Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Featuring Moe, Larry and Curly
67.5 min. (Feature Film)
While Rusty Williams is away at Agricultural College, his prospector cousin Shorty (Moe Howard) fills in at Rusty's struggling Reno NV spread as the ranch foreman. He spends his time looking for an angle at the Wagon Wheel Cafe Casino, and hooks up with two vagrants (Curly Howard, Larry Fine) after they accidentally win big at roulette. Along with two stranded New York singers and their money, the Stooges and the girls head for the ranch with prospecting plans. Rusty returns home with hope that investor Sam Clemens will save the ranch's cattle and mining operations, and finds Shorty and the gang's plans interfering. Complicating matters further, inept ranchhands (The Hoosier Hotshots) mistake Clemens for a cattle rustler, and Shorty, Curly & Larry cook up a scheme to get the girls an audition with a vacationing Broadway producer.
Moe plays a non-Stooge character, with Larry and Curly interacting throughout most of the film as a comedy duo.
The Hoosier Hotshots were comedic musicians, but, unlike Spike Jones' orchestra, the HH's country-swing music never hit mainstream playlists and they are relatively unknown today.
Curly is relatively subdued in this film, and Larry takes on the bulk of their humorous antics and dialogue.
Songs: "Rockin' in the Rockies" by Henry Tobias and Mac Neuborn. "Miss Molly" by Cindy Walker. "One O'Clock Jump" by Bob Zurke. "Upstairs Downstairs" by Vic Mizzy and Mann Curtis. "Somewhere Along the Trail" by Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn. "Wah-Hoo" by Cliff Friend. "Wabash Blues" by Fred Meinken and Dave Ringle. "Ever So Quiet" by Algy More. "Skee Dee Waddle Dee Waddle Doo" by Kenneth Trietsch.
Moe Howard
Shorty Williams
Larry Fine
Larry
Jerry Howard
Curly
Mary Beth Hughes
June McGuire
Gladys Blake
Betty Vale
Jay Kirby
Rusty Williams
Paul 'Hezzie' Trietsch
Hoosier Hotshot
Gil Taylor
Hoosier Hotshot
Charles Ward
Hoosier Hotshot
Ken Trietsch
Hoosier Hotshot
The Cappy Barra Boys
Themselves
Vernon Dent
Mr. Stanton
Tim Ryan
Tom Trove
Steve Clark
Hank
Forrest Taylor
Sam Clemens
Jack Clifford
Sheriff Zeke
John Tyrrell
Stanton's talent scout
Lew Davis
Roulette wheel operator
Edward Howard
Croupier
Hal Price
Bartender
Snub Pollard
Drunk
Eddie Bruce
Hotel clerk
Louis Manley
Gumbo the Magician
James T. Nelson
Cowpoke
Unidentified ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES 1
2nd croupier
Unidentified ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES 3
Club patrons
Unidentified ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES 4
Pedestrians
Colbert Clark
Producer
Vernon Keays
Director
Louise Rousseau
Story
Gail Davenport
Story
John Grey
Screenplay
J. Benton Cheney
Screenplay
Glen Gano
Director of Photography
Paul Borofsky
Film Editor
Charles Clague
Art Director
Fay Babcock
Set Decoration
Howard Fogetti
Sound Director
Cliff Friend
Music and Lyrics
Sammy Cahn
Lyrics
Saul Chaplin
Lyrics
Wilbur McGaugh
Assistant Director
Joseph C. Cavalier
Assistant Director
Arlene Snyder
Script Assistant
Clay Yurdin
Dialogue Director
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