To the Rescue

In old-fashioned westerns, just as the settlers are on the point of being overwhelmed by Indians, the cavalry rushes to the rescue. NBC, beset on all sides by the audience-grabbing shows of CBS, has created its own rescue column out of the zany comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Last season they were the only ones consistently able to save the Colgate Hour from its clobberings by CBS's Ed Sullivan. Last month, when the Milton Berle Show was beaten twice by Phil Silvers, Martin & Lewis charged to Berle's rescue and reversed the trend. They have similarly beefed up the ratings of other NBC programs, from the early-morning Today to the late-at-night Texaco Star Theater.

Last week Martin & Lewis got their reward: a new five-year contract with NBC that will pay them $7,500,000 for a minimum of four shows a year. In his paneled Paramount Studio dressing room, Jerry Lewis intoned: "We're very proud we're in a position that we can be of strength to NBC." Dean Martin, Jerry explained, was still on the set rehearsing a scene for their current movie, Pardners. Jerry added: "The way we do it is sometimes Dean does the talking, sometimes I do. I usually do the business for both of us. He leaves it to me. But when I say

'I,' I mean 'we.' 'We' for Martin and Lewis. Got that clear?"

Jerry bristles at the suggestion of some CBS executives and entertainers that the Martin & Lewis team would soon pall on audiences if they appeared regularly on a TV series. "What makes CBS so damned brilliant?" he demanded. "Any imbecile knows that saturation is the misery of the entertainment world. We've made it an event when we go on. Mr. and Mrs. Viewer can't tune us in any time they choose. The greats of the business go by

MARTIN & LEWIS WITH MILTON BERLE Here comes the cavalry.

the wayside because they're overexposed." Jerry is delighted that NBC plans to spot their forthcoming hour-long shows against the strongest CBS competition possible: "We like competition. We like to rise above important things, not something no one is watching. There's nothing personal in it. Ed Sullivan and I are friends for a long time. He's a wonderful guy--as long as he's a loser."

The Martin & Lewis technique has paid off well. In addition to their fat NBC contract, Dean and Jerry make two movies a year: one for Paramount with a guarantee of 70% of the net profits and one for Producer Hal Wallis at a straight salary of $200,000 (see CINEMA). Last year their combined income topped $4,000,000.

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