Almost a Century Of Entertainment

If you are a regular reader here, you will remember that I was thoroughly disappointed several weeks ago with a viewing of a new documentary called "78/52."   It was supposed to be a study of the famous shower scene from "Psycho" but it brought nothing new to my table and was excruciatingly dull to boot.

So I was a little documentary-gun-shy.  And then I happened upon "Wait for Your Laugh" and complete faith in the genre was restored.   This film is a guaranteed smile-a-minute.  As a matter of fact, I'm still grinning days later.

But then again, the film makers here had a lot to work with as the subject matter is the famous Rose Marie.   94 years young and still looking for lunch, despite being hooked up to an oxygen tank and bound to a wheelchair.   So, what?   She can still put the right inflection on a comedy line better than anybody else working today.

Now, unlike the "78/52" waste of time, I learned something new from this film.  Sure, I remembered Rose Marie from the revered "Dick Van Dyke Show" and the old "Hollywood Squares." And I sort of knew that she was a child singer back in the 30s.   But I had no clue how big a star she was then.   I had no idea that her father was in the mob and she used to call Al Capone her uncle.   Or that, as Las Vegas was coming up for the first time out of the desert, that gangster Bugsy Siegel helped along her career.   

I did not know just how strong her marriage was and that he died at a very young age.   I didn't really know the significance of the famous black bow she wears in her hair.   Ironically, that news is revealed in this film not by Rose Marie, but by Squares host Peter Marshall.

I had no clue there were so many home movies in color of the Van Dyke cast rehearsing their classic sitcom.  I was totally unaware of one fact after another as this 90 minute visit with Rose Marie held me spellbound.  Laughing and crying and almost always smiling.

I was learning stuff and that is the mark of a great documentary.   "Wait for Your Laugh" certainly is that and kudos go to the film maker Jason Wise as well as Rose Marie's only daughter who is one of the producers.

I was even more blessed to see this film with a question-and-answer session following it.   That forum included Tom Bergeron, the aforementioned Peter Marshall, and Rose Marie herself.   So what if the questions had to be repeated because she couldn't hear them the first time?   The glory was getting to hear the answers in person.   

Indeed, the crowd in the packed screening was likely 75% Hollywood history. Oh, there's the old producer from the "Hollywood Squares."  Hey, there's Larry Matthews who played the kid on the Van Dyke show.   Oh, look, it's Bruce Vilanch.  Hey, there's George Chakiris.

It sort of felt like a memorial service.   But, the good news is that the main topic was up there on the screen and then in person right before us.  And, after almost a century of entertaining us, Rose Marie is still around to make us smile.

If you're a fan or even if you're not, this is one documentary not to be missed.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Turkey sandwich.