Always Leave Them Laughing

1949
Approved
1h 56m

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

502

YOUR RATING

Milton Berle, Bert Lahr, Virginia Mayo, and Ruth Roman in Always Leave Them Laughing (1949)

A young comic plays second-rate nightclubs and chintzy resorts in his struggle to break into the big time.

Play trailer2:29

1 Video

16 Photos

Slapstick Comedy Drama

A young comic plays second-rate nightclubs and chintzy resorts in his struggle to break into the big time.A young comic plays second-rate nightclubs and chintzy resorts in his struggle to break into the big time.A young comic plays second-rate nightclubs and chintzy resorts in his struggle to break into the big time.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

502

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 2:29

Watch Official Trailer

Photos16

+ 8

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Storyline

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Trivia
The "Fountain Pen Sketch" was taken from the hit musical "Make Mine Manhattan" that opened in New York on 15 January 1948 at the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 44th St. and ran for 429 performances, and starred Sid Caesar. Max Showalter, who performs that specialty number in this movie, was also in that opening night cast playing the same role, as well as others.

Goofs
After Kip meets with Eagen, a brief clip is shown of a train heading to Boston, with a Southern Pacific locomotive. The Southern Pacific Railroad served California and the south west, and would not have gone to Boston or anywhere in the northeast.

Quotes
Monte Wilson: [Checking out Kip's suit] Very conservative.
Kipling 'Kip' Cooper: Conservative? Why it could be elected on a Republican ticket without anyone in it.

Connections
Referenced in The Milton Berle Show: Episode #2.11 (1949)

Soundtracks
Always Leave Them Laughing
(1949) (uncredited)
Written by Sammy Cahn and Milton Berle
Sung during the opening credits and first scene by Lynn Davis, Lorinne Crawford,
Flo Farmer, Mary Castle, Alice Wallace and Nita Talbot
Reprised by them with Milton Berle at the end
Variations in the score throughout

User reviews21

Review

Featured review

A Berle Showcase

A small-time comic works his way up to the big time.

The two hours is mainly for fans of Uncle Miltie. Berle is in just about every scene, along with a number of his costumed skits. As expected, some skits are funnier than others; however, I wish this overlong movie had stayed on a light comedic level. Instead, it veers off near the end into heavy drama, which could have been easily lopped off.

Catch that bouncy opening—as I recall, it plays much like Berle's hit TV show that helped put TV on the map in the early days. Anyway, if guys get tired looking at the star, there's the delectable Ruth Roman standing around in various stages of undress, and also a shapely Virginia Mayo doing some surprisingly good dance steps. Comic actor Bert Lahr gets his turn on the stage. But to me, his brand of humor is a matter of taste.

I suspect Warner Bros. was testing the waters to see if Berle's appeal carried over to movies as well as TV, in the way it did for Bob Hope over at Paramount. However that may be, I think the movie would be better if shorter and strictly light-hearted.