Main Cast: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Anita Ekberg, Pat Crowley, "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom
Release Year: 1956
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
Plot
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made their last joint film appearance in the girl-filled musical Hollywood or Bust. The thinnish plot finds inveterate film fan Jerry making a cross-country journey to Tinseltown for the purpose of meeting his favorite screen star, the buxom Anita Ekberg (the film's title, need it be added, has a double meaning). Dean goes along for the ride, hoping to expand his bankroll during a Las Vegas stopover. The boys are joined by a third traveller, an enormous Great Dane named Mr. Bascomb; along the way, the trio becomes a quartet when pretty Pat Crowley hitches a ride. The finale takes place in Hollywood, naturally, as Jerry wreaks havoc at a film studio which looks suspiciously like Paramount. All reports indicate that Hollywood and Bust was an unhappy shoot, with Jerry Lewis behaving so obstreperously that director Frank Tashlin ordered him off the set and told him to go home until he learned to behave himself; to this day, Lewis cannot bring himself to watch the film. Happily, the animosity between the two stars never comes across on screen, and as a result Hollywood or Bust is a most enjoyable diversion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The second collaboration between director Frank Tashlin, Jerry Lewis, and Dean Martin, and the final pairing of the two stars, Hollywood or Bust doesn't quite reach the sustained lunacy of Artists and Models, but still ranks among the best uses of the Martin and Lewis team and serves as a fine example of Tashlin's unique approach to comedy. Putting the pair in a car (with a Great Dane, no less) and forcing them to travel across the country is an inspired choice, one that allows Tashlin a chance to play with the road culture of the '50s and the postcard America that inspired it. Like a good vacation, the movie only begins to drag when it stays in one place for too long. Neither Pat Crowley nor Anita Ekberg hold their own against Lewis, as Shirley Maclaine did so memorably in Artists, but this is still a classy way for the team to bow out and another strong effort from the midst of Tashlin's great '50s run. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide
Henry Bumstead - Art Director, Hal Pereira - Art Director, Paul Nathan - Associate Producer, Charles O'Curran - Choreography, Edith Head - Costume Designer, Frank Tashlin - Director, Howard A. Smith - Editor, Sammy Fain - Composer (Music Score), Walter Scharf - Composer (Music Score), Paul Francis Webster - Composer (Music Score), Walter Scharf - Musical Direction/Supervision, Sammy Fain - Songwriter, Charles O'Curran - Songwriter, Paul Francis Webster - Songwriter, Daniel L. Fapp - Cinematographer, Hal B. Wallis - Producer, Sam Comer - Set Designer, C. Fay Babcock - Set Designer, John P. Fulton - Special Effects, Erna Lazarus - Screenwriter
Hollywood or Bust is a film comedy starring the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The picture was filmed from April 16 to June 19, 1956 and released on December 6, 1956 by Paramount Pictures, almost five months after the Martin and Lewis partnership split up.
Malcolm Smith (Jerry Lewis) wins a brand new automobile at a raffle. Steve Wiley (Dean Martin), a gambler from New York, obtains a counterfeit of the winning ticket and also claims that the car is his. The raffle's manager declares them both winners and that they can split the car any way that they want. Steve wants to sell the car, but Malcolm wants to drive it to Hollywood to meet the actress Anita Ekberg.
Steve claims to know her and agrees to drive to Hollywood with Malcolm, secretly planning to steal the car. Malcolm brings along his dog, a huge Great Dane named Mr. Bascomb who foils Steve in his many attempts to make off with the car.
Along the way they pick up Terry (Pat Crowley), an aspiring dancer, who has a job for her waiting in Las Vegas. Once there, Malcolm gets his "lucky feeling" and wins $10,000 at a casino. In addition, the woman of his dreams, Anita Ekberg, is also at the hotel and Malcolm finally gets to meet her, with hilarious results.
Steve begins to show a change of heart. He not only agrees to go along with Malcolm to Hollywood without stealing the car, but he also proposes to Terry.
Malcolm spoils the mood by telling them that he no longer has any of his casino winnings, having used it on a gift for Anita. Steve decides to retrieve the gift and they head to Paramount Pictures to locate her. After some back-lot adventures, they find Anita, who agrees to return the gift in exchange for the services of Mr. Bascomb in her next movie.
Finale for Martin and Lewis
This was the last film that Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin appeared in together. According to Lewis in his autobiography, he and Dean did not speak to each other off camera during the entire film shoot. In addition, Lewis claimed that this is the only one of his films that he has never seen, citing it as too painful to watch.
In Paramount's 1972 film The Godfather, a scene of the Las Vegas strip, including a shot of the Sands Hotel marquee showing an appearance by Martin and Lewis, was taken from this film.
