Artists and Models (1955) review

Broke roommates Rick (Dean Martin) and Eugene (Jerry Lewis) - the former is a painter, the latter is a children's writer - can't keep a job or afford proper meals (you can guess why) but they soon realize they live in the same building as professional cartoonist Abigail (Dorothy Malone), make the acquaintance of a publisher and release a comic based on Eugene's vivid dreams ... which accidentally contains government secrets.  The razor thin, barely-coherent plot is held together with tape from the Dollar Store: Lewis is completely obnoxious, twisting his body around or contorting his face to suggest constant agony while smooth Martin aggressively pursues Malone ... and all the goofy new developments are accompanied by musical numbers.  It's clear that Tashlin holds comics in total disdain, so it's a good thing he never lived long enough to find out what erotic manga is (or seen the work of Katie Skelly): actual steam would have hissed out of his head.  At least Dino provides some saucy one-liners - when asked, "Have you ever posed with a girl?" he responds, "Not while anyone was watching" - and Shirley MacLaine looks cute in her Bat Lady outfit (although the obsession with horoscopes and numerology is a Red Flag).