Artists and Models

Dean Martin plays an artist named Rick Todd and Jerry Lewis is his buddy Eugene Fullstack.Eugene happens to be obsessed with comic books and has very bad dreams because of those.Rick gets an idea to make a comic book from Eugene's dreams.In the same building there lives Abigail Parker (Dorothy Malone), who's the author of Eugene's favorite comic book The Bat Lady and the model Bessie Sparrowbrush (Shirley MacLaine).Rick likes Abby and Bessie likes Eugene.Eddie Mayehoff is a little weird publisher Mr Murdock.Frank Tashlin's Artists and Models (1955) is an awfully funny picture from Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.These two were magnificent together.Also other actors support the main clowns very well.Maclaine and Malone are very pretty and great actresses.Eddie Mayehoff is just hilarious as the publisher.There are also people like Eva Gabor (Zsa Zsa's sister), Anita Ekberg, Jack Elam and Kathleen Freeman.The movie is filled with great actors and funny scenes.There's one where Jerry has to keep running downstairs all the time for the telephone and Jerry on TV with many others.There are also some wonderful musical numbers, like where Shirley sings Innamorata very loud making Jerry freaked and Dean singing with the little girl.There are many scenes to remember.This movie is fifty years old (where did the time go), but it hasn't aged a bit as Jerry Lewis movies never will.Jerry never will.

A feast for the eyes. It's candy box Technicolor the whole way with lots of skimpy costumes and color loaded sets. Of course, director Tashlin specialized in cartoonish fare like A and M. Team him with the cartoonish comedian of the day, Lewis, and you've got the perfect visual counterpart. Then add impish Shirley MacLaine, the perfect loopy foil to Lewis, and you've got perhaps the best Martin and Lewis feature. Forget the plot, which is incidental anyway. Then too, Lewis's antics are much at times. Instead, catch that centerpiece with MacLaine and Lewis on the stairway. It's brilliantly done, a combination of mugging and acrobatics, showcasing their athletic skills. I don't know how they rehearsed since the timing and coordination are so precise. Besides, one misstep on the staircase and somebody's sporting a plaster cast. Probably shouldn't forget Martin's tuneful rendition of Innamorata (means "female sweetheart" in Italian). As I recall, it was a popular radio hit, as well. All in all, the crazy comedy manages bouncy entertainment the whole way. It also provides a chance to catch the scene-stealing MacLaine on her way up the show biz ladder.

(In passing— the grisly content of comic books was an object of national debate in 1954, which likely accounts for the movie's comic book theme. That debate ended with a self- imposed code of content governing the industry for years.)

I first saw this movie in the 90's with my mother, a huge Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis fan. To this day it is my favorite movie from their pairing. The two play roommates who sing, dance, and at one point consider getting a divorce while trying to pay the rent on their NYC flat. They have a run-in of sorts with their upstairs neighbors and of course, all hilarity ensues. One of my favorite parts of the movie, however, is Shirley MacLaine, in her second movie role. She steals scenes from Lewis every chance she gets and is simply hilarious! The scene between her and Lewis on the stairs is one of my favorite movie moments of all time! I only wish MacLaine had gotten to make more movies with Lewis; they make for a pretty funny pair on screen! Watch for the scene between Martin and the little girl on the street; its a great song with some pretty impressive dancing on both parts. A great movie to watch if you're a fan of Lewis, Martin, or MacLaine.

Well it looks like I will be the first reviewer to give Artists and Models a lukewarm opinion. Saw this on the big screen today at a downtown theater. With Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine,Dorothy Malone and Eva Gabor and the most fun I wind up having is with Eddie Mayehoff! Loved his portrayal of publisher Murdock. I don't know...to me, this movie just got more boring as it dragged on. While I do love all the vintage set designs, vintage wardrobe and remembrances of how things used to be-one pay phone in the hall for an apartment building, Dean scrubbing up in a bathtub before a shower became common and the historical fact that comic books were once decried as evil by the bastions of society, I still had to fight off massive amounts of sleepiness as this grinded to its conclusion. I don't know...maybe it was just the mood I was in. It WAS very colorful and Martin can't keep from smiling even when he's supposed to be mad which is amusing but, Gabor was a disappointment and Malone was kind of blah and Jerry, I was just kind of bored with his schtick today. But yes the highlight for me was Mr. Murdock played by Eddie Mayehoff.

Worth it for the moment that Jerry Lewis's character says that reading comic books made him r*****ed, unless I misheard because I couldn't believe what I heard lol.

This definitely isn't the first Jerry Lewis movie I watched, and neither is it the first time I've seen Dean Martin in a film, but I think it is the first Martin & Lewis movie I've watched. It was fine, I guess. It has a scattershot, almost manic energy that's sometimes fun, but also wore me down a little as it went along.

Artists and Models is just a silly old-fashioned comedy with a few infrequent music numbers and a lot of bright colours. Martin and Lewis have a good dynamic and it's all slightly amusing. I guess it was fine for a film of its age, but it probably won't stick with me.