Main Cast: Frankie Laine, Lucy Marlow, Anthony Dexter, Dick Long, Alan Reed, Sr.
Release Year: 1956
Country: US
Run Time: 77 minutes
Plot
In this amiable imitation Guys and Dolls, Alan Reed plays a big-time 1920s gangster who is rubbed out by his enemies. In his will, Reed bequeaths his nightclub to chorus girl Lucy Marlow--which doesn't sit too well with Lucy's policeman boyfriend (Richard Long). Frankie Laine plays the tough-but-lovable nightclub manager who first squabbles with Marlow, then falls in love with her. To let us know that the story is all in fun and we shouldn't worry about the ultimate fate of hero and heroine, the film is related in flashback, narrated by Laine. He Laughed Last is directed by Blake Edwards in the buoyant spirit of Edwards' earlier musical-comedy collaborations with director Richard Quine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
He Laughed Last is a 1956 film by Blake Edwards. A Runyonesque Roaring 20s musical comedy about a show girl who circumstance casts as an unlikely mob boss. Edwards adapted the film for his 1999 off-Broadway show, Big Rosemary. Edwards directed Cady Huffman in the Lucy Marlow role from the original. Edwards rewrote the show which he directed for a 2004 Los Angeles stage production starring Jennifer Leigh Warren. One of the highlights of the movie was when Frankie Laine sang a wonderful version of "Danny Boy" at the funeral of his mob boss. This song is only available on the Bear Family Records Frankie Laine CD box "I Believe". The movie was a regular on late night television for many years, and is now being shown on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable channel.
