The Stooge

1952 "A RIOTOUS MUSICAL RAMPAGE!"
6.7| 1h40m| G| en| More Info
Released: 31 December 1952 Released
Producted By: Paramount Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Bill Miller is an unsuccessful Broadway performer until his handlers convince him to enhance his act with a stooge—Ted Rogers, a guy positioned in the audience to be the butt of Bill's jokes. After Ted begins to steal the show, Bill's girlfriend and his pals advise him to make Ted an equal partner.

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Reviews

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
Irishchatter Ah man, Martin and Lewis never fail on their act together! Martin is always the beautiful singer and Lewis is always still the goofy one that you would fall in love with too! I loved how he was always attached to his mother, it's just like all of us can't live without our mammy's! Both of them were mighty and romantic! I thought Lewis was never gonna marry 'Frecklehead' after all the daftness that she said she can't marry him due to the fact, she thought Martin's character was using him to grow his own fame and not his! Marion Marshall looked so adorable, she looks like little Bo Peep. I'm glad her and Lewis were finally a couple, she unfortunately had to faint from the kiss haha! I would agree with Lewis on this one, this is the best movie that the pair have ever done in their careers!
vincentlynch-moonoi I would imagine that after their breakup four years after this film was made, both Martin and Lewis could look back on this film as being a bit of a premonition of things to come. Here, a singer (obviously Dean) with a stage act that is going flat hires a stooge (obviously Jerry) to spice up the act. But in a sense, it's a role reversal, because here Jerry is getting no attention, while Dean gets all the kudos in the press. Ironically, after the real Martin & Lewis breakup, it was Dean that was expected to flounder and disappear, while Jerry was expected to continue to rocket to success. How ironic that in this film Dean is told, "You're not a single, and you never will be!" While there's lots of classic Martin & Lewis here, this film does have a serious story line...2, in fact. Singer neglects and almost loses wife. Singer doesn't provide his stooge with the dignity he deserves and almost loses act. There's some good sentimentality here, and both Martin and Lewis probably do their best real acting to date.Dean has several good songs here -- "I'm Yours", "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming", and "A Girl Named Mary And A Boy Named Bill". Plus there's a fun Dean & Jerry version of "Just One More Chance".Polly Bergen is very good as Dean's wife. We survive through Marion Marshall as Jerry's love interest...again. Eddie Mayehoff is really good as the agent. And it's interesting to see Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee on Andy Griffith's show a few years later) as Jerry's mother.This is one of the better Martin & Lewis films because -- like "That's My Boy", there's some drama mixed in with the comedy. Recommended, but their best films are yet to come.
tavm With this, Martin & Lewis's seventh feature together, they're reunited with the following co-stars from previous movies: Polly Bergen-who was in At War with the Army and That's My Boy-playing Dean's wife who once again has a wonderful duet with him, Marion Marshall-who was also in TMB as well as Sailor Beware-playing Jerry's girlfriend, Eddie Mayehoff-previously Jerry's father in TMB is now Dean's and eventually Jerry's manager, Richard Erdman-previously the person Jerry passes himself off as in Jumping Jacks is Dean's previous performing partner here, and Mary Treen-previously the assistant of Corrine Calvet in SB is now the assistant of Jerry's boss before Jerry's teaming with Dean. In this one, Dean is an entertainer who's trying to make it as a single but his act sucks when he tries that so Jerry is picked to play a stooge for him. I'll stop there and just say that while I liked the way the actors switched from comedy to drama during the transitional scenes, sometimes I think the screenplay or maybe the direction didn't make them seamless enough to be believable to me. In fact, I found Jerry and sometimes Dean more funny offstage than when they did their act on-stage. And I think it was a mistake to make it seem like Jerry didn't know what he was doing the whole time he's on stage especially whenever it's obviously not the case-such as when he has to go on by himself after Dean drinks too much to do so and does a great parody of Maurice Chevalier. Nevertheless, this is another enjoyable Martin & Lewis picture that gets a recommendation from me. P.S. Frances Bavier, as Jerry's mom, was a nice surprise to me especially when she did his laugh. And what a coincidence that both her and Ms. Treen are in this picture since Ms. Bavier replaced Ms. Treen as the housekeeper in the first episode of "The Andy Griffith Show"!
mifunesamurai It has its moments as a curious piece where one can't help but see this as a premonition of the future relationship between Dean and Jerry. All the laughs go to Jerry and the romance is looked after by Dean the man. I now know where Jim Carey got his facial expressions from.