That's My Boy (1951 film)

That's My Boy
That's My Boy
Directed by	Hal Walker
Written by	Cy Howard
Produced by	Cy Howard; Hal B. Wallis
Starring	Dean Martin; Jerry Lewis; Ruth Hussey; Eddie Mayehoff; Polly Bergen
Cinematography	Lee Garmes
Edited by	Warren Low
Music by	Leigh Harline
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	July 20, 1951 (Atlantic City, New Jersey);
Running time	98 minutes
Language	English
Box office	$3.8 million (U.S. rentals); 21,386 admissions (France)

That's My Boy is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Hal Walker and starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis.

Plot

Junior Jackson is the weakling son of former All-America football hero Jarring Jack Jackson. His mother is a former champion Olympic swimmer. Junior is a disappointment to his father, who cannot understand how two athletes could produce such an unathletic son. Junior is more interested in animal husbandry than in sports. In exchange for free tuition to college, Bill Baker makes a deal with Jarring Jack to turn his son into a football star.

Junior is somehow selected for the team but scores a touchdown for the opposite team. He falls in love with beautiful coed Terry Howard, but he is too shy to talk to her and she and Bill begin a romance. To maintain the ruse (and free education), Bill and Terry continue to support Junior and build his newfound confidence. Junior confides to Bill that he intends to marry Terry, so Bill, feeling guilty, becomes drunk and creates a scene at Terry's dorm that results in his expulsion. Junior learns the truth about Bill and Terry and is determined to make things right.

Junior wins the big game single-handedly and finally fulfills his father's expectations.

Cast

Dean Martin as Bill Baker
Jerry Lewis as "Junior" Jackson
Ruth Hussey as Ann Jackson
Eddie Mayehoff as Jarring Jack Jackson
Marion Marshall as Terry Howard
Polly Bergen as Betty "Babs" Hunter
Hugh Sanders as Coach Wheeler
John McIntire as Dr. Benjamin Green
Francis Pierlot as Henry Baker
Lillian Randolph as May
Selmer Jackson as "Doc" Hunter (billed as Selmar Jackson)
Tom Harmon as Himself (announcer)
Gregg Palmer as Student (billed as Palmer Lee)
Hazel Boyne as Housemother (billed as Hazel "Sonny" Boyne)
Frank Gifford as "Junior" Jackson (football sequences)
Don Haggerty as Tom

Production

That's My Boy was filmed from December 6, 1950 through January 10, 1951. Location shooting occurred at Occidental College in northeast Los Angeles.

Songs

"Ballin' the Jack", sung by Dean Martin, Polly Bergen and ensemble
"I'm in the Mood for Love", sung by Dean Martin

Release

The film's world premiere was held on July 20, 1951 at the Warner Theatre in Atlantic City, New Jersey,^[1] the city in which Martin and Lewis first appeared on stage together in 1946.^[4]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic A. H. Weiler wrote: "There are occasional moments when the mixture, spiked by the mugging of Jerry Lewis, does have its special lift. By and large, however, this latest excursion into amiable insanity by the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis is a labored repetition of one situation. Will the undernourished, sickly, anxiety-ridden Jerry meet the expectations of his football hero dad? Perhaps this isn't the weather for such athletic goings-on. At any rate, it doesn't seem to make much difference once the joke is told."^[5]

Legacy

A CBS television series based on the film aired for one season from 1954 to 1955, with Eddie Mayehoff reprising his role as Jarring Jack Jackson. Gil Stratton played "Junior" Jackson and Rochelle Hudson was cast as Alice Jackson.^[6] The series was rerun by CBS during the summer of 1959.

Home video

The film was included in the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Collection: Volume One eight-film DVD set that was released on October 31, 2006.

References

1 2 "Keys for Dean & Jerry". Atlantic City Press. July 20, 1951. p. 11.
↑ "Top Grossers of 1951". Variety. 185 (4): 70. January 2, 1952.
↑ Jerry Lewis films French box office information at Box Office Story
↑ Rohan, Virginia (April 3, 2013). "The Jersey sites that made Martin & Lewis". The Star-Ledger. Newark, New Jersey. p. 29.
↑ Weiler, A. H. (August 2, 1951). "The Screen in Review: Martin and Lewis as Football Heroes". The New York Times. p. 18.
↑ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (9 ed.). New York: Random House Publishing. p. 1375. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. Retrieved June 5, 2024.

External links

That's My Boy at IMDb
That's My Boy at Rotten Tomatoes

[premiere-1] 1 2 "Keys for Dean & Jerry". Atlantic City Press. July 20, 1951. p. 11.

[2] "Top Grossers of 1951". Variety. 185 (4): 70. January 2, 1952.

[jerry-3] Jerry Lewis films French box office information at Box Office Story

[4] Rohan, Virginia (April 3, 2013). "The Jersey sites that made Martin & Lewis". The Star-Ledger. Newark, New Jersey. p. 29.

[weiler-5] Weiler, A. H. (August 2, 1951). "The Screen in Review: Martin and Lewis as Football Heroes". The New York Times. p. 18.

[B&M-6] Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (9 ed.). New York: Random House Publishing. p. 1375. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. Retrieved June 5, 2024.

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