Writers:

Blake Edwards (screenplay), Richard Quine (story)

Stars:

Frankie Laine, Lucy Marlow, Anthony Dexter

 

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.