Joan Crawford finds God and Clark Gable in Laughing Sinners

If you are in the mood for 1930s melodrama where people make huge life decisions in about four minutes, then yeah, this is worth your time. You should watch this if you like seeing Joan Crawford before she became the scary 'Mommy Dearest' version of herself. People who hate pre-code movies that get a bit preachy toward the end will probably want to skip it though.

The movie starts out in this really loud, smoky cafe. Joan Crawford is Ivy, and she is wearing this dress that looks like it has about five miles of fringe on it. She dances around and it is honestly a bit much. She is doing the most.

She thinks her traveling salesman boyfriend is going to marry her. He is played by Neil Hamilton, who looks like every other guy with slicked-back hair from 1931. Spoilers: he is a total jerk. He dumps her at the cafe while his friends are all laughing in the background. It is one of those scenes where you can feel the embarrassment through the screen.

Ivy decides she has had enough of everything. She goes to a bridge and looks at the water. The water looks very cold and very fake. It is obviously a studio tank but the lighting makes it feel lonely. This is where we get the big meet-cute, if you can call it that.

Carl shows up. That is Clark Gable. He is wearing a Salvation Army uniform and he has these massive ears that the camera hasn't quite learned how to hide yet. He is not the 'King of Hollywood' here. He is just a nice guy with a deep voice who tells her that life is actually pretty okay.

The transition is where the movie gets a bit weird. One minute Ivy is a depressed dancer, and the next she is wearing a bonnet and shaking a tambourine. It happens so fast. I think I blinked and missed the part where she actually decided she liked the Salvation Army.

There is this one scene where they are all in a room together and the dialogue feels like it was written by three different people who didn't talk to each other. Some of it is really snappy. Some of it is just people shouting about sin. It reminded me a bit of the vibe in Alias Jimmy Valentine, but with more religion.

The middle part of the movie drags a little. There are a lot of shots of people sitting in rooms talking about their feelings. I noticed a background actor in the cafe scene who was just staring directly at the camera for a second. It is the kind of mistake that makes these old movies feel real.

I liked Marjorie Rambeau as the mom character. She feels like a real person who has seen some stuff. She drinks a bit too much and has this messy hair that makes her look like she just woke up from a nap in a laundry basket. She gives the movie some actual weight when Crawford is being a bit too theatrical.

The movie gets interesting again when the jerky boyfriend comes back. He sees Ivy in her little uniform and decides he wants her back. He is such a snake. You can see it in his tiny mustache. It is funny how a mustache in 1931 was basically a sign that said 'I AM A VILLAIN.'

There is a scene in a hotel room that feels very 'pre-code.' They are talking about things they definitely weren't allowed to talk about a few years later when the censors got strict. The way Crawford looks at him is complicated. You can tell she still likes him even though he is trash. It’s the most human part of the whole film.

The ending is kind of a foregone conclusion. You know where it is going. But the journey there has some highlights. The music is okay, but that one song they keep singing gets stuck in your head in a bad way. I caught myself humming it while making toast later and I hated myself for it.

It’s not as intense as The Sign of the Cross or anything. It’s just a small story about a girl who needs a win. It feels like it was filmed in about two weeks on a backlot that was being used for three other movies at the same time.

Is it a masterpiece? No. But Crawford and Gable have this weird chemistry. They don't even kiss that much, but you can feel the energy. It’s better than a lot of the other stuff from that year, like A Regular Girl.

One weird thing—there is a guy who plays a drunk in the cafe and he does this bit with a hat that goes on for way too long. It’s supposed to be funny but it’s just awkward. I think they just let him keep going because they needed to fill two minutes of film.

Anyway, if you want to see Joan Crawford before she was a legend, this is a good spot. She’s raw and a bit clumsy with her acting, but she’s trying so hard. You have to respect the hustle. 🎷

Things I noticed:

• Gable’s hat is always slightly too small for his head.
• The tambourine playing is surprisingly aggressive.
• The way they talk about 'sin' feels very 1931.
• Crawford’s eyebrows are basically characters of their own.

It’s a decent watch on a rainy Sunday. Just don't expect it to change your life. It's just a movie about a girl, a jerk, and a guy in a uniform.

"Life is just a bowl of cherries,"

or whatever the song says. Except in this movie, the cherries are a bit bruised but still taste okay.