Parachutiste malgré lui

Jumping Jacks though early in the careers of Martin and Lewis personified and solidified the act as comedians. Though it was relatively the end of their comedy team, this movie only proved they had more fun and slap stick to come. Fantastic laugh a minute movie with a few Martin songs which are equally as good. If you have never seen a Martin and Lewis movie this is the one to see.

"Jumping Jacks" is an okay time killer. It has a few laughs and a few smiles but nothing very memorable. I enjoy Jerry Lewis (I saw him perform at Westbury (NY) Music Fair when he was ninety years old. It was a fun show.) and Dean Martin. But I enjoy them separately. As team, at least in their movies, they also fall flat with me. "Jumping Jacks" is better than their other movies but that's not saying much. "Jumping Jacks" has a good story and the supporting cast is likeable. It does have some funny moments but from some reason the movie started to feel long. And then it felt even longer. It should have been fifteen minutes shorter.

Very unrealistic and a bad outing for Martin and Lewis. A couple of funny scenes but plot makes no sense. What kind of a show can be put on in military compound that looks like a Broadway show with a "stage" thats goes on and on. No way could that first musical number fit on a real stage. And the impersonation of a Paratrooper by Lewis is inane. Martin meets Mona Freeman and in one scene they're in love and want to get married.!!!! Fantasy pure and simple although its all meant to be REAL. Stupid, stupid stupid.

It's a great sorrow and continual grief in my heart to say this picture was miles away from the best pictures of the remarkable duo Lewis and Martin, sadly I have to confess even I'm a big fan of Jerry Lewis, it disappointed me entirely, the plot is unplugged and complex, nothing making sense at all, Dino singing along the movie is worst on those old fashionable and awful songs, even on those fancy sets, not enough romance allowed, just few scenes with Mona Freeman, they concentrated forces on military exercises and parachutes jumps, a sort of Army propaganda, has a minimal funny scenes which can be counted on the fingers of a single hand, the few number of votes at IMDB and rare reviews can justify such veracity, also almost all movies from Jerry Lewis were dubbed in Brazil and curiously it wasn't, why?? It's too easy explainable, the picture wasn't enough good!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.

Starting in 1949 and through the early 1950s, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made 16 films together. Their match-up is the familiar one of comedy teams. A straight man, who often gets the gal, and a goof-up, klutz or clown. So, we had had Laurel and Hardy, Crosby and Hope, and Martin and Lewis.

This is one of the earlier Martin-Lewis comedies. As with most of their films, Dean's singing and their comedy routines play in the plot. So, we get a little singing and dancing along with a wacky story of sorts. After Chick (Martin) goes in the Army, Hap Smith (Lewis) finds himself a female partner for a new show. But before they can get launched in the big time, Chick calls for help that only Hap can provide. So, he sneaks on base to help with a show for the troops.

Well, it's not hard to imagine what happens from there on. The base is a fictitious one, of course, but for this one Paramount did some film shooting at Ft. Benning, GA, and the Army parachute school.

While this and similar films still bring a chuckle here and there, they don't seem as funny as they must have been to audiences in the mid- 20th century. I remember watching these in theaters as a youngster. Slapstick can still be good and very funny, but I think the comedy with actors completely changing their voices was a phase from that period that hasn't lasted.

This film is OK for some laughs and the music and comedy. The rest of the cast provide nice support for the two leads.