Make Me a Star / Merton of the Movies

Stars in their eyes ' laughter in the aisles! Two famed funnymen portray small town hick and Hollywood hopeful Merton Gill in the comedic tale that was first a novel, a beloved (and periodically reprised) stage hit and a silent film. Stuart Erwin adds a wistful note to Merton's Tinseltown dream in 1932's Make Me a Star. Red Skelton shows his gift for turning situations into extended gags in 1947's Merton of the Movies. Both films include star cameos: the Erwin comedy includes then-current luminaries (Tallulah Bankhead, Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and Gary Cooper), and the Skelton romp offers players whose glory years were in the silent era (including Chester Conklin and Franklyn Farnum). In the 1950s, Erwin and Skelton would reach even wider audiences in TV shows bearing their own names.