Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Featuring Ted Healy (Solo)
85.5 min. (Feature Film)
Bickering best friends Happy and Pete (Ted Healy and Nat Pendleton), while working at Mr. Scurry's (Charles Lane) cab company, dream of hitting the big time playing clarinet and piccolo in a dance orchestra. They may have hit their break by discovering singer Ollie Watts, whose original tunes, derived from middle American folklore, strike a chord with listeners.
Ollie falls in love with Margaret Jones, who is actually socialite Margaret Wallace, the daughter of Happy's and Pete's World War I commander Col. Wallace. Coincidentally, playing at Wallace's society ball is another member of the old Army company, the famous orchestra leader Ted Lowry (Ted Lewis). When Ollie's song is stolen by unscrupulous agent Mr. Simmons and becomes a # 1 radio hit, Ollie falls into depression and hits skid row. Happy and Pete enlist the help of Margaret and Lowry to find Ollie, and take Simmons to court to prove the real composer.
Ted Lewis & His Orchestra
Ted Lowry & His Orchestra
Virginia Bruce
Margaret Wallace
Harry Stockwell
Ollie Watts
Ted Healy
Happy
Nat Pendleton
Piccolo Pete
Addison Richards
Colonel Lowell Wallace
Donald Cook
Don Trevor
George 'Spanky' McFarland
Billy Lowry
Robert McWade
Judge
Robert Gleckler
Mr. Simmons
Henry Kolker
Simmon's attorney
Lew Harvey
Simmon's burly
Jack Cheatham
Simmon's burly
Charles Lane
Mr. Scurry
Billy Gilbert
Oswald Carroll, sneezer
Gene Morgan
Radio MC
Herman Bing
Hans Bergenspitz, yodeler
Bill Dooley
Harry Opson, imitator
Florence Gill
Esther Sykes, chicken impersonator
Rolfe Sedan
Violinist
Ferdinand Gottschalk
Armand de Valerie
Edward Cooper
Wallace butler
William Newell
Tracy
May Beatty
Miss Doyle
Tyler Brooke
Saxophonist / 'Dentist'
Fred Santley
Xylophonist / 'Dressmaker'
Bert Roach
Drummer / 'Traveling salesman'
Otto Fries
Cymbal player / 'Riveter'
Richard Tucker
Trumpeter / 'Banker'
David Horsley
Pianist
Sherry Hall
Oboist
Muggsy Spanier
Himself, band member
Douglas Williams
Band member
Edward Earle
Major
Jack Raymond
Jewish soldier
Esther Michelson
Jewish woman
Harry 'Zoup' Welsh
Italian soldier
Minerva Urecal
Italian woman
Jerry Sloane
Soldier
Al Williams
Soldier
Ernie Adams
Soldier
Phil Tead
Soldier
Ernie Alexander
Soldier
Perry Ivins
Soldier
Wally Maher
Soldier
William Quinn
Soldier
Earl Eby
Soldier
Don Brodie
Soldier
Jack Mulhall
Soldier
Johnny Arthur
Man in audience
Lester Dorr
Man in audience
Dorothy Vernon
Woman in audience
Brooks Benedict
Man in audience
Red Pearson
Man in audience
Harold Miller
Party guest
Dennis O'Keefe
Party guest
Larry Steers
Party guest
Ralph T. Brooks
Party guest
Frank Darien
Pawnbroker
James Donlan
Bartender
Edgar Dearing
Police officer
Monte Vandergrift
Police officer
Henry Sylvester
Bailiff
Maidel Turner
Chubby woman
Nat Carr
Tailor
Freddie Sanborn
Comedian
Charles 'Snowball' Whittier
Himself
Sally Conlin
Margaret Wallace as a child
Frank Marlowe
Taxi driver, scene deleted
Paul Sloane
Director
Lucien Hubbard
Producer
Paul Sloane
Screenplay
Ralph Spence
Screenplay
Victor Mansfield
Screenplay
Frank E. Hull
Film Editor
Charles Edgar Schoenbaum
Photography
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
William A. Horning
Associate Art Director
Edwin B. Willis
Associate Art Director
Douglas Shearer
Recording Director
Leonid Raab
Orchestrator
Edward Ward
Musical Score
Walter Donaldson
Music
Burton Lane
Music
Herbert Stothart
Music
L. Wolfe Gilbert
Music and Lyrics
Albert Von Tilzer
Music and Lyrics
Dave Dreyer
Music and Lyrics
Harry MacPherson
Music and Lyrics
Ted Fio Rito
Music and Lyrics
Andrew Sterling
Lyrics
Gus Kahn
Lyrics
Ned Washington
Lyrics
Harold Adamson
Lyrics
Chester Hale
Dances
Dolly Tree
Wardrobe
Harry Sharrock
Assistant Director
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