Money from Home

Just watched this first color Martin & Lewis feature on YouTube. In this one, they're running afoul of some gangsters as they get involved with a certain horse those hoods don't want to win. The owner of that horse is a woman named Phyllis Leigh (Marjie Millar) who's in some financial trouble. Dean, of course, romances her. Jerry, who's sort of an animal lover, ends up falling for a female veterinarian named Dr. Autumn Claypool (Pat Crowley). Among the bad guys I alluded to are Jumbo Schneider (Sheldon Leonard) and one of his henchmen played by Richard Strauss in his third go-around in an M & L movie. Leonard, by the way, is another of the players from my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life-that has appeared with the boys during this period. He was also a recurring player from both the radio and television versions of "The Jack Benny Program" as was Frank Nelson who's the voice of an instructor on the radio who gives directions that causes Jerry into hilarious positions. Another familiar player to me that I enjoyed seeing was Richard Haydn, who I remember as Finchley in a "Twilight Zone" ep, as Edwin Carp on "The Dick Van Dyke Show", and as Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music, here playing the supposed jockey Bertie Searles. One more player I want to acknowledge is Bobby Barber, a court jester on Abbott & Costello sets who often made cameos in their pictures and TV shows, who also makes one here as a bald man in a restroom. In summary, this was the most hilarious of the M & L features I've seen yet and both Ms. Millar and Ms. Crowley made very appealing leading ladies for Dean and Jerry, respectively. If there were any creative flaws, I certainly didn't notice them so on that note, I highly recommend Money from Home.

I am a huge fan of Martin and Lewis and this is one of their best movies ever. The chemistry between them was phenomenal, and will always be remembered with nothing but the greatest respect from me. The other reason I liked it was the music in it, Dean had such a sexy voice and Jerry provided the comedy behind it. The color detail was superb, and the entire ensemble cast was really good. The horse in the movie did a really good job too, it amazes me the way they can train animals to do the things they do. I enjoyed the scenes Jerry had with all the animals he took care of, it was just fun. All in all, I recommend this movie to anyone who likes Martin and Lewis, it's a must see.

Money From Home was Martin&Lewis's first film in color and it is set during the Roaring Twenties and based on a Damon Runyon story from that era. With such character players as Sheldon Leonard, Robert Strauss, and Jack Kruschen playing Runyon's classic gambler creations of the era you know that at least that part of the film is more than satisfying.

Dean Martin always casts well as that type and seeing Money From Home was a painful reminder of what a shame it was that Dino never got to play Sky Masterson in a planned TV special that never got off the ground in the middle Sixties. What a perfect part that would have been for him. His part in this film is a Sky Masterson type, a smooth talking lady's man who is dispatched to Maryland to fix a steeplechase race either by persuading owner Marjie Miller to scratch the horse or by having his dopey cousin, veterinarian trainee Jerry Lewis dope the horse.

Money From Home never quite gets off the ground in terms of comedy. Jerry has been far funnier in other films both with Dean and one his own. The steeplechase race climax where Jerry substitutes for perpetually inebriated jockey Richard Haydn is lifted straight from the Marx Brothers classic A Day At The Races. As for Dean's singing he gets some truly forgettable numbers which he never recorded for Capitol records and he also sings I Only Have Eyes For You for which Paramount must have ponied some big bucks to Warner Brothers for the rights. Sad Dino never recorded that one because it fits him well.

Not the team's best effort.

One of my two favorite Martin & Lewis films (the other being Artists and Models), this one was originally released in 3-D. I had the pleasure of seeing it that way a few years ago at the first 3-D fest held at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, but the added depth really didn't make that much difference in being able to enjoy it.

Based on material by Damon Runyon (Guys & Dolls), much of it is typical Martin & Lewis fare, re-teaming them with heavy Robert Strauss and with Sheldon Leonard thrown into the mix for good measure. This may not be their absolute best, but it would be worth seeing if only for the scene that spoofs Cyrano de Bergerac to hilarious effect as Dean croons "I Only Have Eyes For You" before things go off the rails for Jerry.

Dean is in trouble. He owes money from gambling debts. (Why he doesn't pay off the debts by crooning those songs he's going to sing is a wonder). Jerry is an animal lover apprenticing with a vet. The mob as Dean to fix a horse they don't want to win. Dean is going to use Jerry to do this without telling him. Laughs ensue, there's two girls for the guy and a final race track scene that is up there with the great slapsticks of the Marx Bros, Chaplin etc