Main Cast: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lizabeth Scott, Carmen Miranda, Dorothy Malone, George Dolenz
Release Year: 1953
Country: US/DK
Run Time: 108 minutes
Plot
Scared Stiff is the 1953 remake of the 1940 Bob Hope-Paulette Goddard vehicle The Ghost Breakers, reupholstered for the talents of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. While Martin handles the straight plot scenes, just as Hope did in the earlier film, the Hope-like wisecracks are fairly evenly divided between Martin and Lewis. Lewis is for the most part relegated to the secondary role played by black comedian Willie Best in Ghost Breakers, with a few opportunities for his manic specialties: his personal highlight is an imitation of Carmen Miranda (who also appears in the flesh). The plot is the same as before: an American heiress (Lizabeth Scott) is warned to stay away from the forbidding Cuban mansion that she's inherited. Disregarding these threats, the girl heads to Cuba, along with Martin and Lewis, who are on the lam from various antagonists (Dean has been falsely accused of murder, while Lewis has run afoul of gangsters). Once they've reached Scott's mansion, Martin and Lewis are confronted by all manner of terrors: a ghost, a zombie, a mysterious assailant (who turns out to be the least likely suspect). It turns out that the mansion is built over a huge cache of hidden gold, which is why the bad guy is so anxious to make Scott and the boys skedaddle. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby make gag appearances toward the end of Scared Stiff; returning the favor, Martin and Lewis would show up unbilled in the Hope-Crosby opus Road to Bali (1953). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Scared Stiff is kind of a mess of a movie, which probably won't matter too much to fans of the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis team. As a matter of fact, several of their films are messy from start to finish, and there are some who maintain that the messier, the better. Stiff is too mild (and not messy enough) to fall into the "better" category, but it's decent enough entertainment. It's also enormously unstructured (not the fault of its original source), with plenty of detours for an extraneous musical number of a bit of comic business. One's tolerance for these detours will largely depend upon one's appreciation of the team's brand of comedy, and especially on one's tolerance for Lewis's schtick. Lewis is at least somewhat restrained here, relegated to a largely secondary part. Martin, by contrast, turns in one of his better performances as part of the team, seeming more committed and involved than is often the norm. And there's an unusually interesting supporting cast of women, starting with the oddly cast but still appealing Lizabeth Scott and including the always entertaining Carmen Miranda and a brazen Dorothy Malone. George Marshall's direction is fine, if uninspired; the same can be said for the musical numbers, most built around some bland Jerry Livingston-Mack David songs that leave the mind before the final note fades. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Franz Bachelin - Art Director, Hal Pereira - Art Director, Edith Head - Costume Designer, Charles C. Coleman, Jr. - First Assistant Director, George Marshall - Director, Warren Low - Editor, Jerry Livingston - Composer (Music Score), Leith Stevens - Composer (Music Score), Joseph Lilley - Musical Direction/Supervision, Joseph J. Killey - Musical Direction/Supervision, Mack David - Songwriter, Wally Westmore - Makeup, Ernest Laszlo - Cinematographer, Hal B. Wallis - Producer, Sam Comer - Set Designer, Ross Dowd - Set Designer, Farciot Edouart - Special Effects, Gordon Jennings - Special Effects, Paul K. Lerpae - Special Effects, Harbert Baker - Screenwriter, Walter de Leon - Screenwriter, Norman Lear - Screenwriter, Ed Simmons - Screenwriter, Paul Dickey - Play Author, Charles W. Goddard - Play Author
