2008-04-16 Pardners

Over fifty years on it is hard to realise just how big a phenomenon Martin & Lewis were in the decade following the war. Their films now seem unfunny and dated and very little footage appears of their stage act, where they were apparently at their best, but in the late 40's and early 50's the names 'Martin & Lewis' on the billboard would guarantee a full house and a queue around the theatre.

Dean & Me is an affectionate account of that partnership. Jerry Lewis describes how they met as solo acts and were struggling along until they found that together they had a chemistry that made America laugh; exactly what was needed in a nation suffering from post war blues. In a way this book can be seen as primarily a story about friendship, because as friends they made it to the top, but when the friendship started to fade and petty jealousies started to creep in the partnership crumbled. Lewis tells us that they only really reconciled in the later years of Dean Martin's life.

Jerry Lewis is honest about the role in played in the break up of the double act after ten successful years. He readily admits that he let his ego get so inflated that his rudeness and arrogance made him difficult to work with. Indeed, on one occasion his behaviour was so bad that the director had to throw him off a film set and ban him from the production. The main reason they split though, was Dean Martin's dissatisfaction at being regarded as being very much the junior partner, playing second fiddle to Lewis, who was thought of at the time as being the much more talented of the two. It is ironic that nowadays it is Dean Martin that is the more popular of the two, his laid back singing having dated far better than Lewis's style of manic comedy.

All in all, a good read, and I won't hold Dean Martins dislike of England, the reasons for which are entertainingly recounted in this book, against him!