ironhorse_iv
It's sad, to think, that this comedy was originally supposed to be a horror movie based off, author HG Wells 1896's novel, 'the Island of Doctor Moreau' called 'White Woman of the Lost Jungle" before it was turn into a Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis comedy rip off by studio head, Jack Broder, president of Realart Pictures & producer, Herman Cohen, with celebrity impersonators, Duke Mitchell and Sam Petrillo in the title roles. I was really, looking forward to seeing a serious version of that, with Bela Lugosi as the main villain turning humans into animals. It might had save his career. Sadly, 1952's '"The Boys from Brooklyn" did not, as Lugosi went on to star, in later films, produce & directed by Edward Woods such as 1953's 'Glen or Glenda', 1955's 'Bride of the Monster' & 1956's 'Plan 9 from Outer Space'. So, why did, Cohen & Broder made it into a comedy!? Well, they wanted to capitalize on Martin & Lewis act, with a Sci-fi/horror audience, before the duo can do that, with 1953's movie 'Scared Stiff' that has a similar story; in which, both performers find themselves on an island, fighting supernatural beings. Since, "The Boys from Brooklyn' was schedule to be released a few months before, 1953's 'Scared Stiff' come out, it really did make it seem like Martin & Lewis was ripping off them, instead of the other way, around. No wonder, why Jerry Lewis was furious, and threatened to sue, Broder & the flash-in-the-pan, limited talent, copycat-comical duo of Petrillo & Duke. 'The Boys from Brooklyn', was really the mockbuster of its day. While, the suit was later dismissed, it still convince the filmmakers to take some precautions, like changing the title in US markets. Instead of focusing the duos, the new title, focus on Bela Lugosi's appearance in the film, as it was one of Lugosi's first presence in movies, after many years, away, due to health reasons. While, Lugosi really did acted professionally and was nice, during production. His acting in this, was not good. He looks very tiresome, as he quite ill at the time due to his addiction to morphine. Also, it really did seems like, he really didn't give a crap, being typecast as a mad scientist, anymore. He was really in a bad place at the time, when playing Dr. Zabor. As for Duke Mitchell and Sam Petrillo. They were really bad playing fictional screen version of themselves performing their nightclub acts. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of celebrity impersonators; whether it's on, seeing them on television, like skit-comedy shows like 'Saturday Night Live', or meeting them in person in Music Halls, Theme Parks, Conventions, or even the streets of Las Vegas, with Elvis Presley Tribute Artists of America. Yet, I never really like Mitchell or Petrillo. They never were any good with their Lewis & Martin homage act. Where were the sexual innuendo humor that Martin & Lewis, was somewhat known for!? Where is the clever slapstick!? The jokes here, are not really funny or smart. They were mostly bland, because there wasn't much risk. They were cheesy jokes, you would, tell, in preschool, not in night-clubs. For the most part, the jokes came across, as dry & obnoxious, than funny. As for the singing. While, Mitchell does, alright voice, his cover version of "Too Song' by artist, Nick Therry & 'Deed I do' by artist, Walter Hirsch & Fred Rose, were not that memorable. As for their acting. They were really bad. They often flub their lines. They really were amateurs. It really didn't help them, that they were directed by William Beaudine, a man known as 'One Shot' Willies, whom often shot economically, regardless, if the actor mess up the line or a special effects malfunction. He usually had to do this, to save money and time, as he was always working on multiply projects, due to his financial losses over the years. So, it was no surprise that the film had a shot of Petrillo nearly getting his face, torn off, by a 'supposedly' trained champ named Ramona, known from the Tarzan movies. You would think, shots like that, wouldn't be the final film. Nevertheless, it become clearer as the film goes on, that the movie is low-budget. They often reused the same sets, props and stock footage from other movies, even if it doesn't really match, the settlings. As for the 'supposedly' native islanders extras. It was very offensive to see them, act in dirty red-face with the slow stereotypical talking, you would see, in a cartoon than a real-life movie. It was not good. To top it off, the film has one of the worst ending, I ever witness. Without spoiling it, it's a huge cop out! I haven't saw, an similar ending so bad, since 1953's 'Robot Monster', where a boy, apparently wakes up after suffering a mild concussion, revealing that the bulk of the film had presumably been a dream. It's that bad. Overall: To be quite honest, I was never a huge fan of comedian/musician Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis comedies of the 1950s. Nevertheless, I do understand, if some people love them. Lewis does have a funny zany side to him, even if he's highly annoying, and Martin does have the beautiful singing voice, and straight man, cool factor. However, I can't recommended any of them in seeing this movie. I rather slip on a banana peel, than watch this movie, again. It's that bad.
dougdoepke
Unfortunately, it's not a campy movie, instead it's plain bad. And here I thought nothing could get stupider than Jerry Lewis; that is, until I got a load of Petrillo. Good thing the wife moved throwable things away from my chair. That way, my TV survived his whiny idiocy. Between him and the equally skinny Duke Mitchell, I kept hoping somebody would feed them. Actually, for a cheap-jack production, it's pretty well mounted. Looks like every potted palm in Hollywood was used for the jungle scenes. Even better, none fell over. And get a load of half-clad Charlita who almost makes the mess worth it. (I think I'm on my way to the South Seas.) Then too, the acting's not that bad, despite the central idiot. Note too that Lugosi has little more to do than stand around with an occasional line. An easy payday for an old trouper. Of course, the real star is Ramona, who's a lot more entertaining than the rest. I hope they paid her double in bananas or whatever. Anyway, I'm flummoxed by the ending, especially by what happens to Petrillo. It comes out of the blue and is totally out of sync with the movie's remainder, dream or no. But what the heck. Too bad the producers didn't scrap the 10-cent Martin and Lewis. Then the movie would have been just bad, instead of annoyingly bad.
