Una herencia de miedo

Paramount once again rehashes another of their old hits for Martin and Lewis in Scared Stiff. In one respect Scared Stiff is an improvement over The Ghostbreakers that starred Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard back in the day. At least in this one Willie Best is not playing a horrible racial stereotype.

Other than that and to accommodate Best's role for Jerry Lewis and Hope's role for Dean Martin, it's not too much different from The Ghostbreakers. I have no doubt that producer Hal Wallis dug some of the old Paramount sets for the original out of mothballs for this one. The castle where the last twenty minutes are played looks way too much like the first film to be a duplicate.

Dino got shortchanged in the vocal department, the original songs by Mack David and Jerry Livingston yielded no hits for him. Jerry does a homage to Carmen Miranda who was around on the set to see it. This film marked her farewell screen appearance and I give her credit in that she doesn't let Martin and Lewis upstage her one bit.

Dorothy Malone had a small role as a chorus cutie and favorite of gangster Leonard Strong who was the reason why Dean and Jerry were fleeing to Cuba and got mixed up in Lizabeth Scott's troubles. Malone mentioned that she had recently lost a brother and that Dean personally asked she be cast in the part and helped her through the film. She always remembered his kindness. She also said that Dean and Jerry seemed to be quite cool to each other and the eventual breakup was no surprise to her.

The boys were lucky to have George Marshall who had directed The Ghostbreakers back in the day to also direct this one. If you liked the Bob Hope film, you'll probably like this one.

It even has an unbilled appearance of Bob Hope with another guy who sang a few songs for Paramount back in the day.

Scared Stiff (1953)

** (out of 4)

Nightclub singer Larry Todd (Dean Martin) and busboy Myron Mertz (Jerry Lewis) find themselves being hunted down by a gangster after they witnessed a murder. With the help of Mary (Lizaebth Scott) the two are able to get on board a cruise ship where they land in Cuba and before long they're in a haunted house.

Every comedy duo, at some point in their career, had to face horror elements. Laurel and Hardy. Abbott and Costello. Dean and Martin got their chance here in this remake of the 1940 Bob Hope film THE GHOST BREAKERS. For my money this isn't a very good movie and I thought it fell well short of that 1940 movie on a variety of levels but the biggest is the fact that there's really no story here.

We're basically introduced to the two men, we see them get in trouble with the gangsters, there's a romance between Martin and Scott and then we get to the horror elements. The problem is that the lack of story means that the 107-minute running time really drags to the point where I was bored out of my mind. Even worse is the fact that the story was so weak that it wouldn't have supported a sixty-minute movie from Monogram let alone something this long. For the life of me I couldn't understand why we were a hour into the picture and there still wasn't really anything going on.

As far as Martin and Lewis go, both are in fine shape playing the type of characters they were well familiar with. Lewis is that obnoxious clown who can't get out of trouble and often finds himself turning one bad situation into something worst. Martin gets to sing a couple numbers and do his romance thing and for the most part he's one of the highlights of the film. As for Scott, I personally found her to be a bit too bland in the part and there just wasn't any spark between her and Martin. There's a great cameo at the end but I won't spoil it for people.

SCARED STIFF is a pretty bland movie that has a few funny moments but certainly not enough to keep the running time from dragging on and on.

First of all, if you're considering watching a Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis picture, you must be aware of the fact that it is mainly slapstick comedy. If you can't laugh at a drunk guy slapping Jerry Lewis in the face, then this movie isn't for you.

With that being said, this movie has an interesting story line. Lewis and Martin are friends and when Martin gets in trouble with Shorty, a mob-type guy, Lewis goes to defend him. This leads to an accidental shooting that Martin gets blamed for and when he goes to hide, he meets Mary, who inherited a haunted island from her father. Martin and Lewis end up going with Mary and figure out the mystery of Lost Island.

Although the plot jumps around a lot, watching Martin and Lewis is always enjoyable and there are many funny situations in this movie. If you're a fan of slapstick, this movie is for you.

Cool nightclub singer Larry Todd (Dean Martin) and bumbling busboy friend Myron Mertz (Jerry Lewis) are on the run from the mob and the police. Heiress Mary Carrroll (Lizabeth Scott) helps them escape to Cuba where she had recently inherited a haunted castle on an isolated island.

This Dean and Jerry doing their song and dance and comedy bits. I kinda expected to have more movie at the haunted mansion. Instead, they do take a long while to get there. I guess that this allows them to do more song and dance. The boys are good although not their best. Carmen Miranda does a couple. Sadly, it's her last movie before her premature death.

An authentic recital of these two great showmen in the Fifties. A nightclub showman : Dean Martin , and his colleague , a former botcher waiter : Jerry Lewis freeing a murder charge , going from New York to Cuba accompanying a rich heiress . This beautiful woman is named Mary Carter : Lizabeth Scott who has inherited her family's ancestral mansion on a small island of Cuba and decides to take possession .The three enter at the haunted house to find a lot of surprises as gangsters , ghosts and eventually hunting for a hidden treasure . They are making a spook-tacle of themselves ! They are funnier than ever on the Giant Panoramic Screen with Stereophonic Sound ! .

Fun and attractive comedy with humor , tongue-in-cheek, musical numbers and loads of entertainment and amusement, incliuing final cameos from Bing Crosby , Bob Hope . Close remake of Ghost Breakers 1940 with Paulette Goddard , Bob Hope and Scared stiff 1945 with Jack Haley , Anne Savage, taking parts here of there of these films . It you love Jerry Lewis this is a real vehicle as the extremely funny impersonation of Carmen Miranda , his game with a doppleganger at a mirror , his confrontation with menacing ghosts , zombies , armor, and anything else . This is one of the first and best appearances by the great Jerry Lewis , following a long career full of successes, such as : "3 Ring Circus , Artists and models, Hollywood or bust , Pardners , The Delicate Delinquent , The Geisha Boy , Cinderella , The Bellboy , The Ladies Man, The Nutty Professor , The Disorderly Orderly , The Parsy , The Family Jewels , The Big Mouth , Which Way to the Front ? , The King of Comedy" , and several others .

The motion picture was well directed by George Marshall , providing an amusing and entertaining film. Marshall was a prolific Hollywood professional who had a notable career including a large number of films such as : "Destry rides again , Off limits , Perils of Paulina , Goldwyn Follies , Texas , Pot O'Gold , Pack Up your Troubles , Papa's condition delicate , How the West was won , and some Laurel and Hardy vehicles" , among others . Rating 7/10 . Better than average . The movie will appeal to Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin fans .