For those who haven't heard it -
The Martin and Lewis Show. The guest stars that were on it were certainly impressive and it's decent evidence to support Peter Cook's comment that Martin made Lewis funny, or as writers such as Levy said, made him likeable/bearable.
Does he deserve respect for his self-parodic turn....
Something easy to overlook is Lewis' genuine passion for film and his technical innovation. For example, he was the first director to use studio monitors to watch what was being recorded on set, rather than relying on daily rushes; this system was one that he designed personally and although this became the usual way to direct films, it was a decade or more later until other directors used that kind of technology. Lewis' set design for
The Ladies' Man was similarly innovative. Lighting and sound was built into each room of the 'boarding house' that the film took in place in - although this methods is initially more expensive than sound/lighting crews setting up and dismantling equipment for each scene, it proved to be a flexible and speedy way of shooting that had the added bonus of no problems that might be caused by crews setting up equipment as needed (e.g. Gear not being set up correctly meaning that a scene would have to be reshot).
Lewis wrote a guide to film-making, which was considered to be brilliant. Additionally, when he was guest lecturer at UCLA, future successful directors like Spielberg were in the audience.
...There's a school of thought that his Comic Relief/Children in Need equivalents were really done to benefit himself.
Although Lewis' attitude to disabilities could arguably be said to be dated, I can't say I've read anything to convincingly suggest that his telethons were done for purely selfish reasons. There has been quite a bit of criticism levelled at Lewis' charity efforts (Levy's biography is a good source about this) - personally, I think that such criticism has a decent foundation.
If people subscribed to the 'school of thought' that you mention, personally, I would say it says far more about them than Lewis.
.... a frustrating artiste: obviously hugely talented in many ways, and yet his tendency to over-egg mediocre material and delve into earnest pathos at any opportunity makes even his better films feel very uneven....
I think that's an interesting aspect of the Levy biography - the Lewis being portrayed is half-serious artist and half-showbiz huckster, which colours his work accordingly.
Rat Pack Confidential has some fun sleaze but the one to read is Nick Tosches' Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams...
Advanced students may study the career of Sammy Petrillo for a cautionary tale.
That's a fabulous biography - Tosches let Levy use his research when he was writing
Rat Pack Confidential....
Mitchell and Petrillo - imitation maybe a sincere form of flattery, but it's not always a good career move.
