Laughing Sinners

Interesting early talkie with Joan as a laughing sinner who is then cast aside by her love interest and saved by Clark Gable and the Salvation Army. Having seen Cary Grant previously as a temperance league type (`She Done Him Wrong'), I was able to accept Gable in this same role. Good moral messages as we see how traveling men use `loose' women in small towns and the good that is done by organizations like the Salvation Army.

Aside from that, the best part of the movie is watching Joan dance made up to look like a farmer – with a long noses and a long goatee. She sings and dances as well as anyone. Of course switching later into Adrian-designed gowns makes for an interesting contrast. Early in the movie, there is a great facial shot of Joan as she anticipates meeting her boyfriend upstairs in the cabaret. This is a good story and makes for a pleasant hour and a quarter entertainment. Recommended.

This may not be the greatest of the Crawford/Gable pairings, but their affinity for each other is obvious, and as always what is unsaid between them speaks volumes about their off-screen relationship. The film's other highlights include Joan's singularly eccentric "farmer" dance, for which she sports a false nose and beard! This was surely the inspiration for the Soggy Bottom Boys' "disguises" and dancing in the climax of 'O Brother Where Art Thou?'. In any event, the phenomenal originality of her performance provides another dimension to Crawford's enduring film legacy.

Oh, boy. Clark Gable in the Salvation Army. Where did they come up with this stuff? Nightclub performer Ivy Stevens (Joan Crawford) is despondent upon learning Howard "Howdy" Palmer (Neil Hamilton) has no intention of marrying her. She was just a booty call to our boy Howdy. How Neil Hamilton got so many roles in the early '30s as a ladies man type is beyond me but that's how it was then I guess. Anyway, Ivy decides to jump off a bridge but she is stopped by kindly and handsome Salvation Army worker Carl (a mustacheless Clark Gable). Ivy joins up with the Salvation Army too and is seemingly happy with her new lifestyle. But then one day Howdy spots her and, despite being married now, makes a move for her. Can Ivy resist Howdy's seductive ways? Can any woman?

There's a few things wrong with this movie. First, on no planet does Joan freaking Crawford, at this time a young and sexy dancer, get that upset over being dumped by Neil Hamilton. He was born looking like a banker. So that's unbelievable. Second and third things are that Clark Gable is no Salvation Army worker and he sure as hell isn't a guy named Carl! Joan's farmer dance is the highlight of the movie and probably her best dancing number from all of her early dancing movies. Overall it's a watchable but mostly forgettable melodrama about a "wrong" woman going right. Avid Crawford and Gable fans will like it most.

Clark Gable is particularly handsome in his Salvation Army uniform.He is very efficient when it comes to showing seduced girl Crawford the straight and narrow!And he must display lots and lots of patience ,indulgence and compassion for ,even after the marriage of her beau ,a smug buck,she's ready to fall in love again head over heels . Gable and Crawford singing canticles while delivering free meals to the needy.What a nice way to redeem your soul and to find true love!

What's really tragic is that these poor people are still looking for free meals in the soup kitchen ,be it the the Salvation Army or one of the other charitable organizations .In France ,in the organization I'm currently working for("Les Restos Du Coeur" ) ,the number of beneficiaries has increased by 15% in 2010-2011.

Joan Crawford is a café dancer whose long term, long distance affair with traveling salesman Neil Hamilton comes crashing to a finish when he dumps her by leaving her a goodbye note written on the back of a menu. Despondent, she sets out to jump into the river, only to be stopped and saved (in more than one sense) by mustache-less Salvation Army officer Clark Gable. Next thing you know, Joan is sporting an Army uniform herself and singing hymns….but sooner or later, Hamilton is bound to show up again. And what then?

The plot isn't much, but Crawford's performance is excellent as her character veers wildly from joyous flapper to reformed sinner. The scene where she reads Hamilton's note is stunningly sad. Gable never looks quite natural but does seem to contain a reservoir of strength and energy that lurks just beneath the surface of his peaceful character. –At least that's my view from this time and place; hard to imagine what effect his performance would have had on a 1931 audience just becoming familiar with that face, that screen presence.

The highlight of the film is almost certainly Joan's dance in an opening scene—donning a fake nose and beard and a farmer outfit, she humorously bounces around for a couple of minutes before shedding the costume and really cutting loose, to her audience's delight and her own obvious joy. It has to be said that Joan as flapper is quite a bit more exciting than Joan as saved woman.

Hamilton is superb in a thoroughly despicable role. Roscoe Karns and Guy Kibbee are fellow salesman and together they certainly portray the kind of sleazy crew who inspire good people to lock up their daughters.

Overall—no surprises but Crawford is certainly worth watching, especially the opening and closing minutes.