The Caddy (1953)

I have now re-watched all of the Martin & Lewis films and one thing I have noticed is how often Dean had to play characters who were complete louses. I can honestly see how this helped to break up the team as who would want to constantly play jerks in order to make their partner look more sympathetic?! This one finds Dean to be a bit of a jerk--though fortunately it's not nearly as bad in this one as in some of their other films and as a result it works a bit better.Jerry plays Harvey, the son of a pro golfer who is ALSO a heck of a player. However, Harvey cannot go pro because he chokes up horribly when folks watch him play. But when he meets his fiancée's brother, Joe (Dean), Harvey sees that Joe could be a pro himself--and with his help, Joe enters his first tournament. But there is a problem...Joe wins the tourney and his ego becomes a bit inflated. He soon is taking his new friend for granted. Can Joe pull it together or are the two destined to go their separate ways? What do you think?!?!One of the best things about this film is the music. Often I find the musical interludes distracting...but here Dean sings one of his greatest hits. "That's Amore" is the PERFECT tune for Dean's talents and you cannot help but love the song. Additionally, the humor is decent and Joe's not nearly so rotten as he could have been! Pleasant viewing.

It May be Hard to Believe Revisiting Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Today, as a Musical-Comedy Team They were Once Considered the Cream of 1950's Entertainment. Immensely Popular and Rolling Along with the Highest of Salaries these Two Mediocre Talents were what Passed for Genius in the World of Light Entertainment in the Eisenhower Era.They weren't Bad but Great is not an Adjective that comes Immediately to Mind. Popular is More Like it, and Popular They Were. They Must have had Something because the Box-Office Cash Registers Rung and the Duo were in Demand on TV, Nightclubs, and in the Movies.This Movie is just One More of the Mediocrities that the Team Produced that was Formulaic to the Extreme and Hardly a Stretch for the Performers. Jerry can get Laughs but the Ego Never Fails to get Involved. For Example, He couldn't let Dino be the Crooner, Lewis had to Sing and Sing a lot. He even had to Weasel in on "That's Amore" with His Obnoxious Whine. It is Possible that if Lewis could have just let Things Unfold Naturally with the Strengths of the Two, They could have been even More Respected Critically, Better Remembered, and Possibly the Act would have Stayed Together Much Longer.But Jerry Lewis could Not Help Himself. So in this OK Movie He Warbles Songs and does Everything He can to Upstage not Only Dean but the Whole Movie. Even Donna Reed is Wasted in a Pitifully Bland Role, Fresh off an Oscar. The Fat Man Yucking it Up at Jerry in Every Turn is a Prime Example of the Self Congratulatory Lewis.

When Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis split up in 1956, the consensus was that Jerry's comic talents would sustain his career, but that Dino would have a rough going. Well the consensus only had that half right. Most critics did focus on Jerry's talents, Dean was the straight man who sang a nice song occasionally. But of all their joint films, The Caddy is best remembered for Dean's singing of That's Amore. The Harry Warren-Jack Brooks song sold a lot of records for Dean, putting him on something of an equal footing with his partner. It was nominated for an Oscar that year and until ten years or so later when Dino revived a song called Everybody Loves Somebody and made it his theme, That's Amore became the song most identified with the man from Steubenville, Ohio.Of course Jerry has his moments in The Caddy, clowning with the various golfers who made cameo appearances here, doing a comic obligato after Dean sings That's Amore and a number called The Gay Continental. But That's Amore made this of all their films, Dean's triumph.In fact Dino had another great reason to enjoy this film. Though not as publicized in fact he was as passionate about the game of golf as that other noted singer on the Paramount payroll, Bing Crosby. If he wasn't involved in any of the scenes on a given day, you would find Martin on the links invariably.The plot such as it is involves Jerry Lewis as the son of a noted golf pro who also has an extreme case of stage fright. Jerry is engaged to Barbara Bates who is Dean's sister. Both come from an Italian fishing family. Father Joseph Calleia is a commercial fisherman and mother Argentina Brunetti runs a restaurant, specializing in seafood and pasta.Jerry agrees to coach Dean and be his caddy. A lot of money can be made from professional golf although Calleia doesn't believe it. If this story sounds familiar that was the attitude of the patriarch of another San Francisco Italian fishing family named DiMaggio when three of their sons opted for careers in baseball. I guess Joe and his brothers Vince and Dom must have been flattered because they didn't sue Paramount.Donna Reed plays the socialite sponsor of golf tournaments who falls big time for Dean. And Jerry gets to have another straight man in this film in the person of Clinton Sundberg, Reed's snooty butler. In fact Jerry gets even another substitute straight man in Fred Clark who is his and Bates's boss at the job they have at a department store. Although to be fair, Lewis rehashed some material here the Marx Brothers originally used in The Big Store.The Caddy is one of the Martin-Lewis teams best and funniest comedies and if that don't get you, That's Amore will.

A Martin-Lewis silly farce about two losers who are great at golf. Trouble is that one (Lewis) can't shoot well in front of crowds so he becomes Martin's caddy and suffers many indignities along the way.Jerry Lewis does his usual shtick with great competence. His scene of destroying a department store is so similar to that of a Marx Brothers film.Donna Reed, an Oscar winner the same year for "From Here to Eternity," is along for the ride as Martin's newly-found girl friend. She was far better off in dramatic performances.Martin's sister is played by Barbara Bates. You remember her as that girl from Erasmus Hall High School who hides out in Anne Baxter's apartment at the end of "All About Eve." After being in this silly nonsense, Bates should have taken the closest plane back to Flatbush and Church Ave. and resume Erasmus attendance.Martin nicely sings "That's Amore," which was nominated as best song. Argentina Brunetti, who died in Dec. 2005 at 98, plays his mother.Fred Clark, who always tried to be serious but would come off funny, is victimized in this flick as the Department Store head knocked for a loop by Lewis.No hole in one for this flick. Maybe, a hole in the head for making it.