Money from Home

Money From Home
Directed byGeorge Marshall
Written byDamon Runyon
James Allardice
Produced byHal B. Wallis
StarringDean Martin
Jerry Lewis
Marjie Millar
Pat Crowley
Robert Strauss
CinematographyDaniel L. Fapp
Music byLeigh Harline
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • December 31, 1953 (1953-12-31)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million[1]
Box office$3.5 million (US)[2]
488,392 admissions (France)[3]

Money From Home is a 1953 American comedy film starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The comedy was the first for the Martin and Lewis team to be shot in color and was their only film in 3-D.[4] The picture was premiered as a special preview screening across the U.S. on New Year's Eve, 1953.

Plot

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New York City in the 1920s is where gambler "Honey Talk" Nelson crosses paths with bookie "Jumbo" Schneider. Nelson has two choices, cement shoes or "fixing" a horse race in Maryland. Naturally, Nelson heads to Maryland with his cousin Virgil Yokum tagging along.

Once in Maryland, Nelson falls for the owner of the horse that has been chosen for the "fix". Virgil has also fallen in love, with the horse's veterinarian.

Nelson decides that love should prevail and refuses to go along with the plan. Meanwhile, an English jockey, who is to ride the horse, is prevented from performing his job by Schneider's mobsters and Yokum winds up riding the horse to victory.

Cast

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Production

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The team's eleventh feature, Money from Home was the first Martin and Lewis film made in color, although they did make a color, cameo appearance in the 1952 Bob Hope and Bing Crosby film, Road to Bali. It was filmed from March 9 to May 1, 1953.

Money From Home is also the only Martin and Lewis film made in 3-D, having been shot with Technicolor's 3-D camera rig, which exposed six strips of film in synchronization. It was the second and final time the rig was used. The film was also the third and last time one of the team's features was available with a Western Electric, 3-track stereophonic soundtrack. This soundtrack is now lost.

The film was premiered on New Year's Eve, 1953 as a special preview in 322 theaters. Because of a technical issue at Technicolor, pairs of prints necessary for 3-D were not available, so the film was previewed in 2-D. The film went into general release in February, 1954.

Lewis received an additional on-screen credit: "Special Material in Song Numbers Staged by Jerry Lewis." It was the only time during the team's productions that Lewis received creative credit, despite co-writing and co-directing several of the pictures.

Home media

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After being excluded from both Paramount Pictures Martin and Lewis DVD collections, released in 2006 and 2007, Money from Home saw a single-disc DVD release on July 1, 2008 and a blu-ray release on June 27, 2017.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "3-D Technicolor Bow in M&L Pic". Variety. 11 March 1953. p. 13.
  2. ^ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954', Variety Weekly, January 5, 1955
  3. ^ Jerry Lewis films French box office information at Box Office Story
  4. ^ Neibaur, James L (1994). The Jerry Lewis Films: An Analytical Filmography of the Innovative Comic. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786475001.
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