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Editorial Reviews
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Martin and Lewis were introduced in 1949's My Friend Irma, a big-screen version of a popular radio show. The boys are in support, but their high jinks were the hit of the movie, and their portion of screen time ballooned in My Friend Irma Goes West, which they basically take over. Both movies are enjoyable comedies, and especially in the sequel Lewis's lunatic style of mugging, vocal calisthenics, and physical shtick makes him look like an animal uncaged.
Not included in this set is their first starring vehicle, At War with the Army. The next six consecutive films are here, beginning with one of their best, 1951's That's My Boy. Jerry plays the athletically hopeless son of a famous football hero (Eddie Mayehoff, a funny man). It's a measure of how much Lewis had grabbed the public's imagination that Dino doesn't show up until the film is 20 minutes old. (Lewis later wrote that he arranged for "That's Amore" to be included in The Caddy to bolster Martin's popularity.) Also from 1951, Sailor Beware is a service comedy with some hilarious sequences--Lewis conducting a male chorus, for instance, or undergoing a slightly surreal medical exam--and the team still has a freshness despite the movie formula. Their timing together in the punchdrunk-boxer routine shows some of the chemistry they must have had onstage.
Jumping Jacks (1952) is the least of Martin & Lewis's service comedies, with Lewis as a showbiz performer who pretends to be in the military as a favor to Dean. The Stooge, same year, is one of their best teamings, this time with a touch of pathos along with the laughs: Martin is a self-centered singer who can't acknowledge that his hired stooge is the reason his act is boffo. Along with the backstage stuff, the movie demonstrates how skilled Lewis's singing was, even in a comic purpose.
1953's Scared Stiff is a warmed-over remake of the Bob Hope comedy The Ghost Breakers, and shows that the boys were overworked; the story is lame and the clowning feels more desperate (although Lewis has a few moments imitating co-star Carmen Miranda). In The Caddy, from the same year, Martin indulges his real-life passion for golf, and Lewis plays the neglected caddy. It's a return to form, borrowing a Stooge vibe, and boasts an odd framing story with the boys playing a nightclub act very much like Martin & Lewis.
Unless you're already a fan, your enthusiasm for this set will depend on your tolerance for Jerry Lewis and his manic, childlike dementia. Either you'll laugh, resist, or become fascinated at the naked, look-at-me neediness of his act. Dean Martin can be appreciated for the difficult job of playing straight man to this craziness (notice, too, how his singing voice comes into its own, from imitation Bing Crosby in the first couple of pictures to the familiar, relaxed style of vintage Dino). The DVD set provides no supporting features, but this is the first chapter of a hugely profitable and popular showbiz phenomenon. Just one more thing: "Who's your little whoozis? Who's your toitle dove?" --Robert Horton
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Customer Reviews
All the early films are here (with only "At War With The Army" curiously missing from the line-up). It's interesting to see Dean & Jerry's movie debut in "My Friend Irma"---Dean makes an impressive showing as smooth as his singing, while Jerry looks as if he's barely graduating from high school! The film was a big hit, which was naturally followed up with a sequel, "My Friend Irma Goes West". This time around, the boys' characters were integrated firmly in the plot, gravitating toward equal billing with the cast. From that moment on, there was no stopping them.
The 2 "service" comedies here, "Sailor Beware" & "Jumping Jacks", are the most enjoyable outings of their kind since Abbott & Costello did their part for WWII a decade earlier.
My favorites? "That's My Boy", an early 1951 effort, has a good story with Jerry as the frail son of an old college sports hero (a blustery Eddie Mayhoff in a hilarious supporting role), who tries to make good with the help of current BMOC (Dean). "Sailor Beware" is gag-packed Navy fun from start to finish. "The Stooge" is a semi-autobiographical tale combining laughs and poignancy; it also proved that the boys could handle dramatic elements in their storylines as well. "Scared Stiff" goes for atmospheric chills & chuckles at a creepy Cuban estate. It even borrows elements from Bob Hope's "The Ghost Breakers" comedy (dead bodies, a creepy mansion, zombies)---even both Hope & Bing Crosby make cameos at the end of the film.... Read more ›
This, with the solo Jerry Lewis compilation from Paramount are must-haves. Must haves also include all of the Martin and Lewis pictures, and solo films, not yet on DVD, so let's hope they keep'em coming!
"Goes West" is revolutionary since it deals with television and Las Vegas. My favorite part of the film is that these folks are broke, yet in 1950, they can afford a television. And television isn't treated as an enemy of cinema in the film - although we learn that movies pay much better. Also we get a glimpse of early Vegas. The boys hang out at the Flamingo's pool. What's strange is night shots where you don't see that many lights on the Strip.
It's a shame that Paramount put this out as a single DVD - thus getting very little notice. Jerry Lewis told a crowd in Philly that Paramount was coming out with a Martin-Lewis boxset in January. He didn't give anymore details. They better get the other 13 titles out soon!
Although these films are not Dean or Jerry's best work(s) I am excited about this double feature because I hope more of their great films (as a team and as individuals) will be released, we still need: "Sailor Beware", "That's My Boy", "Visit to a Small Planet", "The Geisha Boy", "Some Came Running", "Rock-a-Bye Baby", and "Who's Minding the Store", "Which Way to the Front", "Hardly Working", "Cracking Up", and "Three on a Couch" on DVD.
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