Main Cast: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Marjie Millar, Richard Haydn
Release Year: 1953
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
Plot
Frightening though the prospect may sound, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis appear in Technicolor and 3-D in the musical comedy Money from Home. Cashing in on the success of Guys and Dolls, the script is based on a Damon Runyon story. Martin plays gambler Honey Talk Nelson, whose "markers" have been called in by gangster boss Jumbo Schneider (Sheldon Leonard). In need of money in a hurry, Honey Talk tries to honey-talk his gawky assistant-veterinarian cousin Virgil Yokum (Jerry Lewis) into "fixing" the outcome of an upcoming Maryland steeplechase competition. Along the way, Virgil is forced to impersonate British jockey Bertie Searles (Richard Haydn), and also gets mixed up with a visiting Arab potentate (Romo Vincent) and his harem. Pat Crowley and Marjie Millar fulfill the leading-lady obligations, while Dean Martin gets to sing three songs, one of them co-written by Guys and Dolls composer Frank Loesser. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Fans of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis will be amply rewarded by Money From Home, but those unconvinced that the team had any real magic will remain unconvinced by this typical offering. Anyone caught in the middle is likely to find Money moderately entertaining, a mindless little piece that unfortunately goes on a bit too long. (Even with George Marshall's fast pacing, the film begins to drag around the halfway point; the screwball chase that acts as a finale picks the pace up, but even it is a little too predictable to be as madcap as it wants to be.) As with too many films originally filmed in 3-D, there are extraneous bits meant to take advantage of the process which seem odd and out of place when viewed in 2-D. Though based on a Damon Runyon story, there's very little of the distinctive, flavorful patois associated with Runyon; dialogue instead tends toward bad puns and wordplay marked by "clever" assonance and near-rhymes (e.g. "a crocked jock and a bagged nag"). There are a couple of disposable songs mixed in, which at least provide a little variation. Martin and Lewis are thoroughly Martin and Lewis, the former easier to take than the latter, the latter harder to ignore. On the whole, Money doesn't pay off, but it has some individual sequences that are worth the gamble. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Robert Strauss - Seldom Seen Kid; Gerald Mohr - Marshall Preston; Sheldon Leonard - Jumbo Schneider; Romo Vincent - The Poojah; Jack Kruschen - Short Boy; Phil Arnold - Crossfire; Ben A. Astar - Manservant; Bobby Barber; Edward Clark - Dr. Capulet, Veterinarian; Mara Corday - Waitress; Pat Crowley - Autumn Claypool; Arthur E. Gould-Porter; Harry Hayden - First Judge; Grace Hayle - Mrs. Sheshire, Wealthy Dog Owner; Al Hill - First Reporter; Charles Horvath - Henchman; Robin Hughes - Bankfair; Rex Lease - Conductor; Lou Lubin - Sam; Joe McTurk - Hard Top Harry; Wendell Niles - Announcer; Maide Norman - Mattie; Richard Reeves - Henchman; Elizabeth Slifer; Buck Young; Frank Mitchell - Lead Pipe Louie; Jack Roberts; Louis Nicoletti - Hot Horse Herbie; Frank Richards - Truck Driver
Money From Home is a 1953 film starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. The comedy was their first film shot in color and their only film in 3-D. The picture was premiered as a special preview screening across the US on New Year's Eve, 1953.
New York City in the 1920s is where gambler "Honey Talk" Nelson (Dean Martin) crosses paths with bookie "Jumbo" Schneider (Sheldon Leonard). Nelson has two choices, cement shoes or "fixing" a horse race in Maryland. Naturally, Nelson heads to Maryland with his cousin Virgil Yokum (Jerry Lewis) tagging along.
Once in Maryland, Nelson falls for the owner (Marjie Millar) of the horse that has been chosen for the "fix". Virgil has also fallen in love, with the veterinarian (Pat Crowley) assigned to the horse. Nelson decides that love should prevail and refuses to go along with the plan. Meanwhile, an English jockey (Richard Haydn), who is to ride the horse, is prevented from performing his job by Schneider's mobsters and Yokum winds up riding the horse to victory.
Production
The team's eleventh feature, Money From Home was the first Martin and Lewis film made in color, although they did make a color, cameo appearance in the 1952 Bob Hope and Bing Crosby film, Road to Bali. It was filmed from March 9 to May 1, 1953.
Money From Home is also the only Martin and Lewis film made in 3-D, having been shot with Technicolor's 3-D camera rig, which exposed six strips of film in synchronization. It was the second and final time the rig was used. The film was also the third and last time one of the team's features was available with a Western Electric, 3-track stereophonic soundtrack. This soundtrack is now lost.
The film was premiered on New Year's Eve, 1953 as a special preview in 322 theaters. Because of a technical issue at Technicolor, pairs of prints necessary for 3-D were not available, so the film was previewed in 2-D. The film went into general release in February, 1954.
Lewis received an additional on-screen credit: "Special Material in Song Numbers Staged by Jerry Lewis." It was the only time during the team's productions that Lewis received creative credit, despite co-writing and co-directing several of the pictures.
Cast
Dean Martin ... Herman 'Honey Talk' Nelson Jerry Lewis ... Virgil Yokum Marjie Millar ... Phyllis Leigh Patricia "Pat" Crowley ... Dr. Autumn Claypool, Veterinarian
Richard Haydn ... Bertie Searles Robert Strauss ... Seldom Seen Kid Gerald Mohr ... Marshall Preston Sheldon Leonard ... Jumbo Schneider
Romo Vincent ... The Poojah
Jack Kruschen ... Short Boy Charles Horvath ... Big Midge, Henchman (billed as Charles Frank Horvath)
Richard Reeves ... Russian Henry, Henchman (billed as Richard J. Reeves)
Lou Lubin ... Sam
Frank Richards ... Angry Truck Driver
Harry Hayden ... First Race Judge
DVD release
After being excluded from both Paramount Pictures Martin and Lewis DVD collections, released in 2006 and 2007, Money from Home saw a single-disc DVD release on July 1, 2008.
