Sun 24 Sep 2017
Archived Movie Review: MY FRIEND IRMA GOES WEST (1950).
Posted by Steve under Films: Comedy/Musicals , Old Time Radio , Reviews[11] Comments
MY FRIEND IRMA GOES WEST. Paramount Pictures, 1950. John Lund, Marie Wilson, Diana Lynn, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Corinne Calvet, Lloyd Corrigan, Don Porter, Harold Huber, Kenneth Tobey. Screenplay: Cy Howard & Parke Levy. Director: Hal Walker.
Marie Wilson, who made a career of playing ditsy blondes, will be remembered best for her portrayal of Irma Peterson, the impossibly vacuous New York City secretary with a mind the size of a paper clip. This was the second film to feature Irma, who began her career on radio in 1947, but as usually the case, of all the people who were in the cast on the radio program, only Marie Wilson managed to make the transition into the movies.
And even though creator Cy Howard was also involved in the movie production, much of the magic her character created in her original form is gone. In fact, Irma is on the screen far less than the up-and-coming comedy team of Martin and Lewis. Incidentally, they also appeared in the first Irma picture as well — their screen debut, no less.
The plot is simple enough — Dean Martin, who plays the boy friend of Irma’s friend Jane, gets a shot at Hollywood, or so he thinks, and the whole gang goes along. It;s to bad that, unknown to them, the boys in the white suits come along afterward to pick up the “producer” who hired him. (But what about the French actress with eyes for Dean?)
Irma continued on the radio for four more years, until 1954, but there weren’t any more movies. It’s no wonder why. When writers lose the roots of their own creations, chances of a successful transplant are next to none.
September 24th, 2017 at 11:01 pm
I don’t believe I knew about it when I first wrote this review, but there was also a TV version of MY FRIEND IRMA, broadcast on CBS from January 8, 1952 to June 1954 (according to Wikipedia).
Not much seems to be known about it even now, but here’s an episode I found on YouTube:
September 24th, 2017 at 11:11 pm
Not many more ‘inspiring’ performers, than Marie.
September 25th, 2017 at 10:57 am
I don’t remember ever seeing her in her early film career, which is strange, but as the feather-brained Irma, she created a character that caught on like crazy. I have always suspected that it took a very intelligent woman to make a “dumb blonde” like Irma so memorable.
September 25th, 2017 at 7:17 am
I listened to the radio show as a kid and really liked it, as I recall. “Hello, Joe” was a favorite repeated line. I liked the movies too (I had no taste, even then), especially the appearances by Martin and Lewis.
September 25th, 2017 at 11:54 am
There was no CBS radio station nearby when I grew up, so I didn’t get to hear Irma until I started collecting radio shows on tape in the 1970s. Then she and the rest of the cast became big favorites of mine, too.
September 25th, 2017 at 2:36 pm
This brings back a lot of memories for me. I listened to the radio show regularly. I think this was where Hans Conreid’s character of Professor Kropotkin appeared.
September 25th, 2017 at 3:12 pm
You are quite right about Hans Conreid. Cathy Lewis played Irma’s friend and roommate, Jane. John Brown was Irma’s boy friend Al. Gloria Gordon played Irma and Jane’s landlady. They had voices then.
PS. Irma’s definition of “compulsory military service” was having to date a sailor when you didn’t want to.
September 25th, 2017 at 6:19 pm
I remember an episode on the radio where a wedding was mentioned. Marie Wilson cracked up and explained that she had just been married. There was applause at the announcement.
September 25th, 2017 at 7:19 pm
I liked both movies — I never had any taste either. I knew about the radio version but never heard it, but liked Wilson anyway.
September 25th, 2017 at 11:20 pm
In 1944 Marie and Jack Carson supported Dennis Morgan and Ann Sheridan in Shine On Harvest Moon, a somewhat undistinguished biography of Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth with a note of memorable distinction, So Dumb But So Beautiful a duet performed by Carson and Wilson. The over used brilliantly performed fits that performance. I tried to find it floating around the net, but no good. Worth while finding, even if the film is not.
September 25th, 2017 at 11:34 pm
I found a copy on Australian eBay for AU $13.90
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SHINE-ON-HARVEST-MOON-Ann-Sheridan-Musical-DVD/252867536125
It’s not clear if the seller will mail copies to the US, but the film does exist!