Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Featuring Ted Healy and His Stooges
68.5 min. (Feature Film)
Jimmy Durante's "Schnarzan" movies are losing popularity to a competing studio's "Liondora" (George Givot) series. Hearing that the famous Baron Munchausen is coming to town, complete with lions captured in an African safari, Durante throws a huge Hollywood party in the Baron's honor, hoping to buy the lions for his films. Ted and the Stooges appear as photographers hoping to get photos and autographs of the celebrities attending the party, with a funny scene where three professors argue over the Stooges' proper place in the evolutionary ladder.
HOLLYWOOD PARTY had a troubled production that took 7 months (August 1933 - March 1934), involving reshoots, several Assistant Directors, re-edits, etc. Healy & The Stooges filmed their scene sometime during August - October 1933 (exact date unknown).
In spite of the rivalry between MGM and Disney, Walt Disney accepted Louis B. Mayer's request to supply the film's Technicolor animated sequence "The Chocolate Soldiers," with an introduction by Mickey Mouse voiced by Walt Disney.
Laurel and Hardy costar as the Baron's lion deliverymen; they engage in a hilarious tit-for-tat routine with Lupe Velez.
The Stooges' scene, as well as scenes with Durante and Laurel & Hardy, were reused in the MGM compilation feature MGM'S THE BIG PARADE OF COMEDY (1964).
Jimmy Durante
Himself / Schnarzan
Lupe Velez
Herself / Jaguar Woman
George Givot
Liondora
Polly Moran
Henrietta Clemp
Charles Butterworth
Harvey Clemp
June Clyde
Linda Clemp
Eddie Quillan
Bob Benson
Richard Carle
Mr. Knapp
Stan Laurel
Stan
Oliver Hardy
Oliver
Ted Healy
Ted
Larry Fine
Larry
Jerry Howard
Curly
Moe Howard
Moe
Jack Pearl
Baron Munchausen
Jed Prouty
Theatre manager
Edwin Maxwell
Buddy Goldfarb
Ray Cooke
Theatre patron
Tom Kennedy
Beavers
Arthur Treacher
Valet butler
Frances Williams
Hollywood Party singer
Baldwin Cooke
Arrivals valet
Ben Carter
Hotel elevator operator
Florence Wix
Hotel guest in elevator
Tenen Holtz
Bald man in elevator
Eddie Tamblyn
Bob's friend
Leonid Kinskey
Jake the cabbie
Gene Morgan
Radio MC
Robert Young
Himself
Shirley Ross
Feelin' High singer
Harry Barris
Feelin' High singer
The Kings' Men
Feelin' High quartet
Edward Thomas
Butler assisting drunk
Sidney Bracey
Butler
George Beranger
Barber
Ray Corrigan
Gorilla
Sherry Hall
Butler mixing drinks
Henry Roquemore
Chef
Tom Herbert
Bartender
Ernie Alexander
Waiter
Clarence H. Wilson
Pedant scientist
Ferdinand Gottschalk
Pedant scientist
Nora Cecil
Pedant scientist
Frank Austin
Pedant scientist in conference
Scotty Mattraw
Pedant scientist in conference
Richard Cramer
Pedant scientist in conference
Tom London
Paul Revere
Ben Bard
Charley
Walt Disney
Voice of Mickey Mouse
Don Brodie
Party guest asking Mickey to perform
Art Jarrett
The Hot Choc-Late Soldiers singer
Jack Hill
Doorman
Bert Young
Doorman
Hugh Saxon
Doorman
Jeanne Olsen Durante
Herself / Mrs. Durante
Jay Eaton
Party guest
Bess Flowers
Party guest
Larry Steers
Party guest
Julia Griffith
Party guest
Jack Byron
Party guest
Russell Hardie
Party guest
Bill Elliott
Party guest
Florine McKinney
Chorine
Ruth Channing
Chorine
Martha Sleeper
Chorine
Celeste Edwards
Chorine
Iris Lancaster
Chorine
Kay Gordon
Chorine
Pauline Brooks
Chorine
Irene Hervey
Chorine
Claire Meyers
Chorine
Muriel Evans
Chorine
Marcia Ralston
Chorine
Greta Garbo
archive footage
Max Baer
Himself, scene deleted
Mary Carlisle
Herself, scene deleted
Unidentified HOLLYWOOD PARTY 2
Onlookers
Unidentified HOLLYWOOD PARTY 3
Theater patrons
Unidentified HOLLYWOOD PARTY 4
Man on elevator
Unidentified HOLLYWOOD PARTY 5
Drunk guest
Unidentified HOLLYWOOD PARTY 8
Party guests
Unidentified HOLLYWOOD PARTY 9
Chorines
Harry Rapf
Producer
Howard Dietz
Producer
Louis Lewyn
Producer
Roy Rowland
Director
Charles F. Reisner
Assistant Director
George Stevens
Assistant Director
Allan Dwan
Assistant Director
Russell Mack
Assistant Director
Sam Wood
Assistant Director
Edmund Goulding
Assistant Director
Richard Boleslavsky
Assistant Director
Howard Dietz
Screenplay
Arthur Kober
Screenplay
Herbert Fields
Screenplay
Bert Green
Screenplay
Edgar Allan Woolf
Screenplay
Charles F. Reisner
Screenplay
Richy Craig Jr.
Screenplay
Edmund Goulding
Screenplay
Henry Myers
Screenplay
Robert E. Hopkins
Screenplay
Harvey Gates
Screenplay
James Wong Howe
Photography
George Boemler
Film Editor
Fredric Hope
Art Director
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Douglas Shearer
Recording Director
Walter Donaldson
Original Music
Richard Rodgers
Original Music
Nacio Herb Brown
Original Music
William Axt
Original Music
Jimmy Durante
Original Music
Lorenz Hart
Lyrics
Arthur Freed
Lyrics
Howard Dietz
Lyrics
Gus Kahn
Lyrics
W. Donn Hayes
Music Editor
Roy Isnor
Orchestrator
Seymour Felix
Choreographer
Carlos Romero
Choreographer
David Gould
Choreographer
George Hale
Choreographer
Adrian
Costumes
Natalie Kalmus
Technicolor Consultant
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