tavm

(2012-04-28 21:12:26)

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

(2012-04-28 07:02:41)

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!

MovieMarauder

(2012-04-26 19:35:28)

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.

planktonrules

(2012-04-26 07:08:05)

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.