There is one point in this film where not so proud papa Eddie Mayehoff begins to think that high school football player hero Dean Martin was switched with his son Jerry Lewis at birth. Wife Ruth Hussey has to remind him that Jerry was born at home, and I don't even consider checking out Dean's birthday. If they did, they'd find out he was much older than what he is playing here, and the same goes for Jerry. It's the weirdest casting for graduating high school students that I had seen in an older film, even though it isn't necessarily a bad film.
This is a different type of role for Jerry Lewis. His character is said to be rather sickly, needing a certain diet and allergic to many foods, and susceptible to colds which is why he leaves his window closed and only rushes to open it when his father knocks on the door. Lewis is also easily knocked over when his dad makes his mom and housekeeper Lillian Randolph act out a football play, and when Lewis does try to play football, he makes all sorts of errors until making a surprising touchdown which the coach simply calls an accident.
Anybody who was ever picked last in a high school gym class will relate to Lewis here, yeah I can relate to the character of Dean Martin taking Lewis under his wing to help him become a better athlete thanks to kids in my class to try to do the same thing. It's also a bit manipulative for the father to force Lewis to go to his local alma mater rather than the agricultural college out of town that Lewis really wants to go to. But everybody gets together to help Jerry readjust and become a better athlete, and that's presented as a good thing. There aren't any bullies, just kids of a different strength, and that makes this seem like a high school and college that never existed in history.
Dean Martin gets to sing a jazzy version of the standard "Ballin' the Jack" (also sung by Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in "For Me and my Gal", and years later, Gilda radner and Dom DeLuise in "Haunted Honeymoon"), and there's also a Charleston which is rather strange considering the assumed time period in which this takes place. Still, it is a pleasant film, even if it's lack of reality is obvious. Martin and Lewis have terrific chemistry, even though Dean really has very little to do.
This is a different type of role for Jerry Lewis. His character is said to be rather sickly, needing a certain diet and allergic to many foods, and susceptible to colds which is why he leaves his window closed and only rushes to open it when his father knocks on the door. Lewis is also easily knocked over when his dad makes his mom and housekeeper Lillian Randolph act out a football play, and when Lewis does try to play football, he makes all sorts of errors until making a surprising touchdown which the coach simply calls an accident.
Anybody who was ever picked last in a high school gym class will relate to Lewis here, yeah I can relate to the character of Dean Martin taking Lewis under his wing to help him become a better athlete thanks to kids in my class to try to do the same thing. It's also a bit manipulative for the father to force Lewis to go to his local alma mater rather than the agricultural college out of town that Lewis really wants to go to. But everybody gets together to help Jerry readjust and become a better athlete, and that's presented as a good thing. There aren't any bullies, just kids of a different strength, and that makes this seem like a high school and college that never existed in history.
Dean Martin gets to sing a jazzy version of the standard "Ballin' the Jack" (also sung by Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in "For Me and my Gal", and years later, Gilda radner and Dom DeLuise in "Haunted Honeymoon"), and there's also a Charleston which is rather strange considering the assumed time period in which this takes place. Still, it is a pleasant film, even if it's lack of reality is obvious. Martin and Lewis have terrific chemistry, even though Dean really has very little to do.