Laugh It Off on AllMovie

Laugh it Off was one of two Johnny Downs vehicles released within the same week in December of 1939 (the other was Bad Boy). Downs plays Stephen Hannis, a Broadway bandleader who aspires to become a lawyer. He gets his big break when he champions the cause of a group of elderly ex-chorus dancers who've been booted out of their retirement home. The thorn in the hero's side is gangster Phil Ferranti (Horace McMahon), who wants to take over operation of the home for his own nefarious purposes. Among the venerable damsels appearing in Laugh it Off are Marjorie Rambeau, Cecil Cunningham and Hedda Hopper, the latter already well established as a Hollywood columnist. For romantic purposes, Johnny Downs is teamed up with a somewhat younger showgirl, played by Constance Moore.