Laugh, Clown, Laugh is a 1928 American silent drama film starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young (her film debut). The movie was directed by Herbert Brenon and produced by Irving G. Thalberg for MGM Pictures. A sound version of this film was released in the second half of 1928 and featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The film was written by Elizabeth Meehan, based on the 1923 Broadway stage production Laugh, Clown, Laugh by David Belasco and Tom Cushing, which in turn was based on the 1919 play Ridi, Pagliaccio by Fausto Maria Martini.

Plot

Tito (Lon Chaney), a traveling circus clown, finds an abandoned child. He adopts her and raises her as his daughter, naming her Simonetta after his brother Simon (Bernard Siegel). One day the now-teenaged Simonetta (Loretta Young) encounters Count Luigi Ravelli (Nils Asther), a wealthy man who falls madly in love with her. However, Simonetta rejects him when she discovers he has a girlfriend. She returns to the circus and Tito suddenly realizes she is no longer a child. Tito further realizes he is attracted to Simonetta, but knows his feelings are improper because he raised her as his daughter.