I found this film listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I did not realise the partnership of the famous crooner and the popular comedian had been a thing for years, this was their fourteenth feature together. Basically Rick Todd (Dean Martin) is a struggling painter and smooth-talking ladies' man, his goofy young roommate Eugene Fullstack (Jerry Lewis) is an aspiring children's author with a passion for comic books, especially those featuring the mysterious and sexy "Bat Lady". Every night, Eugene has nightmares, inspired by the many comics he reads, he screams and describes these visions aloud in his sleep, they are about the bizarre bird-like superhero "Vincent the Vulture", who has many fantastical elements, also known as "Vultureman", or simply "The Vulture", the golden helmeted hero soaring through space, according to Eugene's nocturnal babblings. An apartment building neighbour, Abigail "Abby" Parker (Dorothy Malone), is a professional artist working for New York comic book company Murdock Publishing, she created the "Bat Lady", she is becoming frustrated with the demands of Murdock for increasingly lurid and bloodthirsty stories. Abigail's energetic horoscope-obsessed roommate Bessie Sparrowbush (Shirley MacLaine) works as the secretary for the publisher Mr. Murdock (Eddie Mayehoff) and as a model for the flying bat-masked superheroine, she develops a crush on Eugene, who is unaware she is his beloved "Bat Lady" in the flesh. Abigail quits her job to become an anti-comics activist, she drags Eugene into her crusade as an example of how trashy comic books can warp the mind. At the same time, Rick gets a job with the company after using the ramblings of Eugene's dreams to pitch the idea of the adventures of "Vincent the Vulture", Rick becomes successful with this, but he has fallen for Abigail, he keeps this secret from her, and from Eugene. Unbeknownst to all, Eugene's dreams also contain the formula "X34 minus 5R1 plus 6-X36", a real top-secret rocket, Rick publishes this in one of the stories, soon enough spies are all around them, they plan to capture Rick and Eugene at the annual "Artists and Models Ball" to preserve national security. Also starring Eva Gabor as Sonia / Mrs. Curtis and La Dolce Vita's Anita Ekberg as Anita. Martin is obviously a great singer, he does well being the charmer as well, Lewis is bonkers, his antics borders on being annoying at times, but overall he is humorous, Martin and Lewis are indeed a great odd couple and comedy duo, Malone and MacClaine are good as well, it is a madcap story of comic books, animation art and modelling, most of the humour comes from the physical wackiness, but there are also some catchy songs and a great vivid colour, it is an enjoyable musical comedy. Very good!
Review of Artists and Models
