Always Leave Them Laughing

A nobody, comic Kip Cooper does his act on stage in Asbury Park, New Jersey to more snores than roars. He asks out one of the performing Washburn sisters for a date, and finds that Fay's parents once did a vaudeville act that Kip still knows by heart.

Kip convinces Fay to do the old act themselves. But when he's offered a solo engagement, Kip grabs it, only to flop and be cheated out of his pay. He takes a small part in a show, lying to the Washburns that he was hired to be the lead, and does an impromptu gag that gets him fired.

Fay needs a job, so she joins the chorus of old-time comedian Eddie Eagen's touring show. Kip takes a bit too much interest in Eddie's beautiful and much younger wife, Nancy, who co-stars in the revue.

Kip ends up going on for Eddie during an illness, and then becomes his replacement. Eddie attempts a comeback when the show gets to New York, but collapses on stage. Kip's career takes off after that, but what he wants most is for Fay to take him back.

• Milton Berle as Kipling Cooper
• Virginia Mayo as Nancy Eagen (singing voice was dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams)
• Ruth Roman as Fay Washburn (singing voice was dubbed by Trudy Erwin)
• Bert Lahr as Eddie Eagen
• Alan Hale, Sr. as Sam Washburn
• Iris Adrian as Julie Adams
• Mary Castle as showgirl (uncredited)

• Always Leave Them Laughing at IMDb