Artists and Models

Released Nov 7, 1955

1 hr. 49 min.

Musical

Comedy

List

85%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

76%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Painter Rick Todd (Dean Martin) is having difficulty with his career, so he starts taking inspiration from the dreams of his friend and roommate, Eugene (Jerry Lewis), a comic book fan who narrates an adventure story while he sleeps. Unbeknown to Eugene, Abigail Parker (Dorothy Malone), the artist for his favorite comic book, lives in the same building with her roommate, Bessie (Shirley MacLaine), the model for Abigail's drawings. Eventually, the two pairs meet, and Bessie takes to Eugene.

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William L

"I'm here to talk to the children and to the parents of the children because if there weren't parents then there wouldn't be children. And vice-versa." Though Martin soared to greater heights in the popular consciousness in the long term, Jerry Lewis was arguably more influential when it came to genre development, creating an act that combined physical comedy and a manic energy that would be cited by a half century of successors; Jim Carrey is shockingly similar not only in style and the range of physical capability, just updated for a different generation. Together, they make a classic straight man/goofball pairing; that said, Artists and Models is a somewhat intermittent example of their work. A lot of the runtime is essentially just a series of situational bits from Lewis followed by a croon or romcom bit from the more classically 'leading man' Martin, repeated ad infinitum, and without proper preparation Lewis' artificially tinny voice can get real old real fast. About two thirds of the way through the film, the plot switches to a bizarre Cold War comedy thriller that was not even hinted at previously, which can either be jarring or appropriately goofy based on your expectations. Personally, I liked it in pieces but never felt that it was a comprehensive whole, but that may just be the more dated pieces showing up prominently compared to the decades of films that evolved the style and genre. Certainly not all bad, with a series of some of Lewis' better comedic bits that are great in small doses, but it just didn't come together as a total package for me. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/31/21

Full Review

Audience Member

I remember hearing about the duo of Martin and Lewis back in the day, but I never knew what they did together. For some reason, I thought it was exclusively television where they teamed up, because I never saw or even heard the titles of their films. When I looked up Artists and Models I was delighted to see that it was from these legendary entertainers, and I was anxious to see what their team-up would be like. I’ve always enjoyed their work individually, and this was no different. This movie is a great example of the strengths of both members of the team. Dean Martin croons beautifully, and makes the musical breaks a treat. There’s something transcendent about a truly great singer delivering a song that suddenly makes me forget I’m watching a movie and just enjoy the melody. At the same time, Jerry Lewis is off-the-charts with wackiness. This is where he truly embraces the often-impersonated “Hey Lady!” character that comes close to being totally offensive, but still makes me laugh. The story is a strange one and almost comes apart at the seams because they don’t commit to any one plot, and bounce around all the time between them (some are never even resolved.) The movie maintains a heightened reality and so the more serious parts of the plot don’t fit all that well. Luckily they don’t take anything seriously, so it still works. Also worth a mention is Shirley MacLaine who was delightful and almost matched the craziness of Jerry Lewis. Most of Artists and Models totally work for me, and I’d love to see more Martin and Lewis collaborations.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/18

Full Review

Audience Member

Pure anarchy on screen. Comic book fan alert! One of their best pairings, directed by Warner's cartoon director Tashlin, it's live action camic nuttiness at its technicolor Vistavison best. Shirly MacLain's screen debut, Dorthy Malone, ANita Ekberg, Ava Gabor va va vooom.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

s r

1001 movies to see before you die. Some good humor, that might be Lewis and Martin's best.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the best Martin & Lewis outings with lots of surreal humor and great songs and dancing. Lewis and MacLaine have a wonderful number together reprising Martins Innamorata.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Looney Tunes director Frank Tashlin made his directorial debut with this fun Martin and Lewis vehicle. Dean is a cartoonist who uses Jerry's out there dreams for his comic strip. Tashlin does manage to make the film look like a colorful and bright cartoon, which was very fitting for the story and very well suited to the "Bat Lady" superhero parts. Besides Tashlin's visual style and well constructed gags, there's a strong supporting cast that includes Shirley MacLaine, Dorothy Malone, also features Jack Elam, Kathleen Freeman, Eva Gabor and Anita Ekberg in small roles. Considering this film was made in 1955, it's also pretty edgy in terms of pushing the production code with some awfully sexy attire worn by the ladies and some pretty surprising innuendo. I haven't seen all of the Martin and Lewis films, but this one is probably my favorite I've seen so far.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

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Frank Tashlin

Director

Dean Martin

Rick Todd

Jerry Lewis

Eugene Fullstack

Shirley MacLaine

Bessie Sparrowbrush

Dorothy Malone

Abigail 'Abby' Parker

Eddie Mayehoff

Mr. Murdock

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Jean Yothers

Orlando Sentinel

Mayehoff, incidentally, appropriates uproariously his every scene.

Oct 8, 2021

Full Review

Colin Bennett

The Age (Australia)

[Jerry Lewis] will keep the fans in an uproar as usual.

Aug 24, 2021

Full Review

Jake Wilson

The Age (Australia)

A masterpiece far ahead of its time.

Oct 5, 2018

Full Review

Ray Pride

Newcity

Cinematically chaotic and fruitfully loony... a gaudy, grabby, bold, beautiful explosion of possibilities... the possibilities of composition and blocking, post-Looney Tunes-style human behavior and the physical expression of neurosis from head to toe.

Rated: 9/10

Mar 20, 2023

Full Review

Jean-Luc Godard

Cahiers du Cinéma

No film could be more devastating, more bitter in its humor, more brackish, with the richness of the invention constantly aggravated by the poverty of the situations.

Apr 6, 2022

Full Review

Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Zany film mixes satire of science fiction comic books with wild comedy about almost anything.

Sep 13, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

Painter Rick Todd (Dean Martin) is having difficulty with his career, so he starts taking inspiration from the dreams of his friend and roommate, Eugene (Jerry Lewis), a comic book fan who narrates an adventure story while he sleeps. Unbeknown to Eugene, Abigail Parker (Dorothy Malone), the artist for his favorite comic book, lives in the same building with her roommate, Bessie (Shirley MacLaine), the model for Abigail's drawings. Eventually, the two pairs meet, and Bessie takes to Eugene.

Director: Frank Tashlin
Screenwriter: Herbert Baker, Hal Kanter, Frank Tashlin
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 7, 1955, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2012

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