvation Army soldier. And not that I’m saying that Clark at this point should have only been playing woman-shoving brutes, but he really is wasted in this role. A month after this film was released, A Free Soul premiered and that changed Clark’s public perception forever. No more sad sacks!

Clark does get to throw a punch at least!

Neil Hamilton is no great shakes and I really do think they should have cast someone a bit more “hunky” in that role. He certainly doesn’t come across as someone a girl would jump off a bridge for!

Joan is young and blonde, almost unrecognizable if you are looking for “Mommie Dearest.” People tend to forget that at this stage, Joan was a good little dancer and didn’t have a bad singing voice either–both of which she shows off in the beginning of the film.

Joan and Clark share no passionate embraces, no scandalous pre-code moments. But behind the scenes was a different story as they were very much involved. Often times it took the director a long time to get them out of Joan’s trailer. Joan’s husband, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., commented later about how she left for the set early every day and came home very late and he thought how hard she must be working…until he learned otherwise.

Laughing Sinners ia available on DVD through the Warner Brothers Archive Collection. Read more about the film here and see over 30 pictures from the film in the gallery.