Money from Home [DVD] [1953]

Frightening though the prospect may sound, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis appear in Technicolor and 3-D in the musical comedy Money from Home. Cashing in on the success of Guys and Dolls, the script is based on a Damon Runyon story. Martin plays gambler Honey Talk Nelson, whose "markers" have been called in by gangster boss Jumbo Schneider (Sheldon Leonard). In need of money in a hurry, Honey Talk tries to honey-talk his gawky assistant-veterinarian cousin Virgil Yokum (Jerry Lewis) into "fixing" the outcome of an upcoming Maryland steeplechase competition. Along the way, Virgil is forced to impersonate British jockey Bertie Searles (Richard Haydn), and also gets mixed up with a visiting Arab potentate (Romo Vincent) and his harem. Pat Crowley and Marjie Millar fulfill the leading-lady obligations, while Dean Martin gets to sing three songs, one of them co-written by Guys and Dolls composer Frank Loesser.~Hal Erickson