marcslope MGM at its most intolerable, with Louis B. Mayer imposing his hypocritical morality on a dime-novel romance. Bad girl Joan Crawford is cavorting with the supremely unattractive traveling salesman Neil Hamilton, but is redeemed by--how's this for casting against type--Salvation Army major Clark Gable. Together the photogenic twosome wander off to host Salvation Army luncheons, dance around the maypole, and sing "London Bridge" to underprivileged tots. Designed to show off Crawford's versatility--she sings, dances, and almost acts--it instead reveals how deficient she is at this point in her career in most of these endeavors, and Gable looks bored. Anyway, it's short, and Hamilton at least gets to rub elbows with a fine crew of fellow salesmen, including Roscoe Karns, Guy Kibbee, and Cliff Edwards.

mark.waltz If you want to see Joan Crawford in fake nose and beard dancing up a storm, then banging a drum to collect sinners a la Sarah Brown in "Guys and Dolls", then this is your movie. She goes from nightclub performer involved with "Batman's" Neil Hamilton to the very religious Clark Gable for no apparent reason other than the fact that he is a hunk. Hamilton dumps her to become respectable then comes back when she apparently finds salvation. Who would you choose? Of Crawford and Gables' many pairings together, this is the poorest of the lot. Marjorie Rambeau is somewhat amusing as a hardboiled pal of Crawfords, and Cliff Edwards and Guy Kibbee offer alright performances in underdeveloped roles, but the whole story (what there is) is simply no laughing matter.

ccthemovieman-1 Like a lot of early '30s film, I found this a pretty interesting short (72 minutes) story. This one is about a chorus girl-type who gets jilted, hooks up with a Salvation Army man, then is enticed back to the old sinful ways for a night with the man who jilted her and finally realizes she is better off with the good guy and the good morals.This is an early look at Joan Crawford, who is blonde here with huge eyes. Clark Gable is sans mustache and really looks young. Neil Hamilton, the third lead, is the same man who went on to play Commissioner Gordon in the Batman TV series three decades later. In here, he's the pagan bad guy.This film goes a long way in portraying traveling salesmen as morally bankrupt people. Now why would they do that?!!

paul de boef "Laughing sinners" was a pleasant surprise to me. I never knew what a good actress Joan Crawford was until I saw this film. I saw her rather exaggerating performance in "Grand Hotel", and a better performance in 1931's "Possessed", but here she is totally convincing and real. There are moments of great beauty, especially the scenes between Crawford and Clark Gable, moments when the film shows a timeless quality. Gable and Crawford are completely believable as the Salvation Army officers : sincere, vulnerable and intense. Clark Gable in a very unusual role - wise, calm, sensitive and understanding - It makes him powerful in a subtle way. Neil Hamilton is terrific especially in the scene - a very long uninterrupted take ! - when he tries to persuade and seduce Joan Crawford - for a night of bliss. Can he offer her salvation ?