Laughter (1930 film)

Laughter
Laughter
Directed by	Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast
Written by	Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast; Douglas Z. Doty (also story); Herman J. Mankiewicz; Donald Ogden Stewart
Produced by	Monta Bell
Starring	Nancy Carroll; Fredric March
Cinematography	George J. Folsey
Edited by	Helene Turner
Music by	Vernon Duke (uncredited)
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	September 25, 1930;
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Laughter is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast and starring Nancy Carroll, Fredric March and Frank Morgan.^[1] It was shot at the Astoria Studios in New York.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story.^[2]

A copy has been preserved at the Library of Congress.^[3]

In 1931, a German-language version called The Men Around Lucy was released starring Liane Haid and Lien Deyers. This film is considered lost.

Plot

Peggy is a Follies dancer who forsakes her life of carefree attachments in order to meet her goal of marrying a millionaire. Alas, her elderly husband, broker C. Mortimer Gibson, is a well-meaning bore, and soon Peggy begins seeking entertainment elsewhere.

A year after their marriage, three significant events occur almost simultaneously. Peggy's former boyfriend, Paul Lockridge, a composer and pianist who is in love with her and seems to have a funny quip for every occasion, returns from Paris. She reunites with him as he offers her his companionship as a diversion from her stuffy life. Also, Ralph Le Saint, a young devil-may-care sculptor who is still in love with Peggy, plans his suicide in a mood of bitterness, and Gibson's daughter, Marjorie, returns from schooling abroad. Marjorie is soon paired with Ralph, and the romance that develops between them is paralleled by the adult affair between Peggy and Paul.

Ralph and Marjorie's escapades result in considerable trouble for Mortimer, while Paul implores Peggy to go to Paris with him, declaring "You are rich--dirty rich. You are dying. You need laughter to make you clean," but she refuses. When Marjorie plans to elope with Ralph, Peggy exposes the sculptor as a fortune hunter; and, dejected, he commits suicide. As a result, Peggy confesses her unhappiness to Gibson, then joins Paul and laughter in Paris.

Reception

In 1998, Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader included the film in his unranked list of the best American films not included on the AFI Top 100.^[4]

References

^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:Laughter
^ Osborne, Robert (1994). 65 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards. London: Abbeville Press. p. 27. ISBN 1-55859-715-8.
^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress p.101 c.1978 by the American Film Institute
^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (June 25, 1998). "List-o-Mania: Or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love American Movies". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020.

External links

Laughter at IMDb

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[1] The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:Laughter

[Osborne-2] Osborne, Robert (1994). 65 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards. London: Abbeville Press. p. 27. ISBN 1-55859-715-8.

[3] Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress p.101 c.1978 by the American Film Institute

[4] Rosenbaum, Jonathan (June 25, 1998). "List-o-Mania: Or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love American Movies". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020.

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