Review of Wait for Your Laugh (2017) by Jenna I — 09 Nov 2017

Like Rose Marie herself, Wait For Your Laugh is a real charmer. Told through several interviews, an amazing photo and video archive (largely supplied by Rose Marie herself), and a handful of short reenactments, Wise weaves a colorful portrait of his subject. It's both an amazing time capsule of the last century of showbiz (what a gift that we have so much archival footage of the entire life of somebody born in the 1920s) and a sweet, empathetic portrait of a now overlooked talent.

That said, it certainly doesn't paint Rose Marie as demure or passive, she's definitely a tough broad - the likes of whom referred to Dick Van Dyke as "a six foot tower of Jelly" when he wouldn't stand up for the cast, and struck back at a predatory Weinstein-like film producer by yelling, in front of everybody, "You couldn't get it up if a flag went by." Yet, despite some tyrannical inclinations, you never get the sense that she was anything but driven and professional. As somebody who grew up with no formal schooling, all Rose Marie knew was show business, and her stamina and work ethic are enviable. She was clearly in it for the love of the work and the audience, never does she come across as somebody who took her life and fame for granted.

Worth a watch!