1h 35min | Comedy, Musical | 23 July 1954
Director: Norman Taurog
Stars: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Janet Leigh,
Nick Castle ... choreographer
Watched online, ok print, until the big dance sequence. Also see next paragraph about shortage on Soundtracks page.
Only 4 songs in the Soundtracks, but AFI lists 6:
"That's What I Like," "Ev'ry Street's a Boulevard in Old New York," "Champagne and Wedding Cake," "How Do You Speak to an Angel?" "You're Gonna Dance with Me Baby" and "Money Burns a Hole in My Pocket," music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Hilliard. (Bolded titles are not yet on IMDb, and I'm not willing to re-watch the film online (only 2x FFWD) to find them.) Hopefully I read through this paragraph before watching next time.
I wonder if I'm warming up to M&L; I sorta liked the last one, and I actually like this one. I was genuinely amused by the repeated gag of DM putting on his glasses to say something "serious" when the person listening can't see him. Then it gets embellished (not telling :-).
Remake of Nothing Sacred (1937). Cast comparison:
Dean Martin::Charles Winninger
Jerry Lewis::Carole Lombard
Janet Leigh::Fredric March
Fred Clark::Walter Connolly
Sig Ruman::Sig Ruman (yes, as Dr. Emil Eggelhoffer in both)
cause of supposed poisoning:
radiation::radium
The extra strange thing about my liking this film: I have always disliked its antecedent. And that one is lead by actors I like a lot. BTW, IMDb users disagree; they like '37 better, but the audience may not be the same for both films: '37: 7.3 with 5k+ ratings, '54: 6.8 with 1.1k+ ratings.
Another reason I like this one: the final musical number M&L perform together, JL is not interrupting, he's joining in both the singing and the dancing, which they've done before, but not for such a long number. He maintains the JL goofy voice, but sings with it sincerely, if that makes sense. (In later life, at the telethons, he sang with a completely straight voice.)
DM does some physical comedy on his own, and he's terrific.
The big dance number has JL "jitterbugging" with Sheree North, whose character name is her own. This is her only appearance in the film, and she's billed 6th. This is her 3rd film credit. In her next one, she costars with B.Grable and has 2nd billing.
Edith Head dressed JL, and she's got some gorgeous outfits for a reporter.
Paramount, dir. Taurog; 7
