Enter Laughing

The first few minutes of this movie were nearly perfection. And while the level of humor couldn't be sustained all the way through, since there had to be more dramatic and romantic moments in the middle, there is some truly great material here. The play within a play was the funniest I had seen since "Noises Off"--David may have entered, but we were the ones laughing.

All of the leading performers did such a good job it's hard to single anyone out. One exception is the actors in the play, but then they were supposed to be bad, which means they were good. The first actor to speak in in the play, however, did an excellent job.

Because of my familiarity with these people, I felt Don Rickles and Jack Gilford stood out. I actually did not know Jack Gilford for years except as the man in the Cracker Jack commercials, but I think he did a fine job here. Don Rickles only had two scenes, but his performance in one of them was one of the best of the movie. Hilarious. And he and David set up one of the best quotes.

Jose Ferrer also made an impact. Yes, he had good reason to yell half the time.He did it very well. Overall, his may have been the standout performance.

I didn't recognize Rob Reiner, son of director Carl, and forgot to look for him until I saw the closing credits. Fortunately, this was on my TiVo. He was one of those auditioning for the role David got. Only a couple of lines, but he was pretty good. No sign he would become great, but looking at him a second time, he could have done more.

This movie had lots of great music, like so many of the era. People just don't know everything Quincy Jones was capable of.

This was a real winner.

This film is a classic thanks to a superb and wonderful cast, headed by newcomer then, Reni Santoni. Unless you've had an interest in becoming an actor, you probably won't enjoy the film as much. However, if you ever wanted to be a famous actor or a famous "somebody," this is your movie. The story is set back in the late 1930's about a young man just out of high school who decides he wants to be an actor. His parents, of course, are dead set against the idea. They want him to go to "pharmacy school" to become a druggist. David (Reni Santoni) is determined to become an actor even if it kills him. He starts going to acting school at a local run-down theatre owned by Jose Ferrer. There he begins acting lessons with instructor Ferrer and his daughter Elaine May, in some of the film's funniest moments, as they prepare David for his debut on stage. This is a great film with a great cast that includes Shelley Winters, another then newcomer Don Rickles, David Opatoshu, Michael J. Pollard, Janet Margolin, Rob Reiner, and the very pretty Nancy Kovack. The finale of the film had me rolling on the floor with tears in my eyes from laughing so much. The previous reviewer criticized the casting of Reni Santoni, but this was perfect casting in every way. I love the film and highly recommend it.

This is a poignant, funny, coming of age film, based loosely on Carl Reiner's introduction to show business during the depression. Teenage David decides to become an actor to the dismay of his mother, played superbly by Shelley Winters, as an ever-suffering Jewish Mom ("Whatever makes you happy"). There are great performances by Jack Gilford as David's old-world boss, worried that he may be mixed up with an Italian girl ("Wanda, I think", he tells David when she calls). Mel Ferrer and Reni Santoni have a hilarious scene, on which the title is based, where David is given the stage direction "Enter Laughing", and does his best to comply, with no success. It brought tears to my eyes. Elaine May sets up punch lines like a pro, and Janet Margolin is adorable as the girlfriend, and Don Rickles has a nice, small role, that suits him well.

The screenplay sounds like it was written by Neil Simon. It should have gotten more recognition. Well Worth seeing.

Carl Reiner's debut feature 'Enter Laughing' deserves to be better known than it is. Very sweet, likable and often funny, it almost makes you wish a TV series had resulted from this where you could follow the further adventures of David Kolowitz as he continues his acting pursuits.

There are many fine performances from a standout cast but the highlight is Elaine May who is funny, sexy and charming as David's acting counterpart. Michael J. Pollard is also impressive in his too brief role.

The film has some minor flaws. It struggles to escape its stage origins and at times feels like a recording of a play instead of fully cinematic piece. It doesn't have a great 1930s feel to it, partly because of budget constraints and partly because several of the actors (especially Nancy Kovack) have 1960s hairstyles.

But overall, 'Enter Laughing' is a charming film, well worth seeking out.

I've seen this movie several times over the years. There are a lot of good, dependable familiar-face comic actors in this. I never heard of the lead, Reni Santori, before or after, but he was quite OK. Shelley Winters plays his mother. Mr. Santori wants to become a Great Actor and attends a joke of an acting school headed by Jose Ferrer and his not-quite-young daughter, Elaine May, and they provide the funniest parts. Poor Former Great Actor Jose Ferrer is a cynical, washed up, bitter drunken individual who, faced with his paying client, looks on aghast while he auditions (under the name of 'Don Coleman'). And he sips from a straw from a pocket flask and mutters, 'AND THEY WONDER WHY I DRINK!'. Supposedly set in the 30's (in no way that I can detect) because it is based on Carl Reiner's memoirs from that time. The opening night performance is equally hilarious. Otherwise, the in-between parts, the mundane romance bits, kind of drag on, but when it's funny, it is FUNNY. Well worth a look.

"Hello......you."