Blake Edwards films are quite hit or miss - some are hilarious, some are just dry and boring. This one, He Laughed Last, written and directed by Edwards, is an okay period piece, and has singer Frankie Laine as Gino Lupo, even singing a couple songs. Fade to flashback... Mob boss Dan (Alan Reed) and Jimmy, played by Richard Long, are fighting over nightclub singer Rosie LeBeau ( Lucy Marlow). Livening up the action is Dan's blustering sidekick Max, played by Jesse White, who was the Maytag repairman for many years, and did tons of Disney movies. White's cigar must have had its own agent, since it has a large role... he's always confidently chomping on that cigar. Suddenly a shot rang out... and you'll have to see the movie to find out who dunnit and what happens next! Keep an eye out for John Zaremba, the doctor, who probably holds the record for playing the doc in the most films...after a while, we don't really care what happens to most of the characters, which isn't good. There are a couple of twists and turns along the way, and a few clever jokes thrown in, but I guess we know why its hardly ever shown on TV. Also interesting that IMDb lists the Birth date (1883) for "George the lawyer" (Florenz Kolb aka Florenz Ames) but not the date of death. Did he move out of the country?
Review of He Laughed Last
