This musical comedy is more of a drama with sketches and a bunch of songs you got suddenly turns profound as cheap comic Milton Berle finds out some truths that he has been reluctant to face. He's a vaudeville comic known for stealing from the best, and when he gets the chance to go on for one of the best, for him, it's only another gig rather than a chance to really give people what they need. It's only when it's too late that he realizes that a joke ain't everything, and it's there when you realize that inside every comic is a great deal of sadness.
When Bert Lahr mentions a bunch of comics who have gone on to their greater reward, audience is may only recognize the name of W. C. Fields (as Bill), but Ted Healy and Willie Howard will be names that only the most culturally genius of modern audiences will remember. Certainly, other modern comics of 1949 are mentioned (Hope, Burns, to name a few), and Milton Berle will certainly strike a memory cord, having worked with RuPaul and Fran Drescher before he went to his great reward.
The first half of the film is a series of old gags and a reflection of Berle's character's ego, one that is lacking in heart and one that he must learn about on his own rather than just hear about through the ailing Lahr whom he replaces. It is here that audiences may find a better film than what they started to see, because it becomes a bit profound and it reflects on all entertainers, not just comics. A Jolson imitation by Berle will have mixed reactions.
Lahr and his younger onscreen wife Virginia Mayo (given killing over the title with Berle but really not having a lot to do until the second half) are traveling in a musical (loosely based on the musical review "Make Mine Manhattan", a Broadway hit the year before), and Lahr must step back for health reunions. Pictures from the original review (that starred Sid Caesar) show that they did take at least a few ideas from that show, while Bert Lahr starred in another review ("Two on the Aisle") after this was released.
The egotistical but struggling Berle steps in, having failed on his own and having issues with chorine girlfriend Ruth Roman (daughter of a veteran vaudeville team played by Grace Hayes and Alan Hale Sr.), and perhaps he will come out of this experience understanding a little bit more of the heart of show business rather than just the command for applause. When Milty makes a comment that TV has no future, it's an unintentional laugh because even though it was at its infancy at the time, the joke proved to be a false one since Uncle Miltie ended up being on TV for nearly 60 years.
While Berle is funny in spots, the jokes are so corny that they lay eggs that won't crack, and Lahr does a lot of the same schtick, winning applause in his big dramatic scene. Hayes and Hale are the best as far as on-stage magic is concerned because they are just so adorable together. Roman and Mayo are both lovely, but Roman stands out with her beauty and heart. Iris Adrian plays another of her loud mouthed brassy dames, a deserving victim of Berle's wisecracks. It's a mixed bag that hasn't stood the test of time but is certainly worthy of being put in a capsule as our entertainment heritage it certainly worthy of preserving, the good and the bad of which there is a lot of both.
When Bert Lahr mentions a bunch of comics who have gone on to their greater reward, audience is may only recognize the name of W. C. Fields (as Bill), but Ted Healy and Willie Howard will be names that only the most culturally genius of modern audiences will remember. Certainly, other modern comics of 1949 are mentioned (Hope, Burns, to name a few), and Milton Berle will certainly strike a memory cord, having worked with RuPaul and Fran Drescher before he went to his great reward.
The first half of the film is a series of old gags and a reflection of Berle's character's ego, one that is lacking in heart and one that he must learn about on his own rather than just hear about through the ailing Lahr whom he replaces. It is here that audiences may find a better film than what they started to see, because it becomes a bit profound and it reflects on all entertainers, not just comics. A Jolson imitation by Berle will have mixed reactions.
Lahr and his younger onscreen wife Virginia Mayo (given killing over the title with Berle but really not having a lot to do until the second half) are traveling in a musical (loosely based on the musical review "Make Mine Manhattan", a Broadway hit the year before), and Lahr must step back for health reunions. Pictures from the original review (that starred Sid Caesar) show that they did take at least a few ideas from that show, while Bert Lahr starred in another review ("Two on the Aisle") after this was released.
The egotistical but struggling Berle steps in, having failed on his own and having issues with chorine girlfriend Ruth Roman (daughter of a veteran vaudeville team played by Grace Hayes and Alan Hale Sr.), and perhaps he will come out of this experience understanding a little bit more of the heart of show business rather than just the command for applause. When Milty makes a comment that TV has no future, it's an unintentional laugh because even though it was at its infancy at the time, the joke proved to be a false one since Uncle Miltie ended up being on TV for nearly 60 years.
While Berle is funny in spots, the jokes are so corny that they lay eggs that won't crack, and Lahr does a lot of the same schtick, winning applause in his big dramatic scene. Hayes and Hale are the best as far as on-stage magic is concerned because they are just so adorable together. Roman and Mayo are both lovely, but Roman stands out with her beauty and heart. Iris Adrian plays another of her loud mouthed brassy dames, a deserving victim of Berle's wisecracks. It's a mixed bag that hasn't stood the test of time but is certainly worthy of being put in a capsule as our entertainment heritage it certainly worthy of preserving, the good and the bad of which there is a lot of both.