Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Released September 04, 1937
Featuring Ted Healy (Solo)
Featuring Ted Healy (Solo)
Warner Bros.
120 min. (Feature Film)
120 min. (Feature Film)
The students of Winfield College are determined to produce a modern musical-comedy extravaganza, but faculty adviser Prof. Biddle will only permit a mundane production with turn of the century values. With the help of music professor Ernie Mason (Fred Waring), the kids head for New York with their $1000 treasury to ask Winfield alumnus, and Broadway producer, Chuck Daly for help. Unknown to the students, Daly is broke after producing a string of Broadway flops. Daly's publicist/manager Willy Williams (Ted Healy) jumps at the money and hopes that the publicity will buy Chuck a job in Hollywood. Daly's arrival at Winfield angers Biddle, forcing a showdown with the Dean. So when the students learn of Chuck's professional woes, they stage a sit-down in an empty Broadway theatre.
Another typical entry in Warner Brothers' 1930s Broadway-based musicals, starring their top crooner Dick Powell, with choreography by Busby Berkeley and music & lyrics from Johnny Mercer and Dick Whiting. Ted Healy has a few opportunities to join in the singing and dancing, aptly displaying some of his vaudeville roots.
The original 1937 release had a runtime of 120 minutes. Re-released in Dec. 1942 to capitalize on the radio popularity of Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, and allowing it to fit on double bills, Warner Bros. cut 40 minutes and reduced it to 1 hour & 20 minutes. Evidence implies that the cuts were made to the original negative, and the shorter version is all that exists in Warner's library archives. A search for the missing footage has been ongoing for years, particularly during preparation of the DVD, but nothing has turned up.
Avg. Rating: 
[7.00/10]
[7.00/10]
Dick Powell
Chuck Daly
Rosemary Lane
Babs Steward
Ted Healy
Willy Williams
Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians
Ernie Mason and His Orchestra
Priscilla Lane
Betty Bradley
Johnnie 'Scat' Davis
Buzz Bolton
Sterling Holloway
Trout
Scotty Bates
Scotty
Mabel Todd
Cuddles
John Bubbles
Bubbles
Lee Dixon
Lee ''Rubberlegs'' Stevens
Edward Brophy
Mike ''Curly'' Barclay
Poley McClintock
Poley
Betty Wonder
Dancer
Tommy Wonder
Dancer
Halliwell Hobbes
Dean Meredith
Walter Catlett
Prof. Sylvester Biddle
Roy Atwell
Prof. Washburn
Ben Welden
Mr. Hammer
Sarah Edwards
Mrs. Biddle
Ferris Taylor
Mayor Jones
Emma Dunn
Ma Smith
Stuart Holmes
Professor
Earl Dwire
Professor
Wade Lane
Professor
Walter Young
Professor
Wilfred Lucas
Police Commissioner
Robert Homans
Police Sgt. Murphy
Jack Mower
Desk Sergeant
Tom Kennedy
Policeman
Spec O'Donnell
Student with money box
Jane Doyle
Student
Kenneth Anspach
Student
John George Doyle
Student
Carole Landis
Trout's dancing partner
Harry Hollingworth
Doorman
Al Lloyd
Taxi driver
Don Downen
Elevator operator
John Harron
Clerk
Glen Cavender
Stagehand
Sol Gorss
Stagehand
Tom Wilson
Stagehand
Veda Ann Borg
Passerby
Rosella Towne
Passerby
Buddy Henry
Man
Cliff Saum
Man
Virginia Pitman
Woman
Maxine Fisher
Woman
Jack L. Warner
Executive Producer
Hal B. Wallis
Producer
William Keighley
Director
Busby Berkeley
Director, finale
Louis F. Edelman
Associate Producer
Sid Herzig
Story and Screenplay
Warren Duff
Story and Screenplay
Richard Macaulay
Screenplay
Jerry Wald
Screenplay
Sol Polito
Photography
George Barnes
Finale Photography
George Amy
Film Editor
Carl Jules Weyl
Art Director
Oliver S. Garretson
Sound
Fred Waring
Musical Director
Johnny Mercer
Music and Lyrics
Richard Whiting
Music and Lyrics
Charles Henderson
Music and Lyrics
Tom Waring
Music
Ray Heindorf
Music
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Roy Ringwald
Music
M. K. Jerome
Music
Heinz Roemheld
Music
Paul Gibbon
Lyrics
Don Raye
Lyrics
Roy Ringwald
Vocal Arrangements
Frank Perkins
Vocal Arrangements
Steve Mougin
Orchestral Arrangements
Frank Perkins
Orchestral Arrangements
Virgil Davis
Orchestral Arrangements
Drew Eberson
Assistant Director
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Howard Shoup
Gowns
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