Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Featuring Joe Besser (Solo)
95 min. (Feature Film)
Paramutual Pictures is losing money... not at the box office, but from internal inefficiency. Studio President Tom Paramutual (Brian Donlevy), aka "T.P.," decides an internal spy would be more effective than efficiency expert Mr. Fumble, preferably someone that no one would suspect. Enter Morty S. Tashman (Jerry Lewis), an incompetent bumbler, hired as a studio errand boy so that he can routinely observe activity around the studio, and report to T.P.'s assistant Dexter Sneak (Howard McNear). This plot device is virtually forgotten once it creates a means for Morty to stumble around the studio, and create havoc with a series of blackout and extended gag sequences.
Joe Besser has a small role as a studio projectionist.
One of Jerry Lewis' best films, funny even to most who don't like Lewis.
Excellent supporting cast filled with some of the best character actors around, including several Three Stooges veterans like Kenneth MacDonald, Phil Arnold and Benny Rubin, and other familiar faces like Fritz Feld, Sig Ruman and Stanley Adams. Kathleen Freeman is hilarious as T.P.'s laryngitis-stricken wife, forgotten by Morty when he drives the limo into the car wash with the top down. Howard McNear (THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW) steals every scene he's in.
Joe Besser was struggling for work at this time, and friend Jerry Lewis gave him a small role. It paid off well for Besser, who met Joey Bishop on the set... and wound up with a costarring role on Bishop's television sitcom for the next few years.
Jerry Lewis
Morty S. Tashman
Paul Frees
Narrator
Brian Donlevy
Tom 'T. P.' Paramutual
Stanley Adams
Grumpy
Howard McNear
Dexter Sneak
Kathleen Freeman
Mrs. Paramutual
Kenneth MacDonald
Mr. Fumble
Paul Lees
Brutal man
Mike Mazurki
Blonde actress' stand-in
Sally Mansfield
Lover
William Wellman Jr.
Lover
Isobel Elsom
Irma Paramutual
Harry Cheshire
Ulysses Paramutual
Stuart Holmes
Albert Paramutual
Irving Kaye
Paramutual family member
Brian O'Hara
Paramutual family member
Hank Ladd
Paramutual family member
Doodles Weaver
Weaver
Herschel Graham
Weaver's assistant
Renee Taylor
Miss Giles
Jim Backus
Mr. Arbutt, Personnel Mgr., voice
Benny Rubin
Mr. Wabenlotnee
Phil Arnold
Babe Wosentall
Dick Wesson
The A. D.
Fritz Feld
Mr. Busby
Pat Dahl
'Bubbles Rothschild'
David Landfield
Lance
Mickey Manners
Larkin
Richard Morrow
Haskins
Michael Ross
Big man in elevator
Herb Vigran
Smoker in elevator
Bill Richmond
Bespectaled man in elevator
Caroline Richter
Bubblegum blower in elevator
Bob Golden
Man in elevator
Michael Landon
Himself
Lorne Greene
Himself
Dan Blocker
Himself
Pernell Roberts
Himself
Mary Treen
Commissary cashier
Daryn Hinton
Girl in commissary
Judy Erwin
Girl in commissary
Barry Livingston
Boy in commissary
Darlene Lucht
Blonde stenographer
Rosalind Roberts
Miss Herok, stenographer
Sig Ruman
Baron Elston Carteblanche
Nicky Blair
Man at Carteblanche screening
Dick Whittinghill
Man at Carteblanche screening
Regis Toomey
Man at Carteblanche screening
Milton Frome
Mr. Greenback
Joey Forman
Jedson
Jerry Wayne
Confederate officer
Theodora Davitt
Southern belle
Rita Hayes
Miss Hayes, dubbing singer
Del Moore
Movie premiere radio announcer
Felicia Atkins
Serina
Douglas Evans
Serina's escort
Arthur Tovey
Man at movie premiere
Cosmo Sardo
Man at movie premiere
Norman Stevans
Man at movie premiere
Bert Stevens
Man at movie premiere
Hal Taggart
Man in premiere audience
Roscoe Ates
Ralph the prop man
Mike Mahoney
Carl the prop man
Bellfontevro
Puppeteer
The Dover Basketeers
Themselves
Leo Durocher
Himself
Mary Ritts
Herself, marionette voice
Iris Adrian
Anastasia Anastasia
Paul Ritts
Himself, marionette operator
Richard Bakalyan
Jason, Anastasia's director
Joe Besser
Man watching rushes
Robert Ivers
Young NY director
Snub Pollard
Snub
Bob Herron
stunts
Quinn O'Hara
Model, scene deleted
Jerry Lewis
Director
Ernest D. Glucksman
Producer
Arthur P. Schmidt
Associate Producer
Jerry Lewis
Screenplay
Bill Richmond
Screenplay
W. Wallace Kelley
Director of Photography
Stanley E. Johnson
Film Editor
Arthur Lonergan
Art Director
Hal Pereira
Art Director
Sam Comer
Set Decoration
James W. Payne
Set Decoration
Charles Grenzbach
Sound Recording
Hugo Grenzbach
Sound Recording
Walter Scharf
Musical Score and Conductor
Leo Shuken
Orchestration
Jack Hayes
Orchestration
Louis Y. Brown
Composer
Nick Castle
Choreographer
Phil Boutelje
Music Coordinator
Edith Head
Costume Designer
Sy Devore
Men's Wardrobe
Nat Wise
Men's Wardrobe
Frank Somper
Furs
Wally Westmore
Makeup
Nellie Manley
Hair Stylist
Ralph Axness
Assistant Director
William Davidson
Production Manager
Marshall Katz
Assistant to the Producer
Eleanor H. Donahoe
Script Supervisor
Marvin Weldon
Dialogue coach
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