Martin and Lewis (film)

2002 television film directed by John Gray

Martin and Lewis is a 2002 biographical television film, exploring the lives of the comedy team of Martin and Lewis.

I love being out there with you. It's like we could do anything and they love us. And it ain't the jokes, trust me. They just love watching us be together.
Jerry Lewis
Written and directed by John Gray, based on Arthur Marx's book "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself): The Story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis".
Every end has a beginning. tagline
[at the Havana-Madrid]
Jerry Lewis: And now...and now ladies and gentlemen, for your extreme listening pleasure, Mr. Dean Martin.
[Dean comes up on stage and sings "My Own, My Only, My All"]

Dean Martin: Would you mind if I go back up on stage now?
Jerry Lewis: I don't, but they mind.
Dean Martin: Get outta here!

Dean Martin: Okay folks, for my next number, I'm gonna sing the same song again. I'm gonna keep on singing it, till I get it right.
[sings]

Jerry Lewis: We killed them, didn't we?
Dean Martin: Oh yeah, kid. We killed them alright.
Jerry Lewis: Didn't you feel it? I felt it. It was like a...like a jolt, like a lightning bolt. I didn't know what was gonna happen next, and I loved it.
Dean Martin: You'd rather talk to Angelo about the dishes.
Jerry Lewis: Hey if Angelo was smart, he'd put us together, don't you think?
Dean Martin: I'm a solo act.
Jerry Lewis: Well me too, but maybe you know, together we could....
Dean Martin: I mean, I go solo.

[after their first act at Atlantic City's 500 Club]
Jerry Lewis: It's never happened to me before.
Dean Martin: Me neither.
[short pause]
Jerry Lewis: I want it to happen again.
Dean Martin: Me too.

[while doing an act]
Dean Martin: Did you take a bath this morning?
Jerry Lewis: Oh why, is there one missing?
Dean Martin: How come you make so many mistakes?
Jerry Lewis: I got up early.
Dean Martin: Ahh, get outta here!

Dean Martin: [jokingly] What the hell am I singing anyway? Everybody's drunk!
[begins singing "Oh Marie"]

Dean Martin: [showing Jerry a room in his and Betty's new apartment] This is gonna be my den. My old man used to say he was gonna have a den someday. Sit down, put his feet up, read the papers. Nobody can bother him. Couldn’t do enough haircuts in a day to get one, I guess. [short pause] What's the matter with you, pallie? You should be on top of the world.
Jerry Lewis: Sure. Sure, I am. I'm happy.
Dean Martin: Well notify your face, cause you sure don't look it.
Jerry Lewis: You know what? All the great reviews, all the money, all the laughs and all I keep thinking about is my old man. "The crowd liked it."
Dean Martin: Don't let it get to you.
Jerry Lewis: My whole life, I always felt like my old man was looking the other way, like he didn't even know I was there. He taught me so much and he doesn't even know it. All those years in Vaudeville and Borscht Belt, he just kept coming up empty. Now me only after a couple years: boom! You know?
Dean Martin: Don't feel guilty about it.
Jerry Lewis: [smiles] Don't take away my guilt. What would I do with all that free time?
Dean Martin: You think too much. All pretty easy if you make it that way.
Jerry Lewis: Hey, you're always listening to Jerry Lewis sob stories. I hope you know, I'm always there for you too, Dean. You can always turn to me, tell me anything.
Dean Martin: Yeah... Yeah, thanks, Jer...

Jerry Lewis: Hey, did you read the script?
Dean Martin: Ahh, what script?
Jerry Lewis: "What script?" Unbelievable.
Dean Martin: Oh, come on.
Jerry Lewis: Well, I've read it. It's very funny, Dean. I want this deal. I want this part.
Dean Martin: If you wear that on your sleeve, you're dead. My mother always told me "never let anyone know who you are".
Jerry Lewis: Well, she must be very proud of you boy, I'll tell you that. My father had a saying too, "expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed". [driving into Paramount Pictures] You gotta learn the man's name we're in business with. He's a great producer, Hal Wallis.
Dean Martin: Hey, I say, pallie. He turns around "what do you want from me?"

