Always Leave Them Laughing

Robin Williams, Tom Hanks, and Jack Lemon. I bet you can think of others.

Unfortunately, Berle ain't one of them. Bert Lahr doesn't do so well either.

It is great to see some of his old acts but some of them don't hold up.

Probably not intended as such in 1949, in retrospect this film shows an interesting juncture between old time show biz and the imminent influence of television, which changed everything. The film captures some fascinating relics of an earlier time, such as Bert Lahr reprising a famous burlesque-type routine of his from the early '20s. Milton Berle excels in acting out all sorts of comedic styles and formats then in vogue or already seen as passe. Despite its chirpy title song, the film has a surprising toughness and unsentimentality for its era (witness the happily cruel "Men's Club" scene). Recommended for those into show biz history, and also a great way to see some genuinely funny stuff.

There are a couple of reasons why lovers of musicals on the silver screen might want to watch this old stinker, none of them having to do with its quality as a film. One is the musicals numbers themselves, of which there are many, including great old standards by Harry Warren and George Gershwin. The other is to watch the unbelievably corny shtick performed by Milton Berle and Bert Lahr. It's hard to explain Berle's popularity as a television pioneer; his jokes and routines reek of someone who wants to be the life of the party but ends up being just annoying.

The comedy giants of the black and white era film. Uncle milty. Bert lahr. Alan hale, who must have been in every single movie made before 1950. The top actresses of the day virginia mayo, ruth roman. Kip ( milton berle) is trying to book somewhere, anywhere, but ... he's past his prime, and all his gags are old, dusty vaudeville bits. Television killed off vaudeville way back when. Even one of the agents says "this kind of thing went out ten years ago." there's some funny stuff in here, done by the pro's, but it won't be for everyone. Some fun guests, and many references to other performers. Unfortunately, he does blackface, a reference to al jolson. Possibly the last time it was done in the movies. Fountain pens? Just shows how old the material really was. The story is pretty silly, but we do get to see milty doing comedy. And drag. He did mostly television after this. Directed by roy del ruth, who had started out with the genius mack sennett. Del ruth has an interesting story detailed on wikipedia dot org; he worked with all the greats.

"Always Leave Them Laughing" is an interesting curio in many ways, but isn't a particularly good movie. Let me explain. When this film was made back in 1949, Milton Berle was the biggest name on television and much of his show's success was based on Berle doing t the sort of shtick he'd been doing for years in Vaudeville. So, here you get to see a semi-autobiographical film where Berle does a lot of the corny and over-the-top routines that made him famous. However, and this is VERY important, a lot of it just isn't funny. The jokes are so old and familiar that many viewers will recognize them and the rest fall pretty flat. Worst of all is the cop routine by Bert Lahr--that REALLY aged poorly. Yes, he was popular in the good old days but today this seemed very tired and cringe-worthy at times. Another thing that will make you cringe is seeing Berle do a third-rate Jolson routine--in black- face! Plus, Berle's character was, at times, really difficult to like.

Is it all bad? No. When Berle isn't trying to be funny he's pretty good. And, it's surprising to see how limber and graceful he is when he dances--and several of the dance numbers (particularly with Lahr) were nice. But this just isn't enough. The film is a window into a bygone era...one that just doesn't work or entertain in the 21st century.