Ris donc, paillasse!

I recently viewed this film on TCM for the second time, and I enjoyed it even more. True, the fact that Chaney is in love with a teenager which he raised from a child is somewhat disturbing, but I think Chaney's portrayal in the film shows that he is aware of the inappropriateness of his love, however, he is unable to stop it. I particularly enjoyed the conflict Chaney experiences between his role as a performer and his needs as a human being. He displays a touching sense of obligation, stoicism, and vulnerability that only a master actor such as himself could manage. The final scene where he has fallen is absolutely heart wrenching, especially when he says, "I am an old man" as if he only realizes it for the first time. Complete with a wonderful new score, I would recommend this film for any fan of silent films, or just great acting in general. Long live Chaney!

This is such a sad movie; after watching the great "Phantom of the Opera" I became more open to Chaney's movie. This is such a sad heart-wrenching film. Chaney is at his best in this film giving a bittersweet performance becoming both entertaining and tragic. These are characters we can care about and that's what made this movie effective. The fact that Chaney is in love with a younger woman and knows he can never have her is possibly the biggest aspect that tugs on your heart as you watch. The ending is possibly the most heartwrenching. I won't give it away, though. You have to see it for yourself.

*** and a half (out of 4 stars)

Not only is this the greatest performance I've seen by Chaney, it is one of the great films.

In this, Chaney definitively proves he is one of the greatest actors, perhaps the greatest, in all of film. Although he appears in different make-ups in almost every scene, the make-up is to portray himself as a younger man who slowly grows older as the 25-year span of the film tells the well-known tragic love story more familiarly known as "Pagliacci," the clown who could not laugh.

The film co-stars a radiant 14-year-old Loretta Young, who Chaney supposedly guided to another great performance. Without the director, who was unduly harsh on her, knowing it. When Chaney found out, he made sure he was always with Young whenever the director was. Young's mistreatment ended.

Several times I was near tears because Chaney's performance--watch his eyes, hands and demeanor--is so naturalistic, even though somewhat melodramatic, as all silent performances were.

Almost all of Chaney's films were about unrequieted love, but here he may have reached his apotheosis. I won't know until I see a few more of his non "horror" films, especially, "He Who Gets Slapped."

Don't let what I've said make you think this is some clunky "tear-jerker," It is filled with good laughs, drama, wonder and real pathos. Chaney's final scene is utterly tragic and beautiful.

Even non-Chaney fans will be awed by "Laugh, Clown, Laugh."

"Laugh, Clown, Laugh" is a very sad movie, much like "He Who Gets Slapped", only much more heartrending. There is no horror, and the only special makeup is clown makeup. Lon Chaney finds an abandoned toddler, naming her Simonetta to appease his partner Simon. The movie wastes no time into getting to the main plot, involving a teenaged Simonetta (played by a 15-year old Loretta Young), who the circus coordinator says should look like a woman in order to join Tito's and Simon's act.

Tito (Chaney) has loved Simonetta from the time he finds her as a toddler. When he tells her she needs a rose in her hair, Simonetta goes to the gardens of Count Ravelli (Nils Asther), where they grow. She scrapes her legs over the barbed wire fence, and Count Ravelli sees her and takes her into his house to tend to her. He is a womanizer, and immediately becomes infatuated with her. He verbalizes his love, and says the prophetic "What an alluring woman you could be." Maybe it encourages her, even after she learns to her horror that he is a womanizer, because later that day, she is dressed like a woman and amazes Tito.

Both men are now passionately in love with her, and suffer uncontrollable emotions as a result (the Count's is laughter, and Tito's is crying). Three years later, the two men meet at a neurologist's and decide to cure each other, not yet knowing they are both in love with Simonetta.

After they recover, they learn. Count Ravelli gives Simonetta some pearls, which Loretta and Lon Chaney initially reject--until they read the accompanying note. Then, things get really complicated.

Each performance is excellent throughout. Chaney gives an excellent performance, though his quick transformation from a fatherly love to one that borders on incest. Tito is not the kind of man who is given to that kind of passion, and he doesn't like it, knowing it is wrong. Nils Asther is not dramatic or as convincing as Lon Chaney, but then, who can outshine Chaney? No one. Count Ravelli's transformation is more plausible because Loretta Young makes Simonetta innocent and pure, who by her virtues slowly changes him from a reckless womanizer to a devoted lover. All three deserve praise, and don't be surprised if you want to watch it more than once. It may be sad, but it is also sweet.

Certainly the tale of the clown who's laughing on the outside, but crying on the inside, is not a new one. But in this version, Lon Chaney makes it his own through the force of his heart rending characterization.

The story of a clown who falls in love with the little girl he's raised as his daughter stops shy of being incestuous because the clown Tito, (Lon Chaney) tries to hide his feelings from the girl, Simonetta.(Played by a very young and exquisite Loretta Young.) Realizing that it's inappropriate,Tito always holds himself in check, but Simonetta is aware because she knows him so well. His realization that Simonetta is now a young lady, and no longer a child is one of the most touching scenes in the movie.The depth of his feeling for her speaks to the anguish of his inner soul, and produces emotional problems for which he seeks the help of a famous internist. The opposite side of the coin is played with aplomb by Nils Asther, whose emotional affliction is uncontrollable laughing,whereas Tito's is crying. Both men's salvation lies in the love they share for Simonetta.

While this is overall a sad movie, there are moments of lightness as well, especially when Tito is performing as Flik on the stage, and when he's trying to get Simonetta to laugh. Bernard Siegel gives fine support as Tito's partner Simon, who performs in the act as Flok.

By the end of the movie, you'll understand the pathos of Simon aka Flok saying, "Laugh, clown, laugh even though your heart is breaking."