I hated "Living It Up" and think it's probably the worst film made by Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis. Now you should know that I am NOT a die-hard fan of the team--though I will watch a film if it comes on TV. A few of their films are very good (such as "The Stooge" and "That's My Boy"), but I have also felt that too often the team's films suffered from either having too much mugging from Lewis or too much music. Now I like Dean Martin's singing, but too often they included production numbers that were just distracting. Well, "Living It Up" has both LOTS of horrible mugging from Jerry, ridiculous and inappropriate production numbers that look like padding and, to top that off, it's a remake of a film that is a classic--"Nothing Sacred". "Nothing Sacred" starred Carole Lombard and Frederic March (a class team) and was a lot of fun. By comparison, Martin & Lewis simply look second-rate. All the subtlety and joy of the original film is gone--in its place, the new film is brash, loud and often irritating--plus the script often makes no sense (such as Jerry acting not 1% sick--even though he is supposed to be dying).
Before you assume I am an angry crank for not loving this film, try watching it yourself. The scene where Jerry poses as French, German and Japanese doctors is not only highly offensive, but it's just plain stupid. Jerry contorts his face and mugs and he instantly goes from a European to an Asian (without makeup)--just sticking his teeth out and saying "Ah, so..." repeatedly. This was just lazy and dumb. And, throughout the film the director and writer just chose to let the actors do their thing without restraint or finesse. As a result, the film often made me cringe. And, as a result of all these problems, there really is nothing positive I can say about the film. Yes, it's THAT bad and offers nothing over "Nothing Sacred". Oh, and PLEASE see "Nothing Sacred"--it's a great film. Plus, it may be interesting for you to see this and then this Martin & Lewis film--the contrast is striking.
Before you assume I am an angry crank for not loving this film, try watching it yourself. The scene where Jerry poses as French, German and Japanese doctors is not only highly offensive, but it's just plain stupid. Jerry contorts his face and mugs and he instantly goes from a European to an Asian (without makeup)--just sticking his teeth out and saying "Ah, so..." repeatedly. This was just lazy and dumb. And, throughout the film the director and writer just chose to let the actors do their thing without restraint or finesse. As a result, the film often made me cringe. And, as a result of all these problems, there really is nothing positive I can say about the film. Yes, it's THAT bad and offers nothing over "Nothing Sacred". Oh, and PLEASE see "Nothing Sacred"--it's a great film. Plus, it may be interesting for you to see this and then this Martin & Lewis film--the contrast is striking.