Laughter (1930) review

Peggy (Nancy Carroll), a former dancer for the Follies, married much older "Public Utilities King" C. Mortimer Gibson (Frank Morgan) to escape that existence, but two old boyfriends - sculptor Ralph Le Sainte (Glenn Anders) and pianist Paul Lockridge (Fredric March) - try to woo her back to bygone days of near-poverty ... and maybe a pleasant chuckle, too.  As with so many early talkies it's a little rough to watch - stage-y in parts, somewhat awkward in others - and I prefer when it just lets loose and embraces its wacky side, like when Peg and Lockridge break into a house during a torrential downpour ... and pretend to be bears.  The sweet sentiment of the conclusion - "love can be a matter of life or death" - is nice in a Fortune Cookie kind of way, but not very practical: it's not like her financier beau is that mean of a guy or anything (he's got his eyes fixed on that ticker tape)....