Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Released July 01, 1941
Featuring Shemp Howard (Solo)
Featuring Shemp Howard (Solo)
Universal
59 min. (Feature Film)
59 min. (Feature Film)
Most of Shemp's screen time is limited to voiceover, with his character of 'Eddie' in disguise as 'Ivan the Robot.' That's actually stand-in Ernie Stanton in the tin suit, not Shemp.
Conman Boris Kabikoff (Mischa Auer) has stolen corporate plans for a robot, but they're incomplete. Kabikoff hires stooge Eddie (Shemp Howard) to masquerade as the robot 'Ivan,' passing it off as his own invention in a scheme to defraud investors. Boris and Eddie hook up with patent attorney James Mitchell (William Frawley), whose ex-wife has left him broke and anxious to make a fast dollar. Mitchell falls for Boris' scheme and imagines a fortune in his future. Mitchell's secretary Sharon Knight (Una Merkel) has recently reunited with her hometown boyfriend Larry Trent (Stu Erwin), the winner of a $5,000 radio contest. Boris and Mitchell focus their respective schemes on Trent's contest money.
A talented cast, trapped in a low-rent Universal B comedy feature.
Shemp is very funny as Eddie, a dimwitted conman suffering from Blonde-a-Phobia... Kabikoff: "What's that?" Eddie: "I can't help myself, I just gotta chase after blondes." Kabikoff: "What do you do with them?" Eddie: "I don't know. Ain't caught one yet."
The majority of the film's laughs are contributed by Mantan Moreland and Hattie Noel, Mitchell's butler and maid, with their take and doubletake reactions to "Ivan."
Avg. Rating: 
[7.50/10]
[7.50/10]
Stuart Erwin
Lawrence Trent
Una Merkel
Sharon Knight
William Frawley
James Mitchell
Shemp Howard
Eddie / Ivan
Mischa Auer
Boris Kabikoff
Astrid Allwyn
Ethel Mitchell
Mantan Moreland
Burgess
Hattie Noel
Chloe
Emmett Vogan
Mr. McAneny
Pierre Watkin
Mr. Benson
Milt Parsons
Lars Olson
Will Wright
Sylvanus Boogle
Francis Pierlot
Mayor Smun
Tom Hanlon
Dixon, radio announcer
Ernie Stanton
Ivan / Shemp's stunt double
Billy Bletcher
Parachute man
Pat O'Malley
Policeman
Jack Perrin
Policeman
Lyle Clement
Policeman
Bobby Barber
Waiter
Marion Martin
Blonde in corridor
Janet Warren
Blonde
Hal K. Dawson
Sawhorse man
Dave Willock
Radio technician
Dorothy Darrell
Ethel's maid
Marin Sais
Screaming woman
Dorothy Vernon
Woman at radio show
Edward F. Cline
Director
Joseph Gershenson
Producer
Erna Lazarus
Screenplay
Scott Darling
Screenplay
Charles Van Enger
Director of Photography
Milton Carruth
Film Editor
Jack Otterson
Art Director
Harold MacArthur
Art Director
Russell A. Gausman
Set Decoration
Bernard B. Brown
Sound Director
Jess Moulin
Sound Technician
Hans J. Salter
Musical Director
Heinz Roemheld
Music and Lyrics
Vera West
Gowns
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