| Artists and Models | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Frank Tashlin |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Daniel L. Fapp |
| Edited by | Warren Low |
| Music by | Walter Scharf |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3.8 million[1] 1,031,433 admissions (France)[2] |
Artists and Models is a 1955 Americanmusicalromantic comedy film inVistaVision directed byFrank Tashlin, markingMartin and Lewis's 14th feature together as a team. The film co-starsShirley MacLaine andDorothy Malone, withEva Gabor andAnita Ekberg appearing in brief roles.
Rick Todd is a struggling painter and smooth-talkingladies' man. His goofy young roommate Eugene Fullstack is an aspiring children's author who has a passion for comic books, especially those of the mysterious and sexy "Bat Lady".
Each night, Eugene has horrific screaming nightmares inspired by those ultra-violent comics, which he describes aloud in his sleep. They are about the bizarre bird-likesuperhero "Vincent the Vulture" who is, according to Eugene's nocturnal babblings, the "defender of truth and liberty and a member of theAudubon Society" and is "half-boy, half-man, half-bird with feathers growing out of every pore" and a "tail full ofjet propulsion". Also known as "Vultureman" or more simply "TheVulture", the golden helmeted hero soars through space from his "homogenized space station" orbiting theMilky Way to battle his shapely but sadistic purple-eyed archenemy "Zuba the Magnificent", who hates Vincent because "she's allergic to his feathers" and who enjoys blasting big "oooozing" holes into his highly resilient flying form ("It'll take more than that to stop me!") with her "atomicpivot gun".
A neighbor in their apartment building, Abigail Parker, is a professional artist who works for aNew York comic book company called Murdock Publishing and is the creator of the "Bat Lady". Her energetichoroscope-obsessed roommate is Bessie Sparrowbush, who is secretary to her publisher Mr. Murdock and Abigail's model for the flying bat-maskedsuperheroine. Bessie develops a crush on Eugene, who is unaware that she is his beloved "Bat Lady" in the flesh.
Abigail becomes frustrated at work at the increasingly lurid and bloodthirsty stories the money-hungry Murdock demands. She quits to become an anti-comics activist, dragging Eugene into her crusade as an example of how trashy comic books can warp impressionable minds at the same time that Rick gets a job with the company after pitching the adventures of "Vincent the Vulture" from Eugene's dreams. Rick attains success at his new job, but after falling for Abigail he keeps his work a secret from both her and Eugene.
Unbeknownst to all, Eugene's dreams also contain the real top-secret rocket formula "X34 minus 5R1 plus 6-X36" that Rick publishes in his stories. With spies all around them, they manage to entertain at the annual "Artists and Models Ball" and capture the enemy, preserving national security.
Martin and Lewis' 14th feature,Artists and Models, was filmed from February 28 to May 3, 1955, at Paramount Studios.[4] The film was released on November 7, 1955, byParamount Pictures, and was one of the team's highest-budgeted pictures at $1.5 million ($12,589,869.40 in 2011 dollars). The film was shot inVistaVision andEastmancolor, with prints byTechnicolor, and stereophonic sound byPerspecta. Costumes were by Paramount wardrobe designerEdith Head.[4]
Artists and Models marked the first time Lewis worked with formerLooney Tunes directorFrank Tashlin, whom he admired greatly.[4] Martin and Lewis would reunite with him on their last film,Hollywood or Bust, and Lewis would then work with Tashlin on six of his solo films.
ProducerHal B. Wallis chose Tashlin forArtists and Models on the basis of his background as a cartoonist, and the film contains many gags influenced by the director's animation work. When MacLaine kisses Lewis in front of a water cooler, the water steams up; in another scene, a massage therapist bends Lewis's leg all the way towards his head.Artists and Models is considered a milestone in moviesatire for its mockery of mid-1950s pop culture. One scene satirizes theKefauver hearings on violent comic books, and other targets in the film include theCold War, thespace race and the publishing business. In the final production number, Rick and Eugene are seen painting on the backs of several chorus girls. This is a sly nod to the filmUgetsu, a breakthrough hit fromJapanese cinema, which opened in the U.S. six months before filming began onArtists and Models.
Tashlin brought a lot of sexualinnuendo toArtists and Models, making it more adult in content than most previous Martin and Lewis movies and indulging his ownfetishistic fascination with female characters in revealing costumes. Some of his most suggestive ideas were disallowed by theProduction Code; in Tashlin's original script, Lewis's character was named "Fullstick", but the censors ordered the removal of thisphallic joke. The censors also asked Paramount to cut a scene where Dorothy Malone is seen wearing only a strategically placed towel, but the studio did not remove it. The finished film contains many jokes that push the boundaries of what was acceptable in the mid-1950s, including many about women's breasts and a number ofdouble entendres.
Longtime Martin and Lewis writerHerbert Baker worked on the script, which had the original titleRock-A-Bye Baby; the title later being used fora 1958 Jerry Lewis film.[5]
Songs featured were by music legendsHarry Warren andJack Brooks, and included "When You Pretend", "You Look So Familiar", "Innamorata (Sweetheart)", "The Lucky Song", and "Artists and Models". A sixth number, sung by Shirley MacLaine during the party, entitled "The Bat Lady", was cut from the final edit.[4]
MacLaine did not make another film with Lewis, but did go on to appear in six more films with Martin,Some Came Running,Ocean's Eleven,Career,All in a Night's Work,What a Way to Go! andCannonball Run II.
According to a 1955 column bySheilah Graham, the part of Abby was originally offered toLizabeth Scott, who had played opposite the team inScared Stiff. When she turned the part down, Martin asked forDorothy Malone, his other love interest fromScared Stiff.
The cast is filled with cameos by many Martin and Lewis regulars.Eddie Mayehoff made his cinematic debut inThat's My Boy and co-starred inThe Stooge.Kathleen Freeman also appeared in3 Ring Circus, along with a number of Lewis' solo films.Jack Elam was in the team's second-to-last picture,Pardners.Anita Ekberg would appear in Martin and Lewis' final film,Hollywood or Bust.
The "Vincent the Vulture" comic books made as a prop for this picture briefly appear in the unairedpilot for the television seriesGet Smart.
The film was included on the five-film DVD set theDean Martin and Jerry Lewis Collection: Volume Two, released on June 5, 2007. It was released on its own on March 13, 2020.
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 85% of 13 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10.[6]
