The Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection:
Volume Two –
When TV Was Fun (Passport)
Picture:
C- Sound: C Extras: D Program: B-
The first
Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection
was so successful that Passport has issued two more box sets. The second volume is subtitled When TV
Was Fun and features programming strictly from their Colgate Comedy Hour this time around. The ten episodes of the show featured this time are:
1)
The
pilot show from September 1950 with Marilyn Maxwell and Leonard Barr. Needless to say that they were off to a good
start.
2)
The
second show from October has the mayors of Martin (Steubenville, Ohio) and
Lewis (Newark, New Jersey) at the time show up.
3)
Sammy
Petrillo from the all-time film disaster Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla
guests in this November 1950 show.
4)
Eddie
Cantor, a former Colgate Comedy Hour host himself, shows up in this May 1951
show.
5)
Singer Tony martin and boxing great Joe Lewis guest
in this June 1951 show.
6)
Danny
Arnold and Norman Lear get in front of the camera for this March 1952 show.
7)
Benny
Rubin, Frank Nelson and Sheldon Leonard guest star in this May 1953 show.
8)
Burt
Lancaster shows up for this October 1953 show.
9)
Character
acting legend Franklin Pangborn shows up for this February 1955 broadcast.
10) Pangborn returned for this February 1955 show with The Four Step
Brothers, a dance group of the time.
That is a
good set and sampling of the show, with some obviously key guests, making it a
good follow-up to the first set, even if it does not have the diversity of the
first collection. Why these shows were
not available sooner is odd, but here they are and they hold up very well for
their age.
The full
frame 1.33 X 1 image is a mix of kinescope/videotaped live action footage and
animation on film for the advertisements, which look better by default. This is very muddy for the most part, but
the content is so good that it is limits that have to be accepted. Whether better copies are out there, who
knows, but the show needs some serious work.
That goes for the sound, the original monophonic sound a few generations
down here in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono.
There are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
