''Make Mine Laughs'' is a 1949 American musical comedy film directed by

Richard Fleischer Richard Owen Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director. His career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave. He was the ...

. The film was a compilation of comic scenes and musical numbers from

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

' feature films and short subjects of the mid-1940s. It was the second of RKO's four "musical revue" features, composed largely of musical and comedy highlights from previous RKO productions. Comedian

Gil Lamb Gilbert L. Lamb (June 14, 1904 – November 2, 1995) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 60 films and television shows between 1935 and 1980. Lamb was born on June 14, 1904, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the son of Mr. an ...

hosts the proceedings, finding time to make satirical comments about the opening credits and to perform his "swallowing the harmonica" specialty. The film clips include two short subjects,

Leon Errol Leon Errol (born Leonce Errol Sims, July 3, 1881 – October 12, 1951) was an Australian-American comedian and actor in the United States, popular in the first half of the 20th century for his appearances in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in film ...

's ''Beware of Redheads'' and two clips from RKO's ''Flicker Flashbacks'' entries (a 1920 fashion show narrated by radio's Ward Wilson and a dramatic playlet narrated by Knox Manning). Other clips from the vaults are

Frances Langford Julia Frances Newbern-Langford (April 4, 1913 – July 11, 2005) was an American singer and actress who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and made film and television appearances for over two decades. She was known as the "GI Nightinga ...

singing "Moonlight Over the Islands" (from '' The Bamboo Blonde''), Anne Shirley and

Dennis Day Dennis Day (born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty; May 21, 1916 – June 22, 1988) was an American actor, comedian and singer. He was of Irish descent. Early life Day was born and raised in the Throggs Neck Clason Point section of Bronx in New Yor ...

duetting on "If You Happen to Find a Heart" (from '' Music in Manhattan''), comedy bandleader Freddie Fisher (from ''

Seven Days Ashore ''Seven Days Ashore'' is a 1944 American comedy film directed by John H. Auer and written by Edward Verdier, Irving Phillips and Lawrence Kimble. The film stars Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Marcy McGuire, Virginia Mayo, Elaine Shepard, Gordon Oliver ...

''), dance team Rosario & Antonio (from '' Pan-Americana''), and pianist-bandleader Frankie Carle from an RKO short subject. New specialties filmed especially for ''Make Mine Laughs'' are performed by

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

Robert Lamouret and his duck figure Dudule, Manuel & Marita Viera and their trained-monkeys act, and acrobatic trio The Titans (with Gil Lamb worked into their act). Ray Bolger and

Jack Haley John Joseph Haley Jr. (August 10, 1898 – June 6, 1979) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, radio host, singer, drummer and vaudevillian. He was best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and his farmhand counterpart Hickory in the 193 ...

brought suit against RKO for unauthorized use of their performances (Bolger's boxing pantomime from ''

Four Jacks and a Jill Four Jacks and a Jill is a South African folk rock ensemble. Career They originally formed in 1964 without a "Jill" under the name "The Nevadas". Subsequently, they became the first group in South Africa to wear their hair long and they changed ...

'' and Haley's "Who Killed Vaudeville?" number from ''

George White's Scandals ''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W. C. ...

''). By the time the suit was settled in 1951, both Bolger and Haley had been paid off, and RKO withdrew the picture from distribution. The studio avoided any future lawsuits by confining its remaining variety-show features ''

Footlight Varieties ''Footlight Varieties'', also called ''Variety Footlights'' is the third of four titles in the RKO series of variety films, combining previously filmed shorts with new musical numbers, plus monologues by master of ceremonies Jack Paar. The new fo ...

'' and ''Merry Mirthquakes'' to new numbers staged especially for the films, and comedy sequences from RKO's backlog of short subjects.

References

External links

* {{Richard Fleischer 1949 films Films directed by Richard Fleischer 1949 musical comedy films American musical comedy films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language musical comedy films