C'est pas une vie, Jerry!

In 1937, William Wellman directed a classic screenplay by Ben Hecht called "Nothing Sacred". This film has become a screwball comedy classic. Doctor Charles Winninger wrongly diagnoses patient Carole Lombard telling her that she has radiation poisoning. New York journalist Frederic March finds out about this and brings Lombard and Winninger to New York as a publicity stunt. March later discovers that Lombard is not going to die, but this does not matter to him; he has fallen in love with her.

Now in the early 1950s, this movie was turned into a Broadway musical called "Hazel Flagg". The score was written by Jule Styne ("Anchors Away", "High Button Shoes", "Gentleman Prefer Blondes", "Gypsy", "Funny Girl") and Bob Hilliard (a Brill Building lyricist). The show was semi-successful, so Paramount decided to use it as a basis for a Martin and Lewis comedy.

Dean is the skirt chasing, incompetent doctor. Jerry is the patient, becoming "Homer Flagg". March's role is given over to Janet Leigh and she falls for Dean. Some of the Broadway song are used: "How Do You Speak to an Angel", "Every Street's a Boulevard", "You're Gonna Dance with Me". Styne and Hilliard also wrote a batch of new songs for Dean and Jerry. In fact, Dean and Jerry handle all of the musical numbers.

Now the movies never really captured the essence of Martin and Lewis. That is only available through kinescopes of their "Colgate Comedy Hour" and a bootleg film of a show at the Copa. The tension between the relaxed crooner-comic (Martin) being upstaged by his ambitious partner with a schizoid personality (sometimes silly juvenile, sometimes savvy show biz comic) is seen in these shows. It is truly fascinating and brings a depth to the partnership of Martin and Lewis that no other comedy team has ever had.

In the movies, Dean was cast as a heel who is reformed by the end of the movie by his partner and his leading lady. Jerry is a magical sprite; he appears to be inept and clumsy, but he is way ahead of every other character in the film. While some of this is seen in "Living It Up", it is blatantly true of "Jumping Jacks". Both Dean and Jerry are full service entertainers. They are funny, the can sing, they can dance, and they can act. The shame of it all is that they broke up before they had really hit their stride. Just imagine films featuring Dean's drunk, sex maniac character which appeared very shortly after the breakup and Jerry's mature schizoid "I'm a famous movie star" clown.

As for "Living It Up", it is a musical comedy which can be viewed again and again. The story is great, the songs are tuneful, and the gags are fast and funny.

Homer Flagg is an inept stationmaster in New Mexico, he mistakenly believes he has contracted radium poisoning. A reporter for the New York Chronicle, Wally Cooper, heads out west to write his story, but before she arrives, Homer finds out that he in fact isn't dying, but along with his devious doctor they decide to accept Cooper's offer of an all expenses paid trip to the Big Apple. Here in New York everyone takes Homer to their hearts, so the guys have to keep up the pretence that Homer is not long for this world, something that will be hard to do in light of Homer's complete ineptitude.

As Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis vehicles go, this is one of the better offerings, it's basically a reworking of the 1937 William Wellman picture, Nothing Sacred. Lots of fun to be had as Martin & Lewis continue the formula that made them so appealing to the movie watching masses back in the 50s. A bonus here is the bright as a button performance from Janet Leigh, not only turning Dean Martin's { Dr Steve} head, but also the audience with an enjoyable slot into this comedy tale. As usual Jerry acts the goof whilst Dean sings and swaggers, and as usual a Martin & Lewis film is only as good as it's comedy set pieces, here they come up trumps with one sequence during a jitterbug contest particularly entertaining. It all comes together during a typically hilarious finale to leave us with a rewarding film from a very rewarding double act. 7/10

I saw this film in Albany, NY while taking a 40' yacht up the Hudson River from New York City. I thought it was very funny. coincidently, I was with the songwriter, Bob Hilliard and his wife Jackie, the night before I left New York. Also, Albany is mentioned in the movie and the Albany audience went wild. I had to take a boat and a bus to Albany to experience this. In the first comment about this film, the writer refers to Bob Hilliard as a "Brill Building Writer." Most writers and musicians worked out of that building in the forties and fifties. Bob wrote a number of hits, including; "Our Day Will Come" "Moonlight Gambler" "Be My Life's Companion" "Money Burns A hole In My Pocket" "In the Wee small Hours of the Morning", and many more. I don't think he should be dismissed as just a "Brill Building Song Writer." You can read more about Bob and see a list of all of his songs by running a search for "Bob Hilliard" in one of the major search engines. There is a website with stories and a list of all of his songs.

I've seen this movie many times over the last 40 years and I noticed that during the scene where they're bringing all the food "Homer" ordered to the suite, the first waiter to enter the room is Rodney Dangerfield. Unfortunately, he is not listed in the credits and I have submitted this to the IMDb database managers. I'd like someone else to look closely at that scene to make sure I'm not crazy. I know that to add the credit they need some concrete evidence, like a cast list or contract or anecdotal evidence from Rodney himself, who is no longer with us, but I'm pretty sure it's him.

As for the film, overall, it's a typical silly Martin/Lewis film. Full of Jerry's mugging and Dean's singing and charm. Some good gags, especially the light bulb bombing of Fred Clark.

I give it a 7 of 10.

The strange appeal of the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis can perhaps best be understood in this movie, arguably the least off-putting (to scores of people who cannot abide Lewis) of the 17 films the guys made together. Almost all their films contained music, and Martin was a successful singer in his own right. Here he gets to sing "How Do You Speak to an Angel," and "Ev'ry Street's a Boulevard in Old New York" (with Lewis), songs that were already known from the Broadway show on which it is based, "Hazel Flagg." If you want to sample Martin and Lewis, this is arguably the team at its best.