My Friend Irma Goes West (1950)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Just perfect...

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This sequel to "My Friend Irma" actually ignores its finale, which had Diana Lynn & Dean Martin and Marie Wilson & John Lund eich and about to get married; here they have gone back to being middle-class and merely engaged. It mostly seems to be a vehicle for Martin to sing a few songs in a pleasantly mellow voice (and manner); Lynn has much less to do (or say) this time; Wilson continues to be more eager than funny; and Jerry Lewis continues to be more terrible than funny, He shares one scene with a monkey and it's a real struggle to decide who gives the better performance. His impersonation of Bette Davis also must be seen to be believed - not because it's so good, but because it's so bad. Corinne Calvet in a 1950s bikini is certainly a sight for sore eyes. ** out of 4.

For their second film Martin and Lewis did a sequel to My Friend Irma taken from Marie Wilson's popular radio comedy where John Lund finally got Wilson to the altar and Wilson and best friend and roommate Diana Lynn was also marrying Martin. The weddings were forgotten in My Friend Irma Goes West as Dean Martin guest stars on a radio program and attracts the attention of film star Corinne Calvet to the jealousy of Diana Lynn. Lund is also footloose and fancy free again with his eternal get rich quick schemes that were a big component of My Friend Irma.However Lynn puts her foot down and takes over management of Martin's career and negotiates a contract with a Hollywood mogul. Who turns out to be an escapee from a booby hatch, but our fearless quintet goes out to Hollywood first class for a job that doesn't exist.Martin's singing and Lewis's clowning do get them noticed in Las Vegas as he gets booked in Bugsy Siegel's up and coming town. And Lund gets outdealed literally by gangster Lloyd Corrigan in a marvelous bit of casting against type. Of course all the financial and romantic problems get sorted out in the end.When I reviewed the first My Friend Irma film I said that the Irma character would be great for Jessica Simpson to revive. After seeing this film I still maintain that. God has a special province for Marie Wilson's character who just tra-la-la's through life and somehow makes it through.There's a bit more of Dean and Jerry in this film than the previous one. Their next film would be At War With The Army where they would finally star.Corinne Calvet talked at length about this film for Nick Tosches's biography of Dean Martin. Her experience in Hollywood was not a happy one and she mentions the casting couch that both Hal Wallis and Darryl Zanuck used with regularity. In her case she was to service them also for her then husband John Bromfield. She said that Dino was a pleasant person 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 and she said the ape was paying close attention to her. She was asked where she 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 an early hit for Dean Martin with I'll Always Love You which has a nice Latin flavored tempo to it. My Friend Irma Goes West is still a funny film and the comedy is timeless so it really could be revived today.Are you reading this Jessica Simpson?

Having just rewatched My Friend Irma on YouTube, I decided to finally watch the sequel on the same site. Once again, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis are once again shoehorned into the movie plot of characters originally based on a radio sitcom featuring Jane Stacy (Diana Lynn), her scatterbrained roommate Irma Peterson (Marie Wilson) and Irma's con artist boyfriend Al (John Lund). Martin & Lewis are once again singer Steve & partner Seymour and once again they do their nightclub act that, while hilarious, doesn't really have anything to do with the plot which takes them out of New York City to at least Las Vegas since the Hollywood offer from a "producer" turns out to be...oh, watch the movie to find out. There's also a French film actress named Yvonne Yvonne (Corinne Calvet) with a monkey in tow added. The former to challenge Steve's fidelity to Jane and the latter to provide Seymour some more funny business. What I haven't said of the plot gets even more contrived than previously and most of the last 15 minutes or so isn't as 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 most part, gets plenty of moments to shine. So on that note, My Friend Irma Goes West is recommended.

The only thing this movie lacked was plot and humor, which both started out promising. The plot was slow. The songs were slow and not as catchy as in the first movie. And Dean Martin was not the cowboy type. The transition between "My Friend Irma" and "My Friend Irma Goes West" was not smooth. I thought they got married in the end of the first movie, and what happened to all the money Irma won? I was very disappointed with Jerry Lewis' performance, he was just goofy in this movie, not very funny. When Martin and Lewis were together it seemed more like an act, separated from the main plot. It was a cute movie but lacked the charm of the first movie. If your going to see one, see "My Friend Irma"!