Days 3 and 4 - Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis

I've had an unusually busy week so far, and my belated blogging is evidence of that.  So I decided to do two posts at once today. 

I first started watching the old Martin & Lewis comedies back in high school.  I had been a long time fan of Frank Sinatra by that point, and from Frank I started listening to the Rat Pack, which led to Dean Martin, which led to Martin & Lewis.  Most people today do not know about this comedy team, as I mentioned in an earlier post.  However, Martin and Lewis left their mark on the entertainment world - first as a team and then as individuals.   

"Side by Side"
Dean Martin was playing the nightclub scene as a crooner when he crossed paths with new comic Jerry Lewis.  The two hit it off and soon started performing together, hoping to get the best of both worlds - fans of crooners and fans of stand-ups.  They went on to perform for larger and larger audiences, scored some radio appearances and broke into film in 1949 with My Friend Irma.  They would go on to make 15 films together and ended a ten-year partnership with a much-publicized break-up in 1956.  These were the guys who stopped traffic in Times Square - one of the biggest and most successful partnerships in entertainment history.

But let me tell you the truth - they were just as good apart as they were together.  I often describe their teamwork skills by describing how each of them worked.  In their act, Dean was the smooth crooner and ladies' man who also stood as Jerry's straight man.  Jerry, in contrast, was the bumbling, zany comedian.  I don't know who actually wrote the jokes of if they worked on them together, but their sense of timing is impeccable.  I'm watching their appearances on the old Colgate Comedy Hour (1950 - 1955) right now, and in the era of live television, their timing is even more impressive.  However, when they flub a line, they are both quick enough on their feet to just go with it - something I fear a lot of actors today can't do. 

I've already written about The Caddy in my other Martin and Lewis post, so here are some of their other movies: My Friend Irma (1949) is a wonderful old-fashioned comedy of romance.  Dean has some of his best songs on film in this picture, including "Here's to Love."  I also really enjoyed their movie Scared Stiff (1953).  It has some of the best lines from Dean, like "Don't give me away, please!  Someday you may have a little boy and he'll grow up and commit an innocent murder too!" and "I'm just dropping a few eaves." Hollywood or Bust (1956) is fun too, but the last one that the team made and the relationship isn't as easygoing as in the earlier films. 

Martin and Lewis are part of the many successful comedy teams in entertainment history and one of the best of the crooner-comedian acts.  But in 1956 artistic (and probably personality) reasons caused the guys to go through a sort of divorce and cut all ties.  It was highly publicized and caused a lot of uproar, but the guys pretty much kept their opinions mostly to themselves.   

Dean & Jerry appearing on the Colgate Comedy Hour singing their famous duet "Side by Side"

Dean Martin

Dean's career had launched before Jerry because of his great voice, and after the split, that kept him employed.  Dean managed to score some more film roles where he took a turn for more serious acting.  Watch how great he is in the character study Some Came Running (1958) and his dead-on performance as a recovering alcoholic in Rio Bravo (1959).  Some people would say Frank Sinatra helped revive his pal's career, but when you watch how good his acting is in these pictures, you realize he didn't need any help.  In 1960, he teamed up with Judy Holliday in Bells Are Ringing, one of my favorite musicals.  His character, Jeffrey Moss, is part of a writing team that recently broke up and now he's too afraid to go out on his own for fear that everyone will say his partner was the one with all the talent.  It hits a bit close to home at first glance, but knowing Dean's cool demeanor and enormous amount of talent, I seriously doubt he ever struggled so much with his confidence.

What I love about Dean Martin is that he always came off as the star who never cared if he was a star.  He certainly didn't crave all the attention that Jerry did.  In his time with the Rat Pack in Vegas, Dean was the one who drank apple juice on stage and read comic books in his hotel room instead of staying up partying.  One of my favorite Dean Martin stories is when he and his wife threw a party at their Beverly Hills home one night.  It was getting late and Dean disappeared from the group.  A while later the police showed up, saying they had gotten a call about disturbing the peace and broke up the party.  Frank Sinatra, a guest, went looking for Dean and said "Dean, the cops are here breaking up the party!  Who could have called - the whole neighborhood's here!"  To which Dean said calmly, "I called.  I'm tired and want to go to bed."  That's the Dean Martin I adore. 

Dean's career would expand when he began hosting the weekly Dean Martin Variety Show in 1965.  It was a great, great show and set the standard for all the ones that followed.  Dean's likeability and friendliness allowed him to invite all his Hollywood buddies to make appearances.  Can you really imagine anyone else in Hollywood getting John Wayne to lip-sync a song on your show or coaxing Jimmy Stewart to do an impression of Bette Davis?  Heck, even Governor Ronald Reagan wanted in on the act.  I think what speaks volumes about Dean Martin though is his enduring presence and ability to entertain legions of fans across generations.  Even though he is gone, so many people today are finding out who he was and falling in love with that Italian crooner's charm.  You know, when the Beatles came to America and everyone thought that the old crooners would be finished in the wake of rock and roll, there was a great moment.  After a few years of holding the #1 record on all the charts in America, the Beatles were ousted - not by Elvis, not by a young rock star, but by a tried and true saloon singer.  Dean Martin came back to wow everyone with his new version of "Everybody Loves Somebody."  It's true, everybody does love somebody sometime, and all the world loved Dean Martin.

Jerry Lewis

There has been a lot written about Jerry Lewis' contributions to film and television after his split with Dean.  He went on to become very famous in his own crazy comedies, becoming a box office draw in the late fifties.  But his popularity really took off overseas, particularly in France, where his brand of humor seemed to strike home.  He was even given the Legion of Honor despite not speaking a word of French.  Jerry's antics are quite painful to watch and his falsetto voice often grates on the ears.  Personally I had trouble watching him when he didn't have Dean to temper his insanity.  But Jerry went on to direct and set up his own film company.  He even taught a film class where Steven Spielberg was his student (who knew?).

Another turnoff about Jerry is his intolerable grabs for attention and downright thoughtless remarks (like saying a woman can't be believed once a month because her period makes her stop thinking).  However - and I say this very strongly - for all that he has said and done, Jerry was one of the first advocates for research into muscular dystrophy and went on to become the spokesman and national chair of the MDA.  His efforts are so well known through his Labor Day telethon, where he has helped raise over $2 billion.  Today I read that for the first time in something like 40 years, Jerry will not be a part of the MDA's telethon.  I don't know if it is his health or other factors, but he will be missed.  One of my good friends in college, Ian, had a form of muscular dystrophy and had been helped a lot by MDA and enjoyed their summer camp program.  Not long after we had first met, I mentioned I was a fan of the old Martin & Lewis films and lamented the fact that no one of our generation knew who they were.  Ian smiled and said "I know who they are.  I'm one of Jerry's Kids."  We bonded right then and there.  To this day I can't watch anything of Jerry's without missing Ian, and for all of Jerry's faults and outrageously tact-less comments (to put it kindly), he will always have the thanks and admiration of millions.      

I could write a lot more about each of these guys and about their work together.  They separated in 1956, but were reunited on the national MDA telethon in 1976 as a surprise arranged by Frank Sinatra.  And as they managed to bring smiles to not only their fans, but to children like Ian, I'll end with another Martin and Lewis song, "We hope to get you merry-like / Get Dean-and-Jerry-like / We hope we'll get your long face lost!"