Hollywood or Bust [Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin]

Hollywood or Bust, starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Pat Crowley, Anita Ekberg

Synopsis of Hollywood or Bust

In Hollywood or Bust, Malcolm Smith is a star-struck movie fan. With his “lucky feeling” he wins a new convertible in a theater raffle. But his ownership is challenged by compulsive gambler Steve Wiley, whose forged winning ticket will help him pay off his bookie. Steve regales a lovesick Malcolm with concocted stories about his supposed next-door neighbor, sultry actress Anita Ekberg. They agree to share the car on a cross-country trip to Tinseltown. Steve is prevented from abandoning his traveling companion on several occasions by Malcolm’s pet dog, a Great Dane named Mr. Bascomb.

They bond over various adventures in New Jersey, Chicago, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. By the time they get to Las Vegas, where they meet the real Anita Ekberg and test Malcolm’s luck with craps, they have acquired a third member of their group, Terry Roberts, an aspiring dancer, who becomes romantically involved with Steve. Continue reading →

Cracking Up [Jerry Lewis]

Cracking Up (1983) starring Jerry Lewis

Editorial review of Cracking Up courtesy of Amazon.com

Cracking Up is a crazy quilt of sight gags, one-liners, caricatures, slapstick and quirky vocal mannerisms. In short, it’s marvelous mayhem of the kind which has gained Jerry Lewis admirers the world over. Lewis plays a hapless misfit who seeks psychiatric help after bumbling a suicide attempt. Continue reading →

Sailor Beware

Sailor Beware (1952) starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

The description from Amazon.com reads: “Chasing pretty girls, blowing up a liferaft inside a submarine, virtually every sailor gag ever thought of, and a bunch of songs fill out this Martin and Lewis outing as a pair of sailors.”

That pretty much summarizes it pretty well. Effectively a series of skits or sketches around the theme of being in the Navy. Giving ample room for slapstick for Jerry Lewis, singing for Dean Martin, and comedic interaction between the two of them. Continue reading →

Scared Stiff

Scared Stiff (1953) starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lizbeth Scott, Carmen Miranda

Scared Stiff is a remake of the Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard comedy, The Ghost Breakers, with Dean Martin as Larry Todd, a singer who is falsely accused of murder (“You murdered a perfect stranger?” “Nobody’s perfect.”). He is on the run from the law, accompanied by his friend Myron M. Mertz (played by Jerry Lewis). On the lam, they run into Mary Caroll (Lizabeth Scott), who has inherited a haunted castle from her father, where the three of them go. Once there the “ghost” makes his appearance, Dean sings, Jerry does slapstick — including an imitation of their co-star, Carmen Miranda. Continue reading →

Funny Bones, starring Jerry Lewis

Editorial review of Funny Bones, courtesy of Amazon.com

Funny Bones, directed by Peter Chelsom (Hear My Song), is a weird but intriguing comedy with a particularly dark edge. Oliver Platt plays a would-be comedian, the son of a major comedy star (Jerry Lewis); Dad’s reputation even overshadows his son’s Las Vegas debut. After that flop the son tries to go back to his roots and heads for his father’s launch pad in Blackpool, England. There, he meets his previously unknown half-brother (Lee Evans), a bizarre comedy savant who teaches him a thing or two about taking risks to get laughs, and discovers a secret about how his father got started. Platt is likably lost and Lewis is perfectly overbearing, but the real find here is Evans, a rubber-faced, protean comic with always-surprising material. –Marshall Fine Continue reading →

Famous Clowns

The history of clowns and clowning

Posted in Jerry Lewis movies