Laughter
Directed by Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast
Written by Douglas Z. Doty and Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast
1930/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube
From quiet homes and first beginning, out to the undiscovered ends, there’s nothing worth the wear of winning, but laughter and the love of friends. — Hilaire Belloc
Watchable pre-Code romance features early performances by some Golden Age stars.
Peggy (Nancy Carroll) was a chorus girl and lived the carefree highlife. She had a relationship with composer Paul Lockridge (Fredric March) before he left for Paris. She forgoes her freedom for a life of luxury with much older millionaire C. Mortimer Gibson and they marry.
A few years pass. Gibson’s daughter Marjorie comes home from college and he puts her under Peggy’s care. The two women are almost the same age and Marjorie aspires to the kind of carefree life Peggy once had. Paul comes back from Paris determined to steal Peggy back from Gibson, distracting Peggy from her step-motherly duties. Marjorie falls for a starving artist and gets her picture in the paper. The appearance of Paul causes Peggy to disappoint Gibson in many ways, though the old man always seems willing to take her back.
It’s a pleasant light pre-Code romance with some good acting. Not something that is likely to stick in my mind but watchable.
