“While most of Chaney's 18 films for MGM were glossy little potboilers with his performance being the only strong point, Laugh, Clown, Laugh was a rare exception. Director Herbert Brenon created a truly haunting film and James Wong Howe's lovely camera work is one of the finest of any MGM silent. The story concerns two clowns who find and adopt a small girl who becomes a beautiful tightrope walker. Chaney gives a bravura performance as the happy clown who, out of make-up, leads a melancholy life of unrequited love. But the real surprise is a wonderfully moving performance by a radiant 14-year-old Loretta Young as the young waif with whom the clown falls in love. Nils Asther is the only weak link as the nobleman whose ‘uncontrollable fits of laughter are due to his dissipated lifestyle!' The title tune, written by Ted Fiorito, became a popular hit of the time, and Chaney loved it so much that he requested that it be played at his funeral. Although he appears in make-up, the film is really a straight role for Chaney, and he amply demonstrates that he needed no disguise to yield a powerful and moving performance.” Jon Mirsalis