{"id":35431,"date":"2021-07-02T19:17:25","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T23:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=35431"},"modified":"2021-07-02T19:17:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T23:17:25","slug":"the-bootleg-files-the-first-martin-and-lewis-reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2021\/07\/02\/the-bootleg-files-the-first-martin-and-lewis-reunion\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: The First Martin and Lewis Reunion"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 772:<\/strong> \u201cThe First Martin and Lewis Reunion\u201d (1958 segment from Eddie Fisher\u2019s television show).<\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> Uncertain if this was ever part of a documentary.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> No one bothered to clear the rights.
\n
\nCHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> We\u2019ll discuss this below.<\/p>\n

One of the most dramatic moments on 1970s television occurred during the 1976 broadcast of Jerry Lewis\u2019 Labor Day weekend telethon on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Frank Sinatra was on stage with Lewis making a donation to the fundraiser and then he announced that he had a friend offstage that he wanted to have join him. The friend was Dean Martin and viewers were watching what they thought was the first reunion between the former comedy team partners in 20 years.
\n<\/p>\n

Except that it wasn\u2019t their first reunion. Two years after the duo\u2019s acrimonious split, they were together on camera for a very brief but highly amusing moment \u2013 but many people were unaware this occurred.<\/p>\n

Martin and Lewis first paired in 1946 and experienced one of the most meteoric rises in show business history. They were guests on the first episode of Ed Sullivan\u2019s long-running television variety show in 1948 (sadly, no copy of that broadcast is known to survive) and soon had their own regular TV gig via \u201cThe Colgate Comedy Hour,\u201d plus their own radio show, a movie contract with Paramount Pictures and the ability to sell out any theater or club where they would do their act.<\/p>\n

But as Martin and Lewis were hitting their peak in the early 1950s, tensions began to permeate their partnership. In their film work, Lewis was the dominant figure \u2013 to the point that Martin often seemed like a supporting character rather than an equal partner in comic crime. When the first draft of the script for their 1954 feature \u201c3 Ring Circus\u201d was presented, Martin reportedly threw it back in anger over what he saw as an insubstantial role. <\/p>\n

Another matter complicated the relationship in 1954: Look Magazine did a photo shoot of the pair but cropped Martin out of the cover picture. Lewis would later acknowledge that his overbearing behavior during this time did not help matters, referring to himself as a \u201cbully.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Hollywood tabloid press caught wind of the difficulties between the men and the entertainment news headlines were full of reports that Martin and Lewis were going to split up. Even Groucho Marx got into the act, sending public letters to the comics urging them to stay together. The \u201c3 Ring Circus\u201d script was rewritten several times before Martin agreed to the film, but the damage was made worse when an early script of \u201cThe Delicate Delinquent\u201d was presented and Martin rejected the idea of playing a cop to Lewis\u2019 title character as an unlikely juvenile.<\/p>\n

By the time Martin and Lewis were shooting \u201cHollywood or Bust\u201d in 1956, they were not speaking to each other off-camera. After finishing their run at New York City\u2019s Copacabana on July 25, 1956, Martin and Lewis were over as team.<\/p>\n

Lewis made \u201cThe Delicate Delinquent\u201d as his first solo film, with Darren McGavin playing the cop role intended for Martin, and it was box office success, with more hit films to follow. Martin\u2019s first solo film, \u201cTen Thousand Bedrooms,\u201d was a commercial flop, but he quickly found his footing with films including \u201cThe Young Lions\u201d and \u201cSome Came Running\u201d and hit recordings including \u201cReturn to Me\u201d and \u201cVolare.\u201d<\/p>\n

On September 30, 1958, Lewis returned to television as a guest on \u201cThe Eddie Fisher Show.\u201d Lewis\u2019 segment had him attempting to do a serious rendition of the song \u201cAutumn Leaves,\u201d but Fisher\u2019s refusal to leave the stage while he\u2019s singing flusters Lewis. Fisher complains that he could get a \u201csinging guest like Mary Martin or Dude Martin or Tony Martin,\u201d to which a mock-angry Lewis shrieks \u201cYou\u2019re getting pretty close, big mouth\u201d and blows a large puff of cigarette smoke in his face. Lewis ups his complaint about Fisher by wisecracking \u201cI haven\u2019t worked with a singer in years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis insists that Fisher go off stage, stating, \u201cLet me do what I have to do.\u201d Then, with no warning, Martin emerges from the curtain behind them and exclaims, \u201cDon\u2019t sing! Do what you want, but don\u2019t sing!\u201d Fisher doubles over with laughter while Lewis covers his face to mask his laughing. Martin says something that cannot be heard over the audience\u2019s laughter, but he makes a clapping gesture with his hands that looks like an oversized mouth yapping. <\/p>\n

Suddenly, Bing Crosby comes out from behind the curtain to grab Martin and yank him offstage. Fisher and Lewis grab each other for physical support to prevent falling over in laughter. Lewis runs to check behind the curtain to see if Martin and Crosby are still there \u2013 they weren\u2019t, and he runs back to center stage to sing from Martin\u2019s hit tune \u201cReturn to Me\u201d in an attempt to lure them back.<\/p>\n

Martin was on camera for eight seconds (Crosby only had two seconds of airtime), but it was enough to create a brief flurry of speculation if Martin and Lewis would get back together. It didn\u2019t happen and the footage disappeared for years. By the time Martin made his unexpected appearance on the 1976 telethon, most people forgot about \u201cThe Eddie Fisher Show\u201d happening.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if the footage from \u201cThe Eddie Fisher Show\u201d was ever incorporated into a documentary. I am aware of a poor-quality unauthorized video with a time code is on YouTube<\/a>. For Martin and Lewis fans, this blink-and-you-miss-it moment is a priceless post-script to a memorable pairing.<\/p>\n

IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.<\/em><\/p>\n

Listen to the award-winning podcast \u201cThe Online Movie Show with Phil Hall<\/a>\u201d on SoundCloud. Phil Hall\u2019s new book \u201cJesus Christ Movie Star<\/a>\u201d is now available from BearManor Media.<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 772: \u201cThe First Martin and Lewis Reunion\u201d (1958 segment from Eddie Fisher\u2019s television show). LAST SEEN: On YouTube. AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Uncertain if this was ever part of a documentary. REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No one bothered to clear the rights. CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: We\u2019ll discuss this below. One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":35432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513],"tags":[219,270,2761,1236,1832],"class_list":["post-35431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bootleg-files","tag-comedy","tag-dean-martin","tag-eddie-fisher","tag-jerry-lewis","tag-television"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35433,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35431\/revisions\/35433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}