My Friend Irma *** (1949, John Lund, Diana Lynn, Don DeFore, Marie Wilson, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis) – Classic Movie Review 11,258

Director George Marshall’s 1949 Paramount Pictures black and white comedy My Friend Irma stars John Lund, Diana Lynn, Don DeFore, Marie Wilson, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

It marks the film dèbut of Martin and Lewis, who play juice vendors Steve and Seymour sharing an apartment with dizzy Irma (Marie Wilson), who has a con artist boyfriend called Al (John Lund). Irma’s roommate Jane Stacey (Diana Lynn) wants to marry her rich boss Richard Rhinelander (Don DeFore) by working as his secretary, but instead falls in love with golden voiced Steve (Martin).

With its splashy slapstick humour, typical of the stars, it still provides a good measure of old-style escapist entertainment.

Cy Howard and Parke Levy’s thin but moderately funny screenplay is based on Cy Howard’s popular radio show.

Martin sings ‘My Friend Irma’, ‘Just for Fun’ and ‘My Own, My Only, My All’, and Martin and Lewis sing ‘Here’s to Love’ and ‘The Donkey Serenade’.

Sequel: My Friend Irma Goes West (1950), which became Martin and Lewis’s only sequel.

Also in the cast are Don DeFore, Hans Conried, Kathryn Givney, Percy Helton, Gloria Gordon, Erno Verebes, Margaret Field, Charles Coleman, Nick Cravat, Jimmie Dundee, Joe Gray, Leonard B Ingoldest, Bill Meader, Tony Merrill, Howard M Mitchell, Jack Mulhall, Ken Niles, Francis Pierlot, Joey Ray, Dewey Robinson, Billy Snyder, Douglas Spencer, Ian Wolfe, and Chief Yowlachie.

Marie Wilson, Hans Conried and Gloria Gordon play the same characters in the movie as on the CBS radio show My Friend Irma that first aired in 1947.

Lewis was cast as Al, but, after a day of screen tests, it was obvious he was wrong for the part. He quickly came up with the idea of playing a comical sidekick to Steve, and the character Seymour was written into the script.

Felix Bressart was cast as Professor Kropotkin, but died suddenly during filming and his scenes were reshot with Hans Conried, taking over the role.

Shooting had already started on 22 February 1949 when producer Hal B Wallis introduced Martin and Lewis into the film.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,258

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