Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Featuring Moe, Larry and Curly
74.75 min. (Feature Film)
Harvard educated Danny Collins (Rudy Vallee) and street-wise Mike Armstrong (Richard Lane) team up to form the most successful talent agency in New York. Armstrong is in love with nightclub and Broadway songstress Frances Lewis (Rosemary Lane), determined to make her nationally famous with his and Danny's help. Collins sees her, correctly, as a self-centered opportunist willing to capitalize on Mike's affections to further her career. Eventually, she causes Danny and Mike to split. Danny and his assistant 'Off-Beat' Davis (Allen Jenkins) meet Frances' maid Kitty Brown (Ann Miller), a shy tap-dancing wonder, and try to find her work... but without Mike, their new agency can't get going successfully. Mike is in the same bind.
When Danny has the opportunity to produce a New York television variety show with Kitty and Joan Merrill (as herself), he and Mike make amends. But Frances blackmails Danny, threatening to break Mike's heart if she isn't cast as the star.
Moe, Larry and Curly costar as out-of-work actors trying to find jobs thru Danny's and Mike's agency. They perform the "Maharaja" routine, the "Melodrama" sketch, disguise themselves as inept Western Union messengers to invade the agency, and masquerade as gangsters to trick Frances. The film's musical finale begins with the Stooges and 'Brenda & Cobina' performing a hilarious rhumba number, with Curly costumed as Carmen Miranda. *
Production stills show that the Stooges had at least one other scene, unfortunately cut before release.
An early showcase for Ann Miller's dancing talent, she closes the film with an energetic tap performance, as good as anything she later became famous for at MGM.
Look closely and don't blink if you'd like to see Alan Hale Jr. (GILLIGAN's 'Skipper') in one of his first acting roles, a small cameo in the opening minutes.
* Moe, Larry & Shemp appeared with Carmen Miranda on THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR (Dec. 16, 1951).
Rudy Vallee
Danny Collins
Richard Lane
Mike Armstrong
Rosemary Lane
Frances Lewis
Allen Jenkins
Off-Beat Davis
Ann Miller
Kitty Brown
Larry Fine
Larry
Jerry Howard
Curly
Moe Howard
Moe
Blanche Stewart
Brenda
Elvia Allman
Cobina
Joan Merrill
Herself
Six Hits and a Miss
Singers
Lew Harvey
Zodiac Club patron
Hans Moebus
Zodiac Club patron
Jay Eaton
Zodiac Club patron
Edward Thomas
Zodiac Club bartender
Jack Banta
College boy
Alan Hale Jr.
College boy
George Humbert
Guiseppe
Bess Flowers
Receptionist
Stanley Brown
Jim Talbot
Eddie Laughton
TV studio sound engineer
Gordon De Main
Theatrical producer
Bud Jamison
Lunch counter clerk
Robert Fiske
Lunch counter customer
Armand Wright
Lunch counter cook
Joe McGuinn
Joe, stage manager
Stanley Andrews
James Anderson
Lloyd Whitlock
Skyline Club Maitre d'
Lew Davis
Stagehand
Eddie Fetherston
Stagehand
Bert Howard
'Chappy,' Skyline Club patron
Laura Treadwell
Dowager, Skyline Club patron
Jack Egan
Skyline Club patron
Shep Houghton
Skyline Club patron
Don Ackerman
Dancer
Robert Lock Lorraine
Dancer
Ward Arnold
Dancer
Alex Romero
Dancer
Eddie Searles
Dancer
Sol Haines
Dancer
Billy Benedict
Messenger, scene deleted
Bert Roach
Drunk, scene deleted
Trudy Marson
Sister act singer, scene deleted
Sheila Darcy
Sister act singer, scene deleted
Crauford Kent
Marlow, scene deleted
Walter Soderling
Landlord, scene deleted
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 1
Zodiac Club patrons
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 2
2nd Zodiac Club bartender
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 3
College boys
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 4
Zodiac Club orchestra
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 7
Switchboard
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 8
Booth engineer
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 9
Lunchcounter
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 11
Stagehand
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 12
Skyline Club waiters
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 14
Skyline Club patrons
Unidentified TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM 15
Skyline Club patrons
Sidney Salkow
Director
Irving Starr
Producer
Bert Granet
Story
Edmund L. Hartmann
Screenplay
Bert Lawrence
Screenplay
Alex Ruben
Original Play
Franz Planer
Director of Photography
Arthur Seid
Film Editor
Lionel Banks
Art Director
P. J. Faulkner
Sound Recording
Morris W. Stoloff
Musical Director
Saul Chaplin
Music
Sammy Cahn
Lyrics
Nico Grigor
Music
LeRoy Prinz
Choreographer
Irene Saltern
Gowns
Bud Brill
Assistant Director
William Castle
Dialogue Director
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