Michael_Elliott Pardners (1956)*** (out of 4)Our film starts off with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis playing Slim Moseley and Wade Kingsley who die protecting their ranch. Moseley, Jr. (Martin) stays out West where he eventually tries to save the ranch and he goes out East to track down Wade, Jr. (Lewis) who he discovers is quite the weak nerd. Wade, wanting to become a cowboy, follows Moseley out West and soon they are going up against a crooked gang who wants their land.I really wasn't sure what to expect from PARDNERS but it turned out to be one of the better Martin & Lewis movies even if it does borrow quite heavily from their film THAT'S MY BOY. This film here benefits greatly from the beautiful Technicolor plus the fact that the two leads are surrounding by a very good supporting cast. Plus, you can't help but enjoy seeing Martin in his first Western and especially when you consider the great things he did for the genre after the duo's split.As far as this film goes, Martin & Lewis were just built for the Western setting and both of them do a very good job here. I really liked Lewis' character here because he wasn't nearly as whiny or as annoying as the actor would sometime go. This character seemed like a legit one and I thought Lewis did a very good job. One of his highlights deals with him trying to roll a cigarette without much luck. Martin was perfect here as he gets some very good numbers throughout the picture including the title track, which is done with Lewis on a good Western set.The supporting cast includes fun performances from Lori Nelson, Jackie Loughery, Agnes Moorehead, Jeff Morrow, Lee Van Cleef and Lon Chaney in a small role. You also have Jack Elam and Bob Steele appearing in small roles. The film has a lot of funny moments here including one very good sequence where Martin is having to fill in for Lewis during a fight while making sure the weak one gets the credit for it. As I said, the Technicolor here looks terrific and I liked how the film played well as not only a comedy but also a Western.

Enchorde Pardners is a comedy set in the western. The story starts in the old west when Slim and Wade is forced to defend, well not before they finish their checkers game ,their ranch and families from masked raiders. During the fight Wade's wife Matilda takes Wade Jr and runs off to New York. Slim's wife with Slim Jr stays but both Slim and Wade are shot and killed. The Juniors are raised separately, Slim in the west and Wade in New York. The two don't meet until 25 years later, Slim is a capable foreman at the ranch but Wade is just a big kid ruled by his dictator (and successful businesswoman) mother. Coincidentally they both end up at the ranch, yet again attacked by masked raiders. Can Slim save the ranch and the accident prone Wade from himself?Supposed to be funny, a comedy based on the incompetent Wade, who can't help trip over himself. Problem is, it isn't. The character of Wade is too over the top, too clumsy and frankly too stupid to be any fun.The tandem of Martin and Lewis certainly performed as they was directed to, but the character Wade is just too ridiculous. And the tempo killing singing, mostly Dean's, even though beautiful, isn't helping. Wade and the singing kills any tempo, any humor and any exciting twists.So, it isn't funny, it isn't much of a western. It isn't much of anything. Unfortunately.The only fun part was to spot Lee van Cleef in a small role.3/10

MartinHafer This is the second to last film starring Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis--and so the title does seem a bit ironic! The film begins with Dean and Jerry's fathers (played by them with powdered hair) dying in a shoot out with baddies. However, both men had sons. One was a capable and manly cowboy (Martin) and the other a pampered mama's boy (Lewis) and they grow up not knowing each other. However, when Martin meets with his old partner's widow (Agnes Moorehead) to try to get money for a prize bull, she refuses but her son (Lewis) decides to go west with Martin and learn to be a real he-man. Plus, his mother has plans for him that include marriage to an amazon--and he wants no part of it. The rest of the film consists of Jerry acting wimpy and very goofy (perhaps too much so at times) and Martin being exasperated but loyal to his new friend who makes everyone (including Jerry) think he's a lot more rugged and brave than he really is.If you think about it, this plot is basically "That's My Boy" (an earlier and better Martin & Lewis film) all over again. The locale is different, but the rest is basically the same formula. It's a pleasant formula, but also shows lazy writing as well and the film could have benefited from more originality. Plus, in a few scenes Jerry really does ham it up too much (even more than normal) and there are just too many "ooooo, oooohs" and "whoo-oooaa" moments in the otherwise pleasant but unremarkable film. And, as a result of so much screen time for Jerry, Martin is mostly relegated to the background--and you can see how films like this ultimately pushed them to their dissolving their pardner-ship.By the way, this film also bears a strong similarity to the Bob Hope films "The Paleface" and "Son of Paleface". See them all and you'll probably agree.

bkoganbing It was always interesting to me how the writers at Paramount managed to rework some of the plots of their old classics to fit Martin and Lewis. In this next to last film Pardners, it's taken from the old Bing Crosby classic Rhythm On The Range. They even managed to get the old director of Bing's film Norman Taurog to direct.Dean and Jerry are the sons of a pair of ranchers who were both killed in a range war. Dean's parents stayed west, but Agnes Moorehead as Jerry's mom, went East, made a ton of money and raised Jerry as the tenderest tenderfoot ever. Dean's now gone east and entered rodeo competition to win money for a prize bull named Cuddles. He meets up with Jerry who 'helps' him out in his usual manner.Most of Rhythm on the Range involved Bing Crosby on the journey back west with Cuddles the bull and Frances Farmer where some romance develops. Since no one would confuse Frances with Jerry, the love interest has to be supplied elsewhere. Jerry's cousin Lori Nelson does this for Dean. In fact according to the Nick Tosches biography on Dean Martin, the interest was off the screen as well.Jerry doesn't do too bad in this film either. He gets saloon girl and former Miss USA Jackie Loughrey. By that time Jerry's been made the sheriff and he's gotten the ire roused of one particular bad guy Jeff Morrow who thinks of Loughrey as his own. But in the end all's well and even the intergenerational range war has finally ended. Not without the usual broad comedic gags that are a Martin and Lewis specialty.Bing made out miles better in his film than Dino did in the song department. Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn wrote the score for Pardners and it's definitely not up to their usual standards. In Rhythm on the Range Bing got to sing, Empty Saddles and introduced I'm An Old Cowhand. Since they owned the rights, why didn't Paramount just let Martin have some of these to do. In fact I'm An Old Cowhand would have been a great comic duet for both Dino and Jerry.Still the accent was on comedy rather than romance in Pardners and that is what Martin and Lewis do best.