Make Mine Laughs (1949)
- Directed by
- Richard Fleischer
- Genre
- musical film
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 1h 03m
- Rated
- NR
- Rating
- 5.5 of 10 from 6 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A compilation of comedy sketches and musical numbers from older RKO movies. The comedian Gil Lamb hosts and makes jokes between the clips.
lightheartednostalgicplayfulupbeatchattyvariety-showbreezywhimsical
What happens
Make Mine Laughs is a 1949 American musical comedy film directed by Richard Fleischer. The film was a compilation of comic scenes and musical numbers from RKO Radio Pictures' feature films and short subjects of the mid-1940s. It was the second of RKO's four "musical revue" features, composed largely of musical and comedy highlights from previous RKO productions. Comedian Gil Lamb hosts the proceedings, finding time to make satirical comments about the opening credits and to perform his "swallowing the harmonica" specialty. The film clips include two short subjects, Leon Errol's Beware of Redheads and two clips from RKO's Flicker Flashbacks entries (a 1920 fashion show narrated by radio's Ward Wilson and a dramatic playlet narrated by Knox Manning). Other clips from the vaults are Frances Langford singing "Moonlight Over the Islands" (from The Bamboo Blonde), Anne Shirley and Dennis Day duetting on "If You Happen to Find a Heart" (from Music in Manhattan), comedy bandleader Freddie Fisher (from Seven Days Ashore), dance team Rosario & Antonio (from Pan-Americana), and pianist-bandleader Frankie Carle from an RKO short subject. New specialties filmed especially for Make Mine Laughs are performed by puppeteer Robert Lamouret and his duck figure Dudule, Manuel & Marita Viera and their trained-monkeys act, and acrobatic trio The Titans (with Gil Lamb worked into their act). Ray Bolger and Jack Haley brought suit against RKO for unauthorized use of their performances (Bolger's boxing pantomime from Four Jacks and a Jill and Haley's "Who Killed Vaudeville?" number from George White's Scandals). By the time the suit was settled in 1951, both Bolger and Haley had been paid off, and RKO withdrew the picture from distribution. The studio avoided any future lawsuits by confining its remaining variety-show features Footlight Varieties and Merry Mirthquakes to new numbers staged especially for the films, and comedy sequences from RKO's backlog of short subjects. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Variety Time (1948)
Yes Sir That's My Baby (1949)
Melody Club (1949)
Make Believe Ballroom (1949)
Leave It to Henry (1949)
Melody in the Dark (1949)
Manhattan Angel (1949)
Somewhere in Politics (1949)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.