Irma va a Hollywood

Although this picture was made as a sequel to MY FRIEND IRMA it took on a life of its own because of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Martin & Lewis were virtual unknowns when they were featured in the first Irma, were still unknowns when Goes West was filmed. BUT... but... by the time this film was released the boys had become the hottest comedy team in American history. This film was a smash hit almost entirely because it featured Martin & Lewis. When the boys' next movie came out, At War with the Army, I remember me and my brother waited 2 1/2 hours at Loew's 2400 seat Palace theater in Washington, DC to get in. This was during the movies lean years when folks were staying home with their 7" Motorola b&w TV's. Odd to recently see VHS copies of that picture on sale at Safeway for 99 cents. OH... My Friend Irma Goes West was very funny!

This is a sequel to "My Friend Irma", though oddly it doesn't exactly pick up where it should. At the very end of the last film, Irma fell into a construction ditch on the way to the church to FINALLY marry Al. Now, when this second film begins, Al and Irma are still not married and there's no explanation as to why.

This film picks up where it began so far as Al (Dean Martin) and his singing career are concerned. He's still singing at small venues and even has a TV appearance--but it pays almost nothing. His problems seem over when a guy comes to the apartment and Jane (Diana Lynn) is able to negotiate a nice Hollywood contract. There's only one problem---the 'producer' is really an escaped mental patient and Al and his friends have no idea they are heading west with no job waiting.

As a result, they find themselves stuck on the way there. They are lucky enough to meet the very hot-to-trot Ms. Yvonne Yvonne--a stereotypical French actress. She offers to have Steve sing in Vegas at nightclub and their financial difficulties are over...for now. But, as Yvonne Yvonne definitely has the hots for Steve, what is Jane to do--especially since she and Steve are engaged?! Later, Al falls in with some illegal gamblers (no big surprise) and goes to work for them. However, while working in their crooked casino, Al's roulette table pays off big--but shouldn't have since the table was supposedly rigged. So, the gangsters decide to make Al and Irma pay. Can they be rescued and can Steve and Jane work out their problems and find happiness? Tune in and see in this modestly diverting film. Oddly, however, the comedic elements (Irma and Seymour) are among the least entertaining aspects of this comedy.

By the way, one thing I loved about this movie and "My Friend Irma" is that Al has no last name. Even when the police question him, he only uses the name Al--as does Irma who refers to herself as the "future Ms. Al". Cute.

Having just rewatched My Friend Irma on YouTube, I decided to finally watch the sequel on the same site. Once again, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis are once again shoehorned into the movie plot of characters originally based on a radio sitcom featuring Jane Stacy (Diana Lynn), her scatterbrained roommate Irma Peterson (Marie Wilson) and Irma's con artist boyfriend Al (John Lund). Martin & Lewis are once again singer Steve & partner Seymour and once again they do their nightclub act that, while hilarious, doesn't really have anything to do with the plot which takes them out of New York City to at least Las Vegas since the Hollywood offer from a "producer" turns out to be...oh, watch the movie to find out. There's also a French film actress named Yvonne Yvonne (Corinne Calvet) with a monkey in tow added. The former to challenge Steve's fidelity to Jane and the latter to provide Seymour some more funny business. What I haven't said of the plot gets even more contrived than previously and most of the last 15 minutes or so isn't as funny as the first hour. But the cast once again try their best, Dean's crooning is as swoon-worthy as ever, and Jerry, for the most part, gets plenty of moments to shine. So on that note, My Friend Irma Goes West is recommended.

The follow-up to 1949's my friend irma. Mostly the same cast. But in this one, martin and lewis do a bit with the orchestra. And when they head to hollywood to find success, they cross paths with a real shady gang of crooks. It's okay. Kind of goes all over the place. It's a journey, with lots of silliness, singing, and a mostly plausible story. Imdb tells us part of it was really filmed in las vegas. This one directed by hal walker.. had made a couple road films with bob hope and bing crosby. And was nominated for souls at sea! Irma had started as a character on the radio, and made the jump to film at just the right time.

The only thing this movie lacked was plot and humor, which both started out promising. The plot was slow. The songs were slow and not as catchy as in the first movie. And Dean Martin was not the cowboy type. The transition between "My Friend Irma" and "My Friend Irma Goes West" was not smooth. I thought they got married in the end of the first movie, and what happened to all the money Irma won? I was very disappointed with Jerry Lewis' performance, he was just goofy in this movie, not very funny. When Martin and Lewis were together it seemed more like an act, separated from the main plot. It was a cute movie but lacked the charm of the first movie. If your going to see one, see "My Friend Irma"!