Who payed the critics

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I never thought that both of them will be starring in a western movie. They would normally have films based on show business but this is definitely different from their other stuff. I honestly thought at the beginning, Lewis and Martin were gonna look like old bucks throughout the whole movie but when they were suppose to be killed, I actually nearly cried. However it wasn't the case after all because the old bucks were meant to be their father's and they just suddenly changed into their regular selves.I really loved the scenes of the old West, it does take you right back in time when cowboy movies were increasingly popular in the 50's and 60s. It's a really nice feeling but unfortunately, cowboy movies nowadays aren't shown much anymore! This movie is such a gem, I honestly loved Lewis and Martin teaming up on this one!

This Martin & Lewis film is beautiful in full-color Vista-Vision! It's set in the Old West, where Dean is managing a ranch and Jerry wants to be a cowboy...like their fathers, who were pals in the Old West at the same ranch. Of course, in the old days and the new days there's a villain attempting to take over the ranch, and it's up to the boys to save the day.Dean has several great songs here. "The Wind! The Wind!" is probably one of his best recordings during the Capitol years, and "Me 'n You 'n the Moon" is a very nice up-temp love song. For Jerry there's "Buckskin Beauty", and for the boys together there's the title song...which is very nice, though ironic since this film was playing in theaters just about the time the duo had split up. By the way, the songs were composed by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy VanHeusen.I found Jerry a little more tolerable here...the screechy voice mostly gone...a bit more mature acting (mature?). Dean was very laid back and fit the role. In terms of supporting actors, Agnes Moorehead is good as Jerry's mother, and Lori Nelson fine as Dean's love interest (though this is not big speaking part). There are a number of familiar faces among the cowboys -- Jeff Morrow, Lon Chaney, Jr., Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam, and Bob Steele.Incidentally, if you have a chance to watch "The Caddy" and "Pardners" in succession -- which I did yesterday and today -- wow, what a difference in Dean's body language and facial expressions. In the earlier film, there's a look that sort of says, "I'm having fun". You don't see that in "Pardners".All in all, a rather pleasant effort, and in my view one of the better of the Martin & Lewis pics.

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

After years of just seeing parts of this Martin & Lewis movie, I finally watched the whole thing on YouTube. As you can discern from the title, Dean & Jerry are in the old west. First, as their fathers from the previous century. Then, as their sons with the mother of Lewis (Agnes Moorehead) raising him back in New York to marry some Amazon woman but that son will have none of it. I'll stop there and just say that while I enjoyed Pardners, I did feel that some of the plot points and characterizations seemed rushed in order to parody certain clichés. Still, Jerry's as funny as he can be doing what he does here and Dean seems quite comfortable in his first of many times he would wear cowboy duds. The leading ladies of Lori Nelson and Jackie Loughery sure look good and nothing more. The villains of Jeff Morrow and John Baragrey provide good enough menace. So on that note, I recommend Pardners. P.S. Despite the team mentioning at the end they plan to stay together in movies for years, by the time this was released in August of '56, they had already done their last performance in tandem the previous month. It would be 20 years before they would publicly reunite on Jerry's telethon with Frank Sinatra doing his bit...