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Poll

What's your favourite film by Jerry Lewis?

The Bellboy
1 (4.8%)
The Ladies Man
2 (9.5%)
The Errand Boy
0 (0%)
The Nutty Professor
2 (9.5%)
The Patsy
1 (4.8%)
The Family Jewels
0 (0%)
Three on a Couch
0 (0%)
The Big Mouth
0 (0%)
One More Time
0 (0%)
Which Way to the Front?
0 (0%)
Hardly Working
0 (0%)
Cracking Up (aka. Smorgasbord)
0 (0%)
haven't seen any
8 (38.1%)
don't like any
5 (23.8%)
Taken as a whole, his work is without peer
2 (9.5%)

Total Members Voted: 21

Author Topic: Lewis, Jerry  (Read 7218 times)

1SO

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Re: Lewis, Jerry
« Reply #20 on: November 11, 2018, 11:00:01 PM »
1. The Ladies Man
2. The Nutty Professor

3. The Bellboy
4. The Errand Boy

5. The Patsy
6. Cracking Up
7. Hardly Working
« Last Edit: January 25, 2021, 01:02:26 AM by 1SO »

Knocked Out Loaded

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Re: Lewis, Jerry
« Reply #21 on: November 12, 2018, 03:13:59 AM »
Still a blind spot.
:-[
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1SO

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Re: Lewis, Jerry
« Reply #22 on: January 24, 2021, 08:10:13 PM »

The Bellboy (1960)

If this was the film that introduced me to Jerry Lewis, things might've been different. For his feature directing debut, Lewis pays tribute to silent comedy (in particular Stan Laurel and Mr. Hulot) with a series of comic sketches centered around a luxury hotel where he plays the title character, and also appears briefly as himself. His Bellboy goes through his day without a word, and as a director Lewis shows strong skills regarding the frame. There are a number of impressive moments where - unlike most silent comedy - the gag works best because Lewis is either in the extreme foreground or deep in the background.


Years ago I developed some kind of mental rash to Lewis comic style and it's chronic. So, as much as I was admiring Lewis the director, every time his Bellboy pulled a face I was at mildest on the edge of a groan. His exaggerated reactions are something I've never warmed to, but on the Lewis scale, he's almost deadpan here.
RATING: ★ ★ ½

1SO

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Re: Lewis, Jerry
« Reply #23 on: January 25, 2021, 01:15:46 AM »
The Errand Boy (1961)
★ ★ ½
I didn’t know the title was referring to what we now call Set Production Assistants, which I know a lot about, and this was a time when you work for the lot and not a single show, so my interest was high enough to get past any obnoxious mugging. This isn’t as formally inspired as The Bellboy, but there are still some cleverly staged gags, meta-humor that I love and a couple of incredibly sweet moments with puppets to balance out the flat dead ends.

 

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