Who's yer li'l whozit? One of Dean & Jerry's best.
When Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis first played the nightclubs, they became the hottest act, bar none. When they graduated to films, they took the world by storm. They were arguably the last of the great comedy teams (following Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, etc.). But that partnership had its moments of tension & personality clashes that ultimately brought an end to their teamwork. "The Stooge" certainly mirrors that real-life partnership/friendship in its storyline.
Dean plays Bill Miller, a struggling vaudeville entertainer hungry for good material & genuine success. In desperation, he agrees to hire a "stooge"--a guy "planted" in the audience as comedy relief--in the form of goofy but well-meaning Ted Rogers (Lewis). Chemistry is established & soon after, Miller's act rockets to popularity, but soon enters the conflict: Miller's stubborn ego & his unwillingness to give Rogers equal billing & credit for the success. Which leads to the climactic stage scene, where Miller apologizes to his audience & admits that without Rogers, it's only half an act.
As usual, Lewis gives some classic comedy moments--the early diner scene which he enrages the propietor by eating his own lunch (handily producing a hard-boiled egg, a salt-shaker & a tea bag from his pockets), therefore not paying a dime & just taking up space; the several stage act scenes which are such stellar examples of why Martin & Lewis were such a great comedy team; Lewis' courtship with "Freckles", an admirer; and the train scene, with Lewis' hilarious battle over a portable sink & trying to sleep in an upper bunk.
But the big surprises are the moments of pathos & drama. The scene where a drunken Miller tells Rogers to go away & that he can do the act solo is well-played by the two of them, and Miller's apology to the audience hints at Martin's ability to handle heart-rending moments (note how he fidgets thru this scene). Miller's egomaniacal ways which put him at odds with his wife & manager (and eventually Rogers) throughout the film are done well, and could have easily been over-played & corny, thanks to Norman Taurog's direction.
So if you're already a fan of the boys or new to them, this is a good film to start at.
And by the way: When are they going to release on DVD all the OTHER Martin & Lewis comedies, such as "the Caddy", "Artists & Models", "Sailor Beware", etc.? They are LONG overdue!! And PLEASE..STOP re-releasing "AT War With the Army" over & over again! ENOUGH!
Jerry Lewis Breaks into Showbiz
I generally enjoy most of the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis movies. I find them to be consistently funny. Jerry Lewis is a master of physical comedy and his silliness, when used effectively, created excellent comedy. This movie may be a bit less than the best created by the Martin-Lewis team, but it is still very funny and nearly ranks with their best.
Dean Martin plays struggling comedian Bill Miller. Miller hires Ted Rogers (Lewis) to be a heckler in the audience, hoping to get laughs in the process. The result is beyond Bill's expectations. Ted is a natural comedian and gets laughs wherever he goes. However, self-centered Miller believes he is the star of the show and does not need Ted. Ted shows incredible loyalty to Miller regardless of how poorly Miller treats him.
As Bill's fame rises, and he continues to treat Ted as a nobody, Bill's wife Mary Turner (lovely Polly Bergen) becomes increasingly upset with Bill, wanting Bill to share the glory. Similarly, Ted's girl friend Genevieve "Frecklehead" Tait (Marion Marshall) becomes angry with Ted for allowing Bill to take advantage of him.
Eventually everything works out for the best, but not before we are treated to a series of jokes and slapstick comedy that will have you laughing from the beginning of this movie to the end.
The Martin and Lewis Collection???
While I applaud Paramount's decision to finally start releasing some of their older titles, I have to wonder how serious they are when they release only one disc from one of their most successful comedy teams' films, at the same time they're dumping most of the Jerry Lewis catalogue on the market.(And I'm not ragging on Jerry. I think Jerry's great,though it may not be cool to admit it, I'm proudly out of the closet on this issue. But even Jerry admits that he was never as good as when he was with Dean) So the question is how do you have a Martin & Lewis "Collection" with only one movie?
Don't get me wrong, it's a good one. The Stooge is their 7th outing and, unlike the previous films, has some character development and a certain edge. Dino plays Bill Miller a Vaudeville Entertainer whose partner has just quit on him. After an abortive attempt at a solo act, his agent (the dependable Eddy Mayehoff)convinces him to find a patsy to plant in the Audience that Bill can mock. Enter Jerry as the titular Stooge also known as Ted Rogers. Turns out Ted is funny just being himself and the Act is a Smash. But Bill is something of an egomaniac and decides that he himself is responsible for his new found success, and refuses to acknowledge Ted's contribution, or even give him billing. In the end Bill gets a lesson in humility, and we get treated to something that looks a lot like what the Martin and Lewis famous nightclub act may have been. All too brief...
