Make Mine Laughs (1949)

Make Mine Laughs was the second of three RKO Radio "pastiche" films, largely comprised 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 filmclips include two short subjects, Leon Errol's Beware of Redheads and one of RKO's Flicker Flashbacks entries, both presented in their entirety. Also featured are Frances Langford singing "Moonlight Over the Islands" (from Bamboo Blonde), Anne Shirley and Dennis Day duetting on "If You Happen to Find a Heart" (from Music in Manhattan), and specialties performed by the likes of orchestra leaders Frankie Carle and Freddie "Schnickelfritz" Fisher, ventriloquist Robert Lamouret, and dance teams Manuel & Marita Viera and Rosario & Antonio. Make Mine Laughs was withdrawn from distribution after Ray Bolger and Jack Haley brought suit against RKO for unauthorized use of clips from Bolger's boxing pantomime in Four Jacks and Jill (1944) and Haley's "Who Killed Vaudeville?" number from George White's Scandals (1945). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi