Pardners (1956)

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

Sidney Sheldon (screenplay)
Jerry Davis (story)

Release Date:

1 August 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

DEAN MARTIN AND JERRY LEWIS SHOOT THE WORKS with LAUGHTER...and bullets, ballads and beauties!

Plot:

A rich momma's boy returns west with the son of his murdered father's partner to foil a gang trying to gain control of his family ranch.

Plot Keywords:

Foreman | Prize Cow | Mortgage | Antique | Cattle Car

Cast

Dean Martin	...	Slim Mosely Jr. / Slim Mosely Sr.
Jerry Lewis	...	Wade Kingsley Jr. / Wade Kingsley Sr.
Lori Nelson	...	Carol Kingsley
Jeff Morrow	...	Pete Rio
Jackie Loughery	...	Dolly Riley
John Baragrey	...	Dan Hollis / Sam Hollis
Agnes Moorehead	...	Mrs. Matilda Kingsley
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Whitey (as Lon Chaney)
Milton Frome	...	Hawkins, the Butler
Richard Aherne	...	Chauffeur
Lee Van Cleef	...	Gus
Stuart Randall	...	Carol's cowhand
Scott Douglas	...	Salvin
Jack Elam	...	Pete
Bob Steele	...	Shorty

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Norway:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #17982) | Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | France:U | UK:U | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

York Pictures Corporation

Goofs:

Anachronisms: As Dean rescues Jerry in the doorway of the train after it leaves New York, cars from the 1950s, not 1910, are visible in the rail yard in the stock footage background.

Quotes:

Slim Mosely Jr.: [waiting with Carol to meet Mrs. Kingsley] Oh, don't worry - I'll make a good impression.
Slim Mosely Jr.: [he sits on an old chair and in collapses just as Matilda comes into the room screaming in horror] My antique chair!
Slim Mosely Jr.: [relieved] Well, I'm glad it was only an old one.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

Me 'N You 'N the Moon

Even Martin & Lewis had to go out west

Like every other comedy team, even the decidedly city-fied Martin & Lewis eventually had to put on chaps and kick up the sawdust. And like most of these mergers of western and comedy teams, it doesn't generate much entertainment. Also, it was nearly their last gasp as a partnership and the rot had set in. This is a mirthless comedy clumsily written and directed. Lewis is no longer the squawky scrawny mutant comic force from earlier---here he is chubby and annoying. Of course he plays the doofus, but magically and without cause, he becomes an adept fighter in the final fight scene. That's an example of the clumsiness of this film. Martin goes through the motions looking seriously bored. Lon Chaney Jr. is wasted---in fact he's almost an extra. Lee Van Cleef is also in the cast, but he gets only a few unimportant lines. The ending tag of the film has Martin & Lewis speaking directly to the audience---pleading with their fans to keep coming to their movies (obviously the world knowing at the time that the pair were practically falling apart). No matter: They only made one more movie after this junk, the equally second-rate 'Hollywood or Bust' (in which Martin no longer looks bored but actually angry).