Do you remember there used to be a Jerry Lewis comic book? About mid-60s, IIRC, maybe a little earlier.
As for the supposed love of the French for Jerry Lewis, the Master speaks.
I don’t know that the bolded is inaccurate. Stanley Kubrick may be considered to have “emerged” before 1960. While Stanley Kramer isn’t really an ‘auteur’. But the Godard quote is nonsense.
John Cassavetes may be one who was overlooked. The Cahiers critics rated both Shadows and Too Late Blues highly (#15 and #30 respectively in their annual Best Films poll), whereas A Child Is Waiting apparently didn’t get an official release in France until 1979, so Cassavetes was known for just those first two.
I probably wouldn’t have commented in this thread, but I thought that was a great correspondence between the post and the poster name.
And since that made me comment, I will disagree with the OP about Lewis not being able to act. The only movie of his I recall watching all the way through was The Nutty Professor, and IMO he did a pretty good job in that, playing essentially two different roles.
To be fair, I was about ten years old, but that was the target audience.
I agree his appeal in the Martin-Lewis clips I’ve seen escapes me, and like most guys, I like the Three Stooges, so it’s not that I hate slapstick. But other than Groucho and WC Fields, most of the old comics don’t do much for me.
In real life Lewis comes off as a self-important douche. I watched his films as a kid and I never found them funny. And the same time I loved Abbott and Costello. A&C could never make it now their act is too dated. But taken in context it’s genius.
On the other hand I think Lewis was a fantastic dramatic actor. It’s too bad he did not do more. King of Comedy has been mentioned several times but I also remember his great work on the TV show Wiseguys.
Lewis has usually been his own worst enemy in terms of his public image. That being said, I almost have a modicum of respect for someone who’s either so oblivious to how people perceive him or just doesn’t give a flying fuck that he lets his asshole flag fly high. In an age where celebrities often have a small army of handlers to hone off any sharp edges in their personalities, it’s kind of refreshing.
Also, I agree that Lewis has been a good serious or serio-comic actor. One project I wish he would’ve done is play Willie Clark in Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys. He would’ve been ideal in that role.
Very, very little comedy ages well. I’m amazed how many people don’t get that. We’ve had post after post on this board of people complaining about how they find various comedy legends unfunny.
Comedy doesn’t age well, with very few exceptions. Jokes become hackneyed because they were extremely funny at some point in time.
@ Stink Fish Pot
You obviously have not watched Jerry Lewis’ movies enough to know that he is not all about the goofy and spastic faces that you think is all he is capable of doing. You must not have seen many of his films, if that’s the opinion you have formed about him. He has a very serious side and shows it very often in his films, even the Martin and Lewis films. Two of the Martin and Lewis films The Stooge and That’s My Boy, were more drama than comedy! He did Martin Scorscese’s The King of Comedy where he shows a very serious side as talk show host Jerry Langford. He did The Jazz Singer and an episode of Ben Casey “A Little Fun to Match the Sorrow” which were mostly dramatic in content. He did several episodes of the tv show Wiseguy and also Law and Order SVU which were dramatic shows. So I’m not sure how you could come away with the opinion that he cannot play it straight, when in fact he is a very good dramatic actor. A good portion of his other comedy films usually have dramatic or reflective moments in them. For example the end of The Nutty Professor where Professor Kelp gives his speech. He was known for the pathos in his movies. He tried to do what Chaplin did in his films by having serious and sometimes sad moments in his films. This is what Jerry Lewis said about pathos and what he tried to do in his films. “Great comedy in my mind always goes hand in hand with great sadness: this is the grand circle of life, the mixture of laughter and tears. You can be funny without tapping into strong emotion, but the humor is more superficial. Funny without pathos is a pie in the face. A pie in the face is funny, but I wanted more.”
The Method to the Madness documentary tried to highlight his crazier and funniest moments. Not necessarily the points I just mentioned. Did you even watch the whole show, because they did talk about the pathos in his films? However he has two personalities in both his real life and his films, a crazier and funny side, and sweeter and serious side. I suggest you look deeper into his films and give them another opportunity for analysis.
And I’m a 24 yr old female and have been a fan of his for almost 3 yrs. I paid and went twice to see his live show, and even got to talk to him during his Q&A session this last time. He’s a wonderful performer. There were definitely people my age and a few even younger than me at his shows, so I highly disagree with you that he’s popular with the 65 and older crowd exclusively.
Say what you will about Jerry Lewis’ talents, there is one thing that is damned sure. That man loves his MDA kids. Too often we have celebrities who pursue charity as if it were a task to be done for good will of the public. Not Jerry. He sincerely hates MD and loves the kids.
I’m another guy with a love/hate relationship with Lewis. As an actor, I put him in a class with Red Skelton, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, et al.; the attention-whore man-child who’s willing to sacrifice the integrity of a scene or character to his own all-encompassing need to be loved. I sometimes feel Mad TV’s “Stewart” character represents that archetype in microcosm. My favorite humor is that which arises out of a situation or a character; these clowns–and I use the word advisedly–are the antithesis of that. So as an actor he holds almost no appeal to me. (One exception: when reigned in by a superior director like Scorsese in King of Comedy.)
As a director, though, Lewis evokes a more mixed response. His ambitions as a director (see need to be loved; add a little need to be respected as an artist) were so huge, that even when he managed to almost achieve them he approached greatness. His best movies–The Ladies Man, The Nutty Professor–comprise moments of unparalleled brilliance caulked together with shuddering dreck. As with his acting, as a director he couldn’t get out of his own way: ultimately all his movie are sabotaged by his inability to adhere to a coherent vision; his need to indulge in the laziest moment of “humor” even if it weakened, or destroyed, whatever artistic integrity the performance or the film might have achieved. (I have similar problems with Terry Gilliam and Paul Thomas Anderson, who are willing to sacrifice artistic coherence in order to indulge their respective needs to be fantastical and profound.)
Discussions like this remind me of something I heard Bill Cosby say in an interview years ago. He was talking about past influences and the interviewer asked him why someone (I don’t remember who) was once popular and now it seemed like everyone claimed to have never liked them. He paused, shook his head and said “People love to build things up and then knock them down.”
Jerry Lewis was my very first celebrity crush. Of course I was 7 at the time, and he was in his 30s. Some things just don’t last.
This ^ is why he isn’t funny.
He used to be funny, when he was new and cutting edge. It’s like Richard Pryor. A true genius. But! If you youtube most of his (Pryor’s)stuff, it’s comedy crap. Every comedian has used it since, and changed/reworked it, overused it, till now, even first graders tell it, and it’s only funny to people who grew up with it. Same with Lewis.
I’ve read it and it was very entertaining. Jerry was quