O Filhinho de Papai

Eddie Mayehoff is great in the beginning and I actually think Jerry Lewis does some of his best acting as Junior! A good chunk of the humor in this movie is due to the irony of how the characters perceive themselves or are portrayed as compared to the reality. I just wish Dean Martin's character would have been better. I find his role in this movie to be disappointing. He is capable of much more.

Overall, I really enjoyed the first half or so, but was a little bored toward the middle/end. If you enjoy slower movies and want to see a good performance by both Eddie Mayehoff and Jerry Lewis, this is a good one.

"Gotta hit 'em low, hit 'em hard, and if they get up, hit 'em again. Gotta play GUTS football!" Poor Junior Jackson (Lewis) is the weak, uncoordinated, allergy-prone son of Jarring Jack Jackson, former Ridgeville football alum now trying to relive his collegiate days of glory through Junior. Studly Bill Baker (Martin) becomes the dorm-mate Jackson arranges to mentor Junior in football and other aspects of, uh, manhood. The plot is fairly predictable, but this is one hilarious movie about father-son relationships, college life, football, manhood, friendship, and girls (not in that particular order.) Martin & Lewis were never better together, along with a superb supporting cast. A classic comedy with heart.

I think it's a real shame that this movie has never been made available on tape or disc - it's hysterical!! Sure, not all of the hysterics are intentional (e.g., Dean Martin, who was 34 when this was made, and looking every year of it, playing a high school senior. The only thing missing from his prom scene are the smokes & martinis...although they're certainly present in spirit. Classic). They even allow Deano a couple of songs: the funny "Ball & a Jack" sequence is intercut with Lewis ineptly trying to match Martin's suave moves from the sidelines, but a backseat seranade of "I'm in the Mood for Love" is so out of place and arbitrary that it's priceless! Nonetheless, the comedy that was intended comes off quite well, especially the great Eddie Mayhoff ("How to Murder Your Wife") as Lewis's hilariously overbearing & macho father (unintended comedic moment II: Mayhoff doing pushups at the beginning of the film, proclaiming to be the epitome of health. He looks, however, to be in awful shape!). This film is certainly dated, but it really adds to its charm. Imagine a time when butter, pancakes and syrup were considered good for you (as is sleeping with your window open)! People didn't question the "correctness" of hunting. Doctors smoked. Men shaved with straight razors. College students didn't wear baseball caps and baggy pants. Dean Martin attends your high school!! It's all here! I must have gone through about 10 different copies of this over the years (it showed up quite often on the old "late, late movie" shows that used to be on network television. I always screwed up the commercial edits). AMC shows this sometimes, so check it out!

That's My Boy (1951)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Junior Jackson (Jerry Lewis) is a weak nerd who just happens to be the son of Jarring Jackson (Eddie Mayehoff) who was a star football player. The father knows his boy is a weak loser but he makes him get on a college football team and he pays for Bill Baker (Dean Martin) to go in hopes that he can turn his boy into a real man.

THAT'S MY BOY isn't the greatest comedy that you're going to see but there are enough good moments in it to make it worth watching. It's funny going through these Martin & Lewis comedies because their films were pretty much like several famous comedy duos before them. One film would deal with college. Another film might deal with Hollywood. Other subjects would include horror elements and of course they would feature both music and laughs. This film isn't among the better Martin & Lewis pictures but it's worth watching if you're a fan of theirs.

I think the highlight of the picture happens with the songs that Martin is allowed to do. Martin gets two different songs but "I'm in the Mood for Love" was certainly the best and also the highlight of the picture. As for Martin, that's pretty much all he has to do as his character doesn't appear that much in the film. He does get to do a drunken spill towards the end and of course he would master this later in his career. Lewis is pretty much what you'd expect as he plays that weak, dimwitted character like very few could. Ruth Hussey adds some nice support as does Polly Bergen and John McIntire in their small roles. Mayehoff is also very good in his role as the strong father.

THAT'S MY BOY doesn't contain enough laughs to make it what I'd consider a "good" movie but at the same time there's no question that fans of the duo will enjoy it.

This is another Martin & Lewis movie I watched on YouTube. In this one, Jerry plays the son of Eddie Mayehoff who is a former college football hero who's still reliving his glory days whenever he wakes up in the morning but his son isn't even close to being that good athletically. So this father asks fellow high school graduate-and football hero-Dean Martin to room with him so he can train him to play the game. I'll stop there and just say that with this one, the story takes more emphasis in order to naturally serve the comedy scenes when they gradually come with Lewis toning down his hyperactive shtick immensely making him a bit more sympathetic than before. Martin himself doesn't appear until maybe after 15 minutes and it takes a while before he teams with Lewis. But when the laughs come, they are truly earned by Lewis and occasionally Mayehoff whether together or separately. So on that note, That's My Boy is worth seeing. P.S. Not counting the My Friend Irma sequel, this movie marks the first time in M & L history that a leading lady from a previous one reappears with them in another one. And like her last stint in At War with the Army, Polly Bergen has another charming duet with Dean, this time on Ballin' the Jack. And it's nice to see a player from my favorite picture It's a Wonderful Life, Lillian Randolph, play another amusing servant character named May.