Kenyon Nicholson's play "Torch Song" ran for 87 performances on Broadway, closing in November 1930; this film adaptation was released in May of the following year, and some historic reviewers who had seen the original play complained about the radically different ending added to the movie. "Laughing Sinners" was lightened up considerably over the stage version, and according to Crawford the whole film was shot with Johnny Mack Brown in the role ultimately awarded to Gable, being re-shot with Gable on the orders of Louis B. Mayer. On Broadway, Crawford's role was portrayed by ill-fated actress Mayo Methot, later to marry Humphrey Bogart.
It is directed by Harry Beaumont, who handled Crawford's silent jazz baby films and later, "Dancing Lady." For Crawford, "Laughing Sinners" straddles a precipice between her singing and dancing activity and that of more serious drama; although already a star, her 1932 entries -- "Grand Hotel" and "Rain" -- would propel her status and popularity well beyond that of 1931. While it is a huge improvement over terribly stiff talkies like Garbo's "Anna Christie," "Laughing Sinners" is not Beaumont's best work, and the musical sequences are in some ways still the best thing about it. Crawford dominates the first half of the film and it's her boundless energy and enthusiasm that drives it. She is especially beautiful here, and her eyes radiate emotion; in the scene where she receives the "dear Jane" letter from first-class-heel Neil Hamilton, the reaction is played entirely through Crawford's ominous orbs. The most remarkable thing about it, though, is that Gable refuses to lay down and to let Crawford run away with this picture, which may have been what Mayer had in mind when he recast the role; this would prove the first of eight pictures Gable and Crawford would make together. In a sense, this picture feels like a "test" for the principals and, if so, Neil Hamilton fails it; he is stiff and colorless and one wonders why Crawford's dynamic character could be so head over heels with such a back-slapping good buddy. Some have mentioned that "Laughing Sinners" strains credibility somewhat, but within the context of 1931 the whole piece is well within the realm of the plausible; many American joined up with service and charity organizations such as the Salvation Army as a way to weather the economic depths of the depression. There are many scenes in "Laughing Sinners" that depression audiences could relate to, such as Crawford's spartan accommodations and the meal that Crawford and Gable share. The original play was set in a hotel and train station in Pomeroy, Ohio, and Ohioans will note references to Ohio place names, though there are no native exteriors.
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