Dino doesn't try to be likable, and gives a performance with hints of the fine dramatic actor he would become. Jerry cements the nebbish, but gives him humanity this time. Polly Bergen is fine as Bill's Show Biz Wife, who has given up her own career. She and Dean do a nice duet on the pleasant but annoying "A Girl called Mary". The other song that will never leave your brain ,once you hear it, is "Who's yer little Whozits". I recommend humming "Lady of Spain" or "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". If those don't work, try a .45.
Back to the issue at hand, there are dozens of public domain versions of "At War with the Army" out there. But where are
My Friend Irma
My Friend Irma Goes West
That's My Boy
Sailor Beware
Jumping Jacks
Scared Stiff
The Caddy
Money From Home
Three Ring Circus
Living it Up
Artists and Models
You're Never Too Young
Pardners
and Hollywood or Bust?
Universal put out the 24 Abbott and Costello Films in three sets for reasonable prices. Hope and Crosby are out for a similar price. The Marx Bros., W.C. Fields all have collections coming out for affordable cost. So why not Martin & Lewis? I'm just askin'. And by the way, just who is yer little whozits?
This is required viewing since it is Martin and Lewis' first movie. As a comedy, it's not that great. It's not very funny, there's a lot of time wasted on generic dialog, and Dean's character isn't likeable since he mostly shouts, bullies, womanizes, and lies throughout. The movie is based on a play and it seems that some portions that may have played well in a live setting don't work on the screen. I can't be too sure since I don't know what is new to this movie and didn't appear in the play, or what did work in 1950 but doesn't work in 2005.
I got a good nostalgic feeling watching the movie. It gave me a feeling of sitting in a playhouse in 1940 with that era of audience and laughing at silly running gags like the half open door. Now that the bar has been raised so many... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Dean Martin - Jerry Lewis Director(s): Hal Walker DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The team of Jerry Lewis and director Frank Tashlin (The Geisha Boy) were at the peak of their hit-making prowess with Cinderfella, a klutzy take on the fairy tale. Jerry is the stepson in a snooty family, dominated by wicked stepmother Judith Anderson and lounge-lizard brothers Henry Silva and Robert Hutton. Fairy godfather Ed Wynn turns up one day, not only promising "Fella" a happy-ever-after but basically accusing the old fairy tale of ruining the lives of countless married couples by raising unrealistic expectations of Prince Charmings in every home. (Tashlin always had a nose for psychoanalytic explanations along with the pratfalls.) The movie's very slow--especially whenever Ed Wynn is around--and has a strange taste for "interior monologue" songs, emphasizing the... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Frank Tashlin DVD Release Date: Released the 12 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The hugely successful collaboration between Jerry Lewis and director Frank Tashlin (including Artists and Models and The Geisha Boy) came to an end with this knockabout hospital comedy, which contains a raft of Tashlin's patented sight gags. Jerry plays an orderly with a strange fixation on a depressed patient (Susan Oliver), but the point of the movie is watching Lewis wrestle with laundry bags or contorting with agony as he empathizes with the intestinal maladies of patients. This is one of Lewis's funniest movies for babbling, too ("Oh, friction--burning"). Meanwhile, Tashlin brings his cartoon sensibility to freestanding bits, such as the montage of wind chimes that ends with a skeleton chattering in the breeze, or the inordinately loud crunch of an apple in a hospital... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Frank Tashlin DVD Release Date: Released the 12 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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When this movie came out in 1961, Jerry Lewis deliver a humorous look into what really happens in Hollywood. 44 years later it is still relevent today as it was then. Lots of surprises in this movie including the music of Count Basie in the classic boardroom scene with Lewis mouthing off to the music. I enjoyed Lewis' work in this movie!! More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jerry Lewis DVD Release Date: Released the 12 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Jerry Lewis was at the height of his popularity when he took his first directing credit, on The Bellboy, which turned out to be a huge hit and one of his funniest movies. But it wasn't business as usual: The Bellboy has no storyline, and the central character (a bellhop at the fantastically ornate Fountainebleau Hotel in Miami) executes his role essentially without speaking. Some of the gags are duds or dated, but the good ones are great: Jerry's anxious stroll across a cavernous, empty ballroom, and a small masterpiece involving four telephones at a reception desk. There's also a hilarious sequence in which the movie star "Jerry Lewis" comes to the hotel, which gives Lewis a chance to speak ("Stop with the brushing!"). The Bellboy is very short at 71 minutes, but... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jerry Lewis Director(s): Jerry Lewis DVD Release Date: Released the 12 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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