Jerry Lewis: Anyway, the point is I'm cheating on my wife.
Dean Martin: Look, Jerry, please don't tell me this is what you dragged me down here for. Go see a priest or a rabbi.
Jerry Lewis: I woke up and I couldn't remember who I was with. What am I doing?
Dean Martin: Look, you love Patti, right?
Jerry Lewis: Right.
Dean Martin: And she loves you, right?
Jerry Lewis: Right.
Dean Martin: So what's the problem?
Jerry Lewis: It's wrong.
Dean Martin: Wrong? For who? For you?
Jerry Lewis: Don't you think it's wrong?
Dean Martin: Jerry, all I know is what's right for me. I don't apologise and I don't explain.
Jerry Lewis: My whole life I'm such a nebbish. Patti was the first person to look my way. And now, there are girls all over the place, and all I know is they want me and that's enough. I can't resist that.
[pause]
Dean Martin: Jerry, your gonna be ninety years old one day, and your gonna look back on this conversation and say "what a schmuck I was to worry about this stuff".
Jerry Lewis: Why is it so easy for you?
Dean Martin: I don't know, maybe there's just something about women somebody owe her, especially someone you're not supposed to. What's she gonna feel like, how she looks like under those clothes.

[during filming of a segment of the Colgate Comedy Hour]
Dean Martin: Hey, how are you? Hey, kids.
Jerry Lewis: Hello, hello. Here we are.
Dean Martin: Happy to see us?
[the group of kids sit silently looking unamused]
Jerry Lewis: Oh, look how they're screaming and yelling.
Dean Martin: Hey, you want to tone it down a little?
[awkward silence]
Jerry Lewis: Oh, holy jeez.
Dean Martin: Looks like a midget Nuremberg trial.

Jerry Lewis: Nice of you to show up.
Dean Martin: Not that you would've missed me.

Jerry Lewis: Well, Dean, here we are at the famous Paramount Theatre in New York.
Dean Martin: Oh, is that where we are?
Jerry Lewis: That's where we are. Where else would we be?
Dean Martin: Well, I don't know, I just woke up. Was wondering what all these people were doing in my bedroom.
[crowd laughs]
Jerry Lewis: Anyway, Mr. Dean Martin whose talent is exceeded only by his alimony, will now sing for you. [puts on a joke face] He wanted me to pay half, but I had none of the fun.
Dean Martin: [to the audience] Funny little bastard, isn't he?

[Jerry is lying in bed in hospital after falling off the stage at the Paramount Theatre. Dean is sitting by his side]
Jerry Lewis: You know, I hate to be alone.
Dean Martin: Yeah.
Jerry Lewis: Hey, Dean, remember that time in Chicago? Maybe it was Philly. Somewhere there was a bar or somewhere. You were laughing about something, and you threw your arm around my shoulder, and you kept it there while I took a drink, and everybody was looking at us and it was then, that I knew, this is what it must be like to have a brother. I'll never forget that feeling. That's the beautiful thing about show business, Dean. The thing I love the most. Never to be lonely again. Right, Dean?
Dean Martin: Right, Jerry.
Jerry Lewis: It's very nice of you to sit here with me.
Dean Martin: Well, I'm not here, Jerry. You're dreaming. I'm sitting at the bar at the Copa, checking out the joint, smelling the perfume. Wondering whose gonna make the trip home with me tonight. Not thinking about tomorrow, not thinking about yesterday, not thinking about you.
Jerry Lewis: You're such a tough guy. I know you feel it too. I know you do.

[during Colgate, while Dean is performing "That's Amore", Jerry mockingly makes the cameramen move the camera's closer on Dean and pounces on him]
Jerry Lewis: [laughs] I got you now! I got you now! You're all mine! Oh, ho ho ho! Ho ho ho! All mine, all mine! All mine! [pulling Dean's hair]
Dean Martin: Oh, you're overacting, Jerry...
Jerry Lewis: All mine! Oh, ho! Sing now, mister singer! Sing now!
Dean Martin: [annoyed] It's over!
Jerry Lewis: Sing now!
Dean Martin: It's over!

Jerry Lewis: We have the one thing that no other team has.
Dean Martin: Yeah, Jerry, what's that?
Jerry Lewis: It's the love we have for each other.
Dean Martin: You know you can talk about love all you want, to me you're nothing but a dollar sign. I am done, pallie. We're finished.

[during their final act at the Copacabana]
Jerry Lewis: Hey, who let Jackie Gleason in here?
Dean Martin: Is Jackie in here? Hey, Jackie, how are you?
[Jackie Gleason is seen sitting at a front table, smoking a cigar, nods]
Jerry Lewis: Everybody protect your food!

