Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Featuring Joe Besser (Solo)
78 min. (Feature Film)
Backwoods mountain towns Rimrock and Big Bend have been the competitive rivals of Bench County for years, holding an annual cross-country foot race. Rimrock hasn't won in five years, and gambling on the race has left most pockets in the town quite empty. Travelling salesman Wilbur McMurtry (Donald O'Connor) is late for the Rimrock stage, and when Mayor Maribel Mathews (Marjorie Main) sees him catch up to it on foot, she arranges for Sheriff Sharkey Dolan (Joe Besser) to trump up charges on McMurtry and detain him for the big race. Literally a prisoner, Wilbur is hardly willing to be Rimrock's champion, that is, until he meets Maribel's niece Libby and the two quickly fall in love. But opponent Emory Tuttle has his eye on Libby too, and conspires with Big Bend Mayor Chauncey Martin to saboutage Wilbur on the day of the race.
After the success of THE EGG AND I (1947), Universal reteamed Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride in this Donald O'Connor period song-and-dance showcase. FEUDIN' proved they had excellent chemistry, so the studio spun-off Main and Kilbride as their THE EGG AND I characters in the popular Ma and Pa Kettle film series.
Costar Fred Kohler Jr. ('Emory Tuttle') was the son of Three Stooges costar Fred Kohler (HORSES' COLLARS).
Donald O'Connor
Wilbur McMurty
Penny Edwards
Libby Mathews
Marjorie Main
Maribel Mathews
Percy Kilbride
Billy Caswell
Joe Besser
Sheriff Sharkey Dolan
Fred Kohler Jr.
Emory Tuttle
Howland Chamberlain
Doc Overholt
Alvin Hammer
Milton Wurtle
Harry Shannon
Chauncey Martin
Edmund Cobb
Stage driver
Joel Friedkin
Stage passenger
I. Stanford Jolley
Guard
Kenneth MacDonald
Judge
Herbert Heywood
Judge
Hank Worden
Judge
Francis Ford
Checker
Tommy Coats
Checker
Roy Butler
Man in cafe
William Sundholm
Man in cafe
Monte Montague
Man in cafe
Jasper Palmer
Townsman
Al Murphy
Townsman
Rex Lease
Townsman
Lane Bradford
Townsman
Francis Williams
Townsman
Fred Fox
Townsman
Frank Hagney
Townsman
Robert A. O'Neil
Townsman
Johnny Carpenter
Townsman
John Beck
Townsman
Charles Middleton
Townsman
Frank O'Connor
Townsman at dance
Gene Roth
Pistol starter
Art Miles
Large man
Harry Brown
Man in tree
Louis Da Pron
Specialty dancer
The Sportsmen Quartet
Quartet
Eddie Parker
stunts
George Sherman
Director
Leonard Goldstein
Producer
Aaron Rosenberg
Associate Producer
D. D. Beauchamp
Story and Screenplay
Irving Glassberg
Director of Photography
Edward Curtiss
Film Editor
Frank A. Richards
Art Director
Bernard Herzbrun
Art Director
Russell A. Gausman
Set Decoration
Ray Jeffers
Set Decoration
Leslie I. Carey
Sound
Richard DeWeese
Sound
Burton Lane
Music
Leith Stevens
Music
Al Dubin
Lyrics
Louis Da Pron
Dance Director
Rosemary Odell
Costumes
Bud Westmore
Makeup
Carmen Dirigo
Hair Stylist
Ken Weeks
Production Manager
Horace Hough
Assistant Director
Robert Rhea
Camera
Everett Brown
Grip
Pat Betz
Script Supervisor
Clifford Kling
Still Photography
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