Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Featuring Joe DeRita (Solo)
102 min. (Feature Film)
In his first on-screen role Joe DeRita is very funny, costarring as a wandering businessman who's lost his room reservation, and wants nothing more than a place to sleep. He appears in a running gag throughout the film, interrupted from whatever safe haven or sofa he's found, and forced to move on. The film's fadeout is rewarded with the payoff to Joe's role in the film.
Film adaptation of the Broadway play, a fast-paced, dialogue driven screwball comedy, and satire on the housing and hotel shortages in wartime Washington DC.
Newlyweds Arthur Halstead and his scatter-brained wife Vivian (Jack Carson and Jane Wyman) check into a DC hotel's bridal suite, to find newlyweds Edna and Julian Cadman (Ann Sheridan and John Ridgely), who refuse to give up the accomodations. It's actually a reunion however, because Vivian and Edna are old friends who had a vaudeville act, and they're soon joined by the third member of their showgirl trio, when fellow newlywed Nan Dillon (Alexis Smith) drops in to surprise Vivian. But a convergance of bureaucratic red tape, the measles, a phony Justice of the Peace, and an ex-wife (Irene Manning) with invalid divorce papers surprises everyone to discover that no one is actually married. So the three newly-single brides take up residence in the hotel suite, along with a female Russian soldier (Eve Arden) who's on an escorted tour of Washington with Edna's State Department "husband." Over the course of a month, the hotel suite becomes a virtual 'Grand Central Station' when Arthur's officious government boss Mr. Slade (Charlie Ruggles) hires Vivian as his assistant, a nationally famous radio commentator (Alan Mowbray) takes residence in an adjoining bedroom, the FBI (Regis Toomey) begins investigating the three unwed brides and their Russian military friend, and the hotel manager is tried to the end of his patience.
Look closely at the scene with three women carrying babies into the hotel suite... the third woman is actress Natalie Schafer (GILLIGAN'S 'Lovey' Howell).
Jane Wyman
Vivian Halstead
Jack Carson
Arthur Halstead
Ann Sheridan
Edna Cadman
Alexis Smith
Nan Dillon
Irene Manning
Sylvia Cadman
Charlie Ruggles
Stanley Slade
John Ridgely
Julian Cadman
Eve Arden
Sgt. Natalia Moskoroff
Donald MacBride
Judge Franklin
Craig Stevens
Lt. Tom Dillon
John Alexander
Warren Buckley
Alan Mowbray
Breckinridge Drake
Regis Toomey
Timothy Walsh
Francis Pierlot
Mr. Jordan
Barbara Brown
Elizabeth Brush Cartwright
Joe DeRita
Wandering stranger
Lou Marcelle
Announcer
Walter DePalma
Justice of the Peace
Jack Mower
Doorman
Grandon Rhodes
1st hotel desk clerk
Johnny Walsh
Bellhop
Thomas Martin
Head bellhop
Warren Mills
Bellhop
Dick Hirbe
Bellhop
George Magrill
Soldier in lobby
Dink Trout
Short husband
Glen Walters
Short husband's tall wife
Larry Steers
Man in lobby
Fred Kelsey
Man in lobby
Earle S. Dewey
Clumsy fat man
Harry Tyler
Angular man
Charles Sullivan
Man with grip
Dolores Donlon
School girl in lobby
Yolanda Baiano
School girl in lobby
Dorothy Reisner
School girl in lobby
Helen Gerald
School girl in lobby
Joan Breslau
School girl in lobby
Julie Arlington
School girl in lobby
Marie De Becker
Maid
Oliver Blake
Porter
Joan Winfield
Miss Brown
Elmer Jerome
Elderly bellhop
Tiny Jones
Little maid
Audley Anderson
Waiter with cake
Mark Stevens
Lt. Kerry
William Frambes
Laundry bellhop
Mary Landa
Young matron
Lucille La Marr
Young matron
Dorothy Schoemer
Young matron
Janet Barrett
Young matron
Natalie Schafer
Young matron
Ralph Sanford
Plumber
Bill Kennedy
Man who punches Drake
Paul Brooks
Drake's announcer
John O'Connor
Sound technician
Robert Dudley
Waiter with fruit bowl
Larry Rio
Steamroom attendant
Carlyle Blackwell Jr.
Messenger
William Forrest
Howard Forbes
Nicholas Kobliansky
Father Nicolai
Will Fowler
Lieutenant
Minerva Urecal
Hatchet-faced woman
Almira Sessions
Hatchet-faced woman in lobby
Tom Quinn
2nd hotel clerk
Ferike Boros
Irena, scene deleted
Unidentified THE DOUGHGIRLS 1
Guests in lobby
Unidentified THE DOUGHGIRLS 2
Schoolgirls in lobby
Unidentified THE DOUGHGIRLS 3
Guests in hallway
Unidentified THE DOUGHGIRLS 4
Bellboys
Unidentified THE DOUGHGIRLS 5
Elevator operators
Unidentified THE DOUGHGIRLS 7
2nd plumber
Unidentified THE DOUGHGIRLS 8
Room service waiters
Unidentified THE DOUGHGIRLS 9
Cleaning staff
James V. Kern
Director
Jack L. Warner
Executive Producer
Mark Hellinger
Producer
Joseph Fields
Original Play
Sam Hellman
Screenplay
James V. Kern
Screenplay
Wilkie C. Mahoney
Additional Dialogue
Ernest Haller
Director of Photography
Folmar Blangsted
Film Editor
Hugh Reticker
Art Director
Clarence Steensen
Set Decoration
Stanley Jones
Sound
Leo F. Forbstein
Musical Director
Adolph Deutsch
Original Music
Perc Westmore
Makeup
Milo Anderson
Gowns
Philip Quinn
Assistant Director
William C. McGann
Special Effects
James Leicester
Montage
Jack Gage
Dialogue Director
Nicholas Kobliansky
Technical Advisor
Max Gordon
Stage Play Producer
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