Hollywood o morte!

Malcolm Smith (Jerry Lewis) wins a car in a lottery but degenerate gambler Steve Wiley (Dean Martin) scams the contest with a counterfeit ticket. Malcolm is a dedicated fan of famed actress Anita Ekberg driving across the country to Hollywood. Steve pretends to be her neighbor and joins him on the drive. Steve fails to steal the car and they lose it to an armed old lady. They get the car back and pick up aspiring dancer Terry Roberts on her way to Vegas.

This is the final movie for this legendary pairing. Things got so bad that the guys barely conversed off screen. They are still very professional in their performances. I'm sure their split affected the critical reception at the time. This has the broad comedy and song singing that one expects from this duo. It is not that offensive except for the native stopover and various old fashion stuff. Much of it is a picturesque travelogue. It is not the deepest of movies but one wouldn't expect one here.

Having spent the last two or so weeks watching Martin & Lewis movies in chronological order on YouTube, I just finished their very last one on the same site. Once again, a couple of female players from their previous ones have appeared here: Pat Crowley, previously Jerry's girl in Money from Home, is now Dean's here though she initially plays hard to get. And Anita Ekberg, who was a model in Artists and Models, plays herself as the movie star Jerry has a massive crush on. Since this is directed by Frank Tashlin, expect plenty of well-endowed women in view, particularly when Dean and Jerry are watching the views of various farming countrysides on the road. Oh, and there's also a dog named Mr. Bascomb in tow to add to the hilarious comedy that's almost nonstop throughout. Watching this, you wouldn't know that Martin & Lewis weren't talking to each other off-set and that they would break up the act for good. Maybe it's just as well as they both would continue to have success solo (Jerry) and with others (Dean). I've had the best time seeing them grow as performers during this time and I'm looking forward to watching what I can of their subsequent films separate from each other. So on that note, I highly recommend Hollywood or Bust. P.S. While the IMDb cast list doesn't identify him, I swear the guy who announces the winning car ticket that Dean & Jerry claim is Harold Peary, best known to me as The Great Gildersleeve on radio, especially when he enunciates certain words. And I immediately recognized when they went through my birthtown of Chicago, Ill., by the Prudential building.

Dean Martin plays Steve Wiley, a gambler with bad debts and Jerry Lewis is Malcolm Smith, a huge movie lover who wants to go to Hollywood to meet Anita Ekberg.And then there is a car raffle where Steve wins a car with a fake ticket and Malcolm wins it with a real one.So they're both off to Hollywood with Malcolm's dog Great Dane and Terry Roberts (Pat Crowley), a girl they meet along the way.A very pretty lady, if I may add.By the way, Dean Martin's daughters Claudia, Deana and Gail can be seen in the movie.Frank Tashlin's Hollywood or Bust (1956) is a good and funny comedy which offers you some good laughs.One good and funny scene is where Jerry sings the song of the dog food commercial and then there's of course the one where the dog goes for a ride with the car.A dog behind the wheel is always funny.This was the last movie Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis did together.There were personal conflicts that ended the relationship.They were such a hilarious duo and they did lots of great films together.But as you know,nothing lasts forever.Luckily they didn't stay as enemies forever.In 1976 Frank Sinatra reunited them on stage and they stayed as friends till Dean's death in 1995.While making this film there was lots of anger between them but you can hardly see it.This isn't all time best of Martin and Lewis but it's very enjoyable anyway.Jerry Lewis has said he hasn't seen Hollywood or Bust because it's much too painful for him to watch.Good movie, bad memories.

Though according to the Nick Tosches biography of Dean Martin, both Martin and Lewis were barely speaking to each other off camera, the two of them did go out on a good note in Hollywood Or Bust.

In fact the antagonism between them probably helped in a way. The plot calls for Martin to be a gambler into a bookie big time. But he's got a scheme whereby he cheats a lottery and wins a new car. The problem is that Lewis, playing his usual schnook, also has a winning ticket, the real one. Car dealer Willard Waterman gives joint ownership of the car to them.

Martin takes the offer thinking he can dump Lewis and still sell the car to cover his losses. But Lewis wants the car to meet his dream girl Anita Ekberg playing herself.

Two other passengers come along on this New York to Hollywood trip, aspiring showgirl Pat Crowley and Lewis's great Dane, Mr. Bascomb. The gags involving the dog were taken straight from the WC Fields classic, Six of a Kind. That's certainly in keeping with the Paramount tradition of having Martin and Lewis remake some of their classics. The great Dane foiled Dino's schemes and caused quite the ruckus.

A very hot song writing team of the period, Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, wrote the score for Hollywood Or Bust. They won two Oscars in the Fifties for Secret Love and Love Is A Many Splendored Thing. One of Dino's best ballads comes from this score, It Looks Like Love. His Capitol Record is a classic.

Because of the antagonism the two were feeling in real life, the scenes were sharp between Dean and Jerry. Lewis in fact told one and all this would be the team's last joint effort.

And in Hollywood, they did indeed bust, but they busted with style.

I caught this on YouTube soon after the great Jerry Lewis passed away. I always love to read the "backstories" about films, so I read about it in Wikipedia and IMDb before I watched it. This was the comedy team's final film, and the two barely spoke to each other off camera during the shoot. You can't tell that from the finished film, because the chemistry between the two is there. Because the version I saw on YouTube turned off the audio whenever there was a song (for music copyright reasons), I can't comment on the music, but I am sure that it was good. Enjoyable, frothy comedy.