Living it Up (1954) starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Janet Leigh
In Living It Up, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are likable con artists, enjoying an all-expenses paid vacation to New York City. On the false pretense that Jerry is terminally ill from radiation poisoning! What could possibly go wrong?
Comedy highlights
- Steve’s copy of the Hippocratic oath falling on his head and shattering – as he’s breaking it!
- Homer’s End Near
- On the ledge
- Shrimp cocktails for 3,000!
- Homer on the chandelier
- The lovely Wally trying to distract Steve – while specialists go into the hotel to examine Homer
- Classic clown gag – how Homer “escapes” from the ambulance stretcher
- Homer thinks he’s escaping into a cab — but it’s actually the ambulance he’s trying to escape from!
- Steve calling for a taxi
- Slap fight!
- Steve punches Jerry, gets knocked out by a sandbag
- Homer, disguised as a French doctor, sparring with Sig Ruman
- Homer, don’t jump!
Cast
- Dean Martin (The Stooge) … Dr. Steve Harris. The doctor, who got his degree in a mail order school. And graduated last in his class! He misdiagnosis Homer as being terminally ill. And, when Homer decides to pretend he’s terminal, Steve goes along … Being smitten with Wally.
- Jerry Lewis (Cinderfella) … Homer Flagg. The assistant station master of the small, obscure town. When he thinks he’s dying, he plans on going to New York City for a final fling. Then, he finds out he’s not dying, but Wally offers to take him on an all expenses paid “final” vacation to NYC. And he gives in to the temptation.
- Janet Leigh (Three on a Couch) … Wally Cook. Despite the name, “Wally” is a beautiful young woman, and a reporter. She comes up with the idea of financing Homer’s trip to the Big Apple, to boost the paper’s circulation. Along the way she start falling in love with Steve. And feeling sorry for Homer. To the point of being ready to marry Homer …. Expecting him to pass away in a few weeks.
- Edward Arnold (Cardinal Richelieu) … The Mayor. He goes along with he various publicity stunts. And is even ready to perform the marriage between Homer and Wally. “Homer, Don’t jump!”
- Fred Clark (The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb) … Oliver Stone. No relation to Hollywood’s Oliver Stone. Here, he’s the publisher of a large newspaper. He spends a small fortune on Homer and Steve, to boost his circulation.
Secondary characters
- Sheree North … Jitterbug Dancer. An extended cameo, as the “sick” Homer dances with the energetic young lady.
- Sig Ruman (A Day at the Races) … Dr. Emile Egelhofer. An actual doctor, who tries to examine the “terminally ill” Homer. But Jerry Lewis, disguised as a French doctor, frustrates him at every turn.
- Walter Baldwin (The Best Years of Our Lives) … Isaiah Jackson. The normal station master.
Songs
- Money Burns a Hole in My Pocket. Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Bob Hilliard. Sung by Dean Martin.
- That’s What I Like. Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Bob Hilliard. Sung by Dean Martin.
- How Do You Speak to an Angel? Music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Bob Hilliard. Sung by Dean Martin.
- Every Street’s a Boulevard in Old New York. Music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Bob Hilliard. Sung by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
Trivia
- Remake of 1937’s Nothing Sacred.
- Dr. Harris’s girlfriend – whose picture is shown in the scene where he is seen for the first time – is Audrey Hepburn.
- Inside joke – as the plane approaches New York, Homer is asked what he thinks of New York. He responds that he feels as if he’s lived there all his life: “I feel as if I were coming home”. Jerry Lewis was born across the river in New Jersey and, up to 1954, had lived most of his life in the greater New York area.
Editorial review of Living it Up courtesy of Amazon
The 1954 Martin-and-Lewis romp Living It Up is an amusing remake of the 1937 comedy classic Nothing Sacred. More specifically, it is the film version of the Broadway musical Hazel Flagg, which was based on Nothing Sacred. The heroine of the original undergoes a sex change to become feckless Homer Flagg (Jerry Lewis), who is led to believe that he’s dying of radiation poisoning. Manhattan newspaperwoman Wally Cook (Janet Leigh), hoping to improve circulation of her paper, convinces her boss, Oliver Stone (Fred Clark), to fete Homer as a hero with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Big Apple. Meanwhile, Homer learns from local doctor Steve (Dean Martin) that he isn’t dying at all. But Steve talks Homer into taking advantage of the celebrity treatment bestowed on him by Wally, and a good time is had by all – until medical specialist Dr. Egelhofer (Sig Rumann) insists upon examining Homer.
Highlights include a hilarious bit at Yankee Stadium, and an energetic jitterbug number featuring Jerry Lewis and Sheree North. The handful of songs retained from Hazel Flagg include “Every Street’s a Boulevard in Old New York.