OVP: The Caddy (1953)

Film: The Caddy (1953)

Stars: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Donna Reed, Barbara Bates

Director: Norman Taurog

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Original Song-"That's Amore")

Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

Each month, as part of our 2022 Saturdays with the Stars series, we highlight a different Classical Hollywood star who made their name in the early days of television.  This month, our focus is on Donna Reed: click here to learn more about Ms. Reed (and why I picked him), and click here for other Saturdays with the Stars articles.

We talked last week about how Donna Reed's career throughout the 1940's was a struggle, with her getting one iconic part (It's a Wonderful Life) to go with a series of forgettable westerns & dramas.  This week, though, we're going to talk about what was the most successful chapter, both commercially & critically, during Reed's career (while it was happening-lest we forget, It's a Wonderful Life became a holiday landmark in the decades that followed, not at the time).  In 1953, during her time at Columbia, she had two films that were released days apart: the first of the two was The Caddy, a movie that she was on loan to Paramount for that brought her into the company of Martin & Lewis in a huge hit...hence it being our movie today.  The bigger deal, though, was that she also had an even bigger hit coming out for her home studio of Columbia, Fred Zinnemann's landmark epic From Here to Eternity.  Playing the role of Lorene Burke in the film, Reed got the best notices of her career, and quickly found herself competing for an award she'd had to watch others try for for decades: the Oscar.  Up against impressive competition (including Grace Kelly & Geraldine Page), Reed won the trophy, her first and only Oscar nomination/win. As we'll see today, though, while her career was arguably in the best state it'd been in in a while, From Here to Eternity (where, it has to be noted, she won a supporting Oscar despite having spent a decade attempting to achieve leading lady status) was more fluke than the rule.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie is about Joe Anthony (Martin) and Harvey Miller, Jr. (Lewis), who are at the beginning of the film a noted comedy duo who are telling the story of their lives before a big show. We see their humble beginnings, with both men struggling to find their place in the world until we discover that Joe is an excellent, even pro-worthy golfer.  He initially does this in partnership with Harvey, who is a superb caddy, but Joe lets the fame go to his head, particularly as he attempts to woo a wealthy socialite Kathy Taylor (Reed), and mistreats his friend.  In the end, they find their friendship & their unorthodox families are worth more than the pro circuit...and instead launch a successful career in show business, where they are openers for another legendary comedy duo: Martin & Lewis (playing themselves).

I've seen a few Martin & Lewis films, and while I generally love their banter, I always think they work better when they're doing a schtick onstage than pulling along a story.  Neither of these men are great actors, and the plots are so formulaic they make an Astaire & Rogers musical look original.  The calling card in the movies is frequently the cameos, which here are a series of legendary golfers (including Ben Hogan & Sam Snead) playing themselves.  This would be indistinguishable from their other movies were it not for one of the musical numbers they throw in about a third through the musical.  Martin sings (for the first time) one of his signature numbers, the ridiculous & romantic "That's Amore!"  This is not a good song lyrically (it was infamously mocked on the Dean Martin Roasts by Orson Welles), but it works so well.  Here, it's sung by both Martin & Lewis, but it's really Dean who keeps it alive.  That flawless, lazy baritone feels so warm & inviting, you honestly feel surrounded by the pasta he's crooning over.

The film features Donna Reed as another indistinguishable love interest.  The Caddy in conjunction with From Here to Eternity should've been a big deal for Reed.  Obviously one won her an Oscar, but The Caddy was also a huge hit, particularly internationally (this is one of the films that cemented Jerry Lewis's legendary status in France, where he was hailed as a comedic genius).  But Martin & Lewis got the credit there, and James Jones got the credit for From Here to Eternity.  Reed was soon getting upstaged by bigger stars like Elizabeth Taylor & Dana Andrews in her later pictures.  We'll talk about that later today when we profile one of those films, and what ultimately led to the TV show that would cement Donna Reed's legend, for better or worse.