So You Want to Be an Actor

So You Want to Be an Actor (1949)

*** (out of 4)

Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) is a broke and out of work actor who gets a job as a stand-in but of course he messes that up when stage fright hits him. Having now seen well over twenty films in this series there's no question that they stuck to one basic formula with the main goal being to make people laugh. That formula holds true here as we get all sorts of silly situations meant to make us laugh and for the most part these jokes work well. There's a nice sequence at the start of the film where Joe, being broke, just orders hot water and then puts ketchup in it to make it soup. The scenes where Joe finally gets on stage have a couple goods twists in them as does another funny sequence where he tries to kill himself but it doesn't work out like he had planned. This film certainly isn't a masterpiece but if you're a fan of the series then you're going to find quite a bit to enjoy here.