Always Leave Them Laughing | |
---|---|
original theatrical poster
|
|
Directed by | Roy Del Ruth |
Produced by | Jerry Wald |
Screenplay by |
Melville Shavelson Jack Rose "Fountain Pen Sketch" from Make Mine Manhattan: Arnold Horwit Sylvia Rosales |
Story by |
Max Shulman Richard Mealand |
Starring |
Milton Berle Virginia Mayo |
Edited by | Clarence Kolster |
Production
company |
|
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date
|
November 26, 1949 |
Running time
|
116 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Always Leave Them Laughing is a 1949 musical comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Milton Berle and Virginia Mayo.
A nobody, comic Kip Cooper does his act on stage in Asbury Park, New Jersey to more snores than roars. He asks out one of the performing Washburn sisters for a date, and finds that Fay's parents once did a vaudeville act that Kip still knows by heart.
Kip convinces Fay to do the old act themselves. But when he's offered a solo engagement, Kip grabs it, only to flop and be cheated out of his pay. He takes a small part in a show, lying to the Washburns that he was hired to be the lead, and does an impromptu gag that gets him fired.
Fay needs a job, so she joins the chorus of old-time comedian Eddie Eagen's touring show. Kip takes a bit too much interest in Eddie's beautiful and much younger wife, Nancy, who co-stars in the revue.
Kip ends up going on for Eddie during an illness, and then becomes his replacement. Eddie attempts a comeback when the show gets to New York, but collapses on stage. Kip's career takes off after that, but what he wants most is for Fay to take him back.