Looking at the heading I chose for “Rob Reiner’s tragic exit,” I was reminded of his father Carl Reiner’s Enter Laughing. It was the elder Reiner’s first film as a director. I drove over to the Suburban World or Uptown Theater in Minneapolis to see it when it was released in 1967 and still remember funny details of the film depicting Reiner’s semi-autobiographical account of his entry into show business. I should have thought to include it in my brief enumeration of worthy films taking us inside show business for “My favorite comedy.” It’s a modest but good one.
I wrote about the elder Reiner and included a video of him at work and play on Your Show of Shows in “When Caesar was king.” But for a showing or two on TCM, Enter Laughing seems to have dropped from sight. TCM’s note on the film might make you want to track it down:
Carl Reiner’s roman à clef about a Jewish kid from the Bronx disappointing his parents by choosing show business instead of pharmacy school had a successful run on Broadway after being adapted for the stage, with Alan Arkin playing the lead. But when it came time to cast the film version, Arkin was deemed too old to play the teenage hero.After casting unknown Puerto Rican actor Reni Santoni, Reiner wooed Shelley Winters, Michael J. Pollard, Don Rickles, and Jose Ferrer to round out the cast of his directorial debut. Shot in the Bronx on a shoestring in 32 days, it’s a treat to see this cast stretch beyond type — Jose Ferrer as a flamboyant impresario? Shelley Winters as a Jewish mother? — but especially so for Elaine May, who flexes creative muscles never seen before as a wiggly, breathy vamp keen on this new kid. Watch for a beardless Rob Reiner in his first movie role, too.
Carl Reiner actually wrote the semi-autobiographical novel on which the play and movie were based. As I say, it’s a modest comedy. Wanting to bring it to the attention of Power Line readers, I found that it has been uploaded to YouTube. I thought some readers might want to take a look. If interested, catch it while you can.
