Always Leave Them Laughing (1949)

(On Cable TV, July 2022) As someone with a higher-than-average interest in stand-up comedy and its backstage drama, I could appreciate the good hook in Always Leave Them Laughing’s premise—following a second-rate comedian with a propensity for stealing jokes and wives from other comedians on tour. Milton Berle stars, which is the kind of thing that will also appeal to those with an interest in American comedy history—while relatively forgotten today, Berle was sometimes touted as America’s foremost comedian around 1950 (check his reverential appearance in 1960’s Let’s Make Love) and the film clearly plays on that additional context for casting. It’s probably why the film can feel so free to lambaste its character as a bit of a hack, and play with the darkness behind the performer (or at least as much as it could in 1949—this isn’t a warts-and-all portrait at all, just a mild amount of backstage drama to go with the comic routines). Berle is in his element when on a stage, but perhaps not so much a good romantic lead whenever the lovely Virginia Mayo or Ruth Roman are on-screen. There are also a few pacing issues, and comparing Always Leave Them Laughing to later films truly digging into the comedy backstage can be disappointing. But at least you get the sight of Berle in his prime, captured on film for posterity.