Product Description

This 4 disc set includes 8 movies - My Friend Irma, My Friend Irma Goes West, That's My Boy, Sailor Beware, Jumping Jacks, The Stooge, Scared Stiff, and The Caddy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17200 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2006-10-31
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: .65 pounds

Amazon.com
A nightclub act with a handsome singer and an anarchic monkey-boy became a potent box-office force in the early 1950s. Although their wild live antics never translated intact to the screen, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were an instant movie hit; they had two films in the box-office top ten of 1951, and another two in the top ten of 1952. Paramount repays this effort with its Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection, Volume One, which gathers most of their early efforts at the studio.

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

Customer Reviews

Can't Believe They Finally Did IT!!!!!
I have waited years upon years for them to put "That's My Boy" out on either DVD or VHS...and here it is! This is a great collection! Jumping Jacks, The Caddy, The Stooge, That's My Boy and a whole lot more. These are CLASSIC Martin and Lewis films and probably their best! That's My Boy is about a sniveling weakling (Lewis), born to a father who was All American...Mr Jock if you will. Dean Martin on the other hand is Mr All American, and he has a father who is a sniveling weakling. Well, Jerry's father wants to make a football pro out of Jerry and asks Dean to help him along. Lots of fun in this movie. Jerry playing football and even at practice is absolutly Hilarious. The hunting scene, where Jerry and his dad go to do some really manly things is a riot. A really great flick. Looking forward to the release.

A "handsome man and a monkey" finally make it to DVD!
Many, many fans (myself included, of course) have been awaiting the day that Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis would get their due in an official movie DVD collection...that day has finally arrived!
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. Finally, "The Caddy" is one of their best, a bright, snappy comedy which starts off on the right foot with the boys performing on stage.
It's about time Paramount acknowledged these boys' contribution to entertainment. Can't wait for Volume 2!

We Can All Sleep Easier Tonight
Paramount Pictures has wisely released the first half of the Martin and Lewis collection. This box set features some of their most memorable movies together. "The Caddy" is a fun romp that features Dean's timeless "That's Amore". "Jumping Jacks" and "Sailor Beware" are fun service pictures of which the world rarely sees today (services films that is, not these wonderful classics). The best is "That's My Boy" an amazing comedy drama.

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!