Jerry Lewis: Who needs a drink next to that? I'm drunk already. Alright ladies and gentlemen, the Italian street singer is getting old.
Dean Martin: Ahh, what is this?
Jerry Lewis: Mr. singer man, go get 'em.

[after their last performance]
Dean Martin: Good show, huh?
Jerry Lewis: Best one yet.

[last lines]
Dean Martin: Thanks for a great ride...
[pause]
Jerry Lewis: ...Love you.
[pause]
Dean Martin: Love you back...
[Dean leaves]

Dialogue

edit
[opening lines]
Jerry Lewis: You gotta do better than this for me, Abby.
Abby Greshler: I'm an agent, Jerry. I'm not the amazing Randi.
Jerry Lewis: I can kill. I know I can. I don't want anymore strip clubs, it's very hard to follow nipple tassels.
Abby Greshler: Well, you gotta start somewhere.. look, at least no one threw up on you.
Jerry Lewis: See to me, that doesn't make it a successful gig.
Abby Greshler: Yeah, well its hard to sell a record act, Jerry. You're gonna have to actually start talking on stage. Can you MC? I mean, can you talk normal long enough to introduce other acts?
Jerry Lewis: I can talk good anywhere... Except in front of people.
Abby Greshler: You're a very funny kid, Jerry. You got a lot of potential. Wanna be an MC along with your act. I think I can book you at the Havana-Madrid, very respectable place.
Jerry Lewis: People throw up there?
Abby Greshler: Only in the bathroom.
Jerry Lewis: That is respectable.

Abby Greshler: [sarcastically] Goodbye, Jerry.
Jerry Lewis: Hey, Abby?
Abby Greshler: What?
Jerry Lewis: Try stay out of the sun.
Abby Greshler: Get the hell outta here.

Jerry Lewis: [to Patti] They'll hate me. Why can't I just get up on stage and be funny and then get famous and then get rich? Or the rich part first. I don't care. Is that too much to ask?
Patti Lewis: You should do it.
Jerry Lewis: But I'm scared.
Patti Lewis: [kisses him on his forehead] Do it anyway.
Jerry Lewis: [looks around the house] What? And take a chance on losing all this?
Patti Lewis: Come on, let's eat.

Lou Perry: You're getting hot, pal. I got a good feeling. Maybe now you can actually afford those clothes you buy? Get your own place? Not that I don't love having you stay at my place. Stay as long as you like.
Dean Martin: You've been good to me, Lou. And a real good friend. I won't forget that.
Lou Perry: Don't go soft on me, pallie.
Dean Martin: Okay, pallie.

[In the court room]
Lou Perry: [to Dean] Okay were up next, and remember, let me do the talking. And what? You couldn't dress down a little?

Betty Martin: How much longer can we do this? This is a disgrace, Dean.
Dean Martin: It's a good thing. It's a clean slate.
Betty Martin: You have two kids and maybe you noticed a third on the way. Going bankrupt is a good thing?
Dean Martin: Things will turn around.
Betty Martin: Why don't you come back to Philly? Get a job with my father? Be a regular person?
Dean Martin: Betty, I'm not gonna do what you, or what anybody else wants me to do, you understand that?
Betty Martin: You just don't care, do you?

Lou Perry: [on the phone to Jerry] Jerry, how are you doin'?
Jerry Lewis: Not so good, Mr. Perry. I'm here at Atlantic City playing the 500 Club.
Lou Perry: Oh, good for you.
Jerry Lewis: Bad for me. Bad, very bad. Uh, I think they might hurt me.
Lou Perry: C'mon, Jerry. Skinny D'Amato wouldn't hurt a fly.
Jerry Lewis: What about Irwin Woolfe?
Lou Perry: Yes, he would probably hurt you.
Jerry Lewis: Please, Mr. Perry. Remember that night at the Havana-Madrid when I was messin' around with Dean?
Lou Perry: Yeah sure, that was riot.
Jerry Lewis: Thank you. I think Dean should come down and play the club, you know. He could sing and then I could do the routine, and then we could make somethin' out of it. You know, a handsome man and a monkey, it's very funny.
Lou Perry: You uh... you wanna team up with Dean?
Jerry Lewis: Just this once for this week. I gotta come up with somethin' or their gonna fire me and then maybe kill me. I ain't crazy about dying, but I definitely can't get fired.
Lou Perry: Well you - you've got your own manager, right? Greshler? Why isn't he making this call?
Jerry Lewis: Because he can't beg as good as I can. Please, Mr. Perry. I love Dean. I know he likes me too. I need this. I really need this.

Jeanne Biegger: Have you always been a singer?
Dean Martin: Sure. Except for the time I was working in a steel mill, and the time I was a boxer, and the time I was a stickman in a casino.
Jeanne Biegger: All this and Steubenville?
Dean Martin: They called it Little Chicago.

[While Jerry is screen testing to play Al in My Friend Irma]
Hal Wallis: [after watching Jerry's test footage] Well, we're all friends here, so lets speak frankly. Jerry, your not an actor.
Jerry Lewis: I can do better.
Director: I worked with him as much as I could, Hal. We shot nine tests. He just doesn't have it.
Jerry Lewis: [offended] Fellas, I'm here in the room with you.
Hal Wallis: Jerry, don't take this personally.
Jerry Lewis: How?
Director: Jerry, this shows been on the radio for years. It has millions of fans. If someone who's not right plays Al, the audience will kill us.
Jerry Lewis: What about Dean?
Hal Wallis: Dean's great. He's very natural, he'll be perfect as Steve.
Director: Here's what Hal is thinking. We're gonna write a part just for you. We'll call him Seymour, a really wacky sidekick to Dean. You can just be yourself and have fun. It'll be perfect.
Jerry Lewis: [angrily] You listen to me, Mr. Wallis. Jerry Lewis plays Al like it says in my contract.
Hal Wallis: You listen to me, Jerry Lewis. I don't give a damn what it says in your contract. You're not right for Al, you're not playing Al. That's it, that's all.
Jerry Lewis: [angrily] I'm not playing Seymour. I'm playing Al. I can do it.
Hal Wallis: You don't wanna play Seymour, Jerry. I'll tell you what, you sit this picture out. We'll go for Dean to play Steve, we'll get a real actor to play Al, and you? Well, you can go back to New York.
Jerry Lewis: You can't do that! Dean and I are partners, we're a team. I don't like you, Hal Wallis.
Hal Wallis: Ahh, now you went and hurt my feelings. Abby, calm your client down.
Abby Greshler: Jerry, Dean is not exclusive to you. There's nothing stopping Hal from offering him a picture outside the seven pictures as a team.
Hal Wallis: Listen, I got a dozen other cry babies in this lot I gotta take care of, so what's it gonna be?
Jerry Lewis: [short pause] Alright, you win this time, Mr. Wallis. [walks away]
Hal Wallis: Hey, kid. The money always wins.

Jeanne Biegger: I just wish they could see what I see.
Dean Martin: I want you to stay here, in LA. My band leader has a guest house.
Jeanne Biegger: What's gonna change?
Dean Martin: You know how it is. What it is.
Jeanne Biegger: I do now, although it would have been nice of you to let me know you were married when you first took me out.
Dean Martin: Don't you read the gossip columns?
Jeanne Biegger: I wouldn't let you be alone, you know that. Aren't you tired of being alone?
Dean Martin: It's complicated.
Jeanne Biegger: No, it's simple. You need somebody who's always gonna be there. Who knows the truth and is never gonna lie to you. I'm just like you, Dean. I don't care about anything in this world except what's in front of me, and that's you. You've never been loved that way before, I know it. [pause] What do you want, Dean? What do you want to happen here?
Dean Martin: [pause] The key will be under the mat.
[kisses her]

Ernie Glucksman: Dean?
Dean Martin: Yeah. [noticing the strap on his shoulder] Is that Jerry's?
Ernie Glucksman: Yeah, well he only got the one though. Listen, I'm sorry about what happened back there.
Dean Martin: Not your fault.
Ernie Glucksman: How do you put up with it?
Dean Martin: Hey, it doesn't bother me. I get paid the same whether I'm funny or whether the boy's funny.
Ernie Glucksman: Yeah, but I mean the stomach aches. I've never seen anyone so desperate for attention. We all think it stinks.

Ernie Glucksman: Yeah, I'd love to have a drink with you some night or maybe dinner? I'd like to get to know you more so I can tell the writers how to work for you better.
Dean Martin: Nobody gets to know me better. Not even my wife.
[walks away]

Jerry Lewis: Don't forget, we got dinner with Dean and Jeanne on Friday.
Patti Lewis: Speaking of something I don't wanna do.
Jerry Lewis: Well, get over it, cause we're going. We never do anything with them anymore.
Patti Lewis: I'm still friends with Betty. Do you have any idea how awkward this is?
Jerry Lewis: I don't care. Dean's my best friend.
Patti Lewis: Dean is nobody's best friend, Jerry!
Jerry Lewis: Who stayed with me all night at the hospital, huh? My father? Lew Wasserman? No, Dean did. You don't understand these things.
Patti Lewis: I understand better than you do. He's not gonna give you what you want. He can't. When are you gonna see that?
Jerry Lewis: Alright, just stay out of it.
Patti Lewis: The invitation's never gonna come...
Jerry Lewis: Alright, that's enough! You will go to dinner with us! Dean is my friend and you will go!

Jeanne Martin: [reading a newspaper article as Dean sits relaxed watching a western] "For all it's madness, there is method in the Lewis artistry". Oh, and here's the important part, [continues reading] "Mr. Martin is a competent straight man". [throws the newspaper] The Lewis artistry?
Dean Martin: The boy is talented.
Jeanne Martin: Why doesn't anybody see that you're the spine of the act? Jerry would be nothing without you. I'll tell you one thing, there's not a woman in the world who would watch if you weren't there.
Dean Martin: [smiles] Yeah, how many ten-year old kids would be watching me if Jerry wasn't there?
Jeanne Martin: I'm glad you think this is funny! How can you let him take over!? He rolls right over you!
Dean Martin: Hey, do me a favour, don't tell me my business, okay? He wants to be a mogul, he wants to be an artist. What do I care? I'm happy the way things are.
Jeanne Martin: No, you’re not!
Dean Martin: [angrily] Now you’re gonna tell me how I feel too!? Great! Let me know when I'm hungry! Now get something to eat! [sits back down]
Jeanne Martin: He's holding you back! You could be the next Sinatra!
Dean Martin: I can't hear the television if you go on talking!
Jeanne Martin: You know something, Dean? When we met, I told you there was something missing! I finally figured out what it is! You! You're missing there's just no one there!

Dean Martin: How come I sing less songs than usual?
Hal Wallis: Jerry wanted to sing in this one.
Dean Martin: What?
Hal Wallis: He wanted a song. We gave him a song. No big deal.
Dean Martin: No, you listen to me. [angrily] Maybe you didn't notice, but I just had a hit record. Now I made offers to do movies without Jerry. MGM, they want me to do Ten Thousand Bedrooms, and you - you wanna - you wanna waste me? Doing crap like this?!
Hal Wallis: You listen to me. You can do Ten Thousand Bathrooms for MGM for all I care! All I know is you're doing 3 Ring Circus for me. What the hell are you so worried about anyway, huh? People come to see Jerry roll around the floor and you, don't wink and sing. Since when do you care about the script?

Lew Wasserman: [to Dean and Jerry after hearing about their feud on the set of 3 Ring Circus in Phoenix, Arizona] Let me give you boys the facts of life. This is not a child's game. This is not "I'm taking my ball and going home now". You're not Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis individuals. You are Martin and Lewis. You are a corporation. You are a twenty million dollar a year money making machine! And that machinery can not stop because of some silly dispute or hurt feelings, or simply because you don't like each other anymore! If I stopped working with people I didn't like, I'd be out of business within a week! Now, you have commitments all over town! You're contract with Hal Wallis runs through 1960! You have a deal with NBC for another three years! A deal with Colgate another year! Indeed, gentlemen, you have a contract with us here, with your family at MCA. Promises have been made, and they must be kept. [pause] Either patch up your differences, or hate each other and learn to deal with it. I don't really care. But the Martin and Lewis business goes on!

[at the Copacabana, after Dean and Jerry have performed "Side by Side" as their last hurrah as the audience applause. Jackie Gleason walks onto the stage]
Jackie Gleason: Folks, folks. We can't let this happen! We can't let these guys split up! Am I right, everyone?! Huh? Am I right?!

[last title cards]
Title card: Jerry Lewis went on to become an enormously successful writer, director, producer and star of his own movies, all of which were box office hits. Every year he hosts the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, for which he has raised over a billion dollars.
Title card: Dean Martin became a major movie star, and enjoyed a hugely successful recording career. In 1964, his recording of "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime" knocked The Beatles out of first place. He had a hit variety show on television which lasted nine years.
Title card: Dean and Jerry did not see each other again for twenty years, when they were briefly reunited on the 1976 telethon. They rarely saw or spoke to each other after that.
Title card: Dean Martin died on Christmas Day, 1995.

Cast

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