Visitors Review

tavm (2012-05-24 18:08)

My Friend Irma Goes West is, despite more contrivances, a worthy sequel to its predecessor with good moments from Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis

Having just rewatched My Friend Irma on YouTube, I decided to finallywatch the sequel on the same site. Once again, Dean Martin & JerryLewis are once again shoehorned into the movie plot of charactersoriginally based on a radio sitcom featuring Jane Stacy (Diana Lynn),her scatterbrained roommate Irma Peterson (Marie Wilson) and Irma's conartist boyfriend Al (John Lund). Martin & Lewis are once again singerSteve & partner Seymour and once again they do their nightclub actthat, while hilarious, doesn't really have anything to do with the plotwhich takes them out of New York City to at least Las Vegas since theHollywood offer from a "producer" turns out to be...oh, watch the movieto find out. There's also a French film actress named Yvonne Yvonne(Corinne Calvet) with a monkey in tow added. The former to challengeSteve's fidelity to Jane and the latter to provide Seymour some morefunny business. What I haven't said of the plot gets even morecontrived than previously and most of the last 15 minutes or so isn'tas funny as the first hour. But the cast once again try their best,Dean's crooning is as swoon-worthy as ever, and Jerry, for the mostpart, gets plenty of moments to shine. So on that note, My Friend IrmaGoes West is recommended.

vitaleralphlouis (2012-05-24 07:15)

Irma Gets Upstaged by the Boys!

Although this picture was made as a sequel to MY FRIEND IRMA it took ona life of its own because of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Martin &Lewis were virtual unknowns when they were featured in the first Irma,were still unknowns when Goes West was filmed. BUT... but... by thetime this film was released the boys had become the hottest comedy teamin American history. This film was a smash hit almost entirely becauseit featured Martin & Lewis. When the boys' next movie came out, At Warwith the Army, I remember me and my brother waited 2 1/2 hours atLoew's 2400 seat Palace theater in Washington, DC to get in. This wasduring the movies lean years when folks were staying home with their 7"Motorola b&w TV's. Odd to recently see VHS copies of that picture onsale at Safeway for 99 cents. OH... My Friend Irma Goes West was veryfunny!

bkoganbing (2012-05-21 22:41)

Irma tra-la-la's again

For their second film Martin and Lewis did a sequel to My Friend Irmataken from Marie Wilson's popular radio comedy where John Lund finallygot Wilson to the altar and Wilson and best friend and roommate DianaLynn was also marrying Martin. The weddings were forgotten in My Friend Irma Goes West as Dean Martinguest stars on a radio program and attracts the attention of film starCorinne Calvet to the jealousy of Diana Lynn. Lund is also footlooseand fancy free again with his eternal get rich quick schemes that werea big component of My Friend Irma.However Lynn puts her foot down and takes over management of Martin'scareer and negotiates a contract with a Hollywood mogul. Who turns outto be an escapee from a booby hatch, but our fearless quintet goes outto Hollywood first class for a job that doesn't exist.Martin's singing and Lewis's clowning do get them noticed in Las Vegasas he gets booked in Bugsy Siegel's up and coming town. And Lund getsoutdealed literally by gangster Lloyd Corrigan in a marvelous bit ofcasting against type. Of course all the financial and romantic problemsget sorted out in the end.When I reviewed the first My Friend Irma film I said that the Irmacharacter would be great for Jessica Simpson to revive. After seeingthis film I still maintain that. God has a special province for MarieWilson's character who just tra-la-la's through life and somehow makesit through.There's a bit more of Dean and Jerry in this film than the previousone. Their next film would be At War With The Army where they wouldfinally star.Corinne Calvet talked at length about this film for Nick Tosches'sbiography of Dean Martin. Her experience in Hollywood was not a happyone and she mentions the casting couch that both Hal Wallis and DarrylZanuck used with regularity. In her case she was to service them alsofor her then husband John Bromfield. She said that Dino was a pleasantperson to work with, confident and assured. She liked Jerry as well,but felt there was a certain insecurity with him as he was continually'on' all the time as if trying hard to please.The film called for her to work with a chimpanzee, her and Jerry andshe said the ape was paying close attention to her. She was asked whereshe was in her menstrual cycle and when she told director Hal Walker,he said the ape was giving her a booty call. That was a bit unnerving,but I'll bet Corinne got passes just as crude from some humans. The score was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and it yielded anearly hit for Dean Martin with I'll Always Love You which has a niceLatin flavored tempo to it. My Friend Irma Goes West is still a funnyfilm and the comedy is timeless so it really could be revived today.Are you reading this Jessica Simpson?

planktonrules (2012-05-21 18:45)

It picks up right after the last film...almost.

This is a sequel to "My Friend Irma", though oddly it doesn't exactlypick up where it should. At the very end of the last film, Irma fellinto a construction ditch on the way to the church to FINALLY marry Al.Now, when this second film begins, Al and Irma are still not marriedand there's no explanation as to why.This film picks up where it began so far as Al (Dean Martin) and hissinging career are concerned. He's still singing at small venues andeven has a TV appearance--but it pays almost nothing. His problems seemover when a guy comes to the apartment and Jane (Diana Lynn) is able tonegotiate a nice Hollywood contract. There's only one problem---the'producer' is really an escaped mental patient and Al and his friendshave no idea they are heading west with no job waiting.As a result, they find themselves stuck on the way there. They arelucky enough to meet the very hot-to-trot Ms. Yvonne Yvonne--astereotypical French actress. She offers to have Steve sing in Vegas atnightclub and their financial difficulties are over...for now. But, asYvonne Yvonne definitely has the hots for Steve, what is Jane todo--especially since she and Steve are engaged?! Later, Al falls inwith some illegal gamblers (no big surprise) and goes to work for them.However, while working in their crooked casino, Al's roulette tablepays off big--but shouldn't have since the table was supposedly rigged.So, the gangsters decide to make Al and Irma pay. Can they be rescuedand can Steve and Jane work out their problems and find happiness? Tunein and see in this modestly diverting film. Oddly, however, the comedicelements (Irma and Seymour) are among the least entertaining aspects ofthis comedy.By the way, one thing I loved about this movie and "My Friend Irma" isthat Al has no last name. Even when the police question him, he onlyuses the name Al--as does Irma who refers to herself as the "future Ms.Al". Cute.

sarawoah (2012-05-19 06:33)

Not as good as "My Friend Irma"

The only thing this movie lacked was plot and humor, which both startedoutpromising. The plot was slow. The songs were slow and not as catchy as inthe first movie. And Dean Martin was not the cowboy type. The transitionbetween "My Friend Irma" and "My Friend Irma Goes West" was not smooth. Ithought they got married in the end of the first movie, and what happenedtoall the money Irma won? I was very disappointed with Jerry Lewis'performance, he was just goofy in this movie, not very funny. When Martinand Lewis were together it seemed more like an act, separated from themainplot. It was a cute movie but lacked the charm of the first movie. Ifyourgoing to see one, see "My Friend Irma"!

MovieMarauder (2012-05-19 02:40)

The uproarious sequel to Martin & Lewis' film debut!

This is easily the funniest and most deep-down-hardy chuckle inducingfilm that the fabulous comedy duo of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis have everstarred in. And it makes its predecessor (My Friend Irma) pale incomparison. One of the only sequels I've ever known that's actually betterthan the original. Even though Dean and Jerry were only given fourth andfifth billing in the picture, because they were still so new in theindustry, Jerry Lewis clearly ends up stealing the whole show! In betweenDean Martin's dulcet tones as he sings some original songs in the film,Jerry is at his peak, complete with his legendary, goofy humor,delayed-reaction one-liners, and prat falls. He's probably the mostvaluable asset of the film. But this isn't to undermine the performancesofthe lead actors, who are also fabulous! Especially the dead-on, hilariousportrayal of Irma, the dizzy blonde, by Marie Wilson. Her character'sinnocent and gullible absent-mindedness which lands her in so much troublewill definitely provide some GOOD laughs...Definitely! This is the firstreview of this film on this site, and therefore the first one people willsee when they look up this reference page, so I'm really trying to do itjustice in my review. Let me just say that this movie is most probably thefunniest picture of its era, and you can quote me on that. Way ahead ofitstime, it's hard to believe that this was produced half a century ago! Evenmy seven-year-old sister loves it, and it's HARD to win her over! Pleasegive it a chance. I can promise that if you have even an inkling of asenseof humor inside you, you'll laugh so much that it'll be hard to find timefor eating popcorn between chuckles! My rating for My Friend Irma GoesWest, a solid, perfect 10. But 10 isn't really high enough for it. My ownopinion of it surpasses 10 ineffably.