Monday, April 11, 2011

Movie review – “The Caddy” (1953) **1/2

There were no bigger stars in the early 50s than Martin and Lewis – they dominated film, TV, nightclubs and radio, prompting mass crowds when they appeared. This film has footage of some hysteria that took place when they stayed at a hotel, early Beatlemania (Martinlewismania?). It stars Martin and Lewis as versions of Martin and Lewis and we flash back to how these two met – Lewis was the son of a golfer, Martin a fisherman. Lewis becomes Martin’s caddy and Martin becomes a champion golfer… so they wind up in show business.
Yep, it’s not much of a story, really: Martin sort-of gets a big head but not for long; Lewis encounters some snobbery but not much; Martin romances Donna Reed (very fetching in some low-cut lingere-type tops), and for about two seconds she thinks Martin has a wife (when actually it’s his sister, Lewis’ fiancé). 
Most of the running time consists of set comedy pieces (normally Lewis pretending to be someone) and nightclub act performances. Some highlights: Martin (who looks terrific here) sings “That’s Amore’, Martin and Lewis appear as themselves at the end, Ben Hogan makes a cameo, a very strong support cast including Fred Clark, and Joseph Calleia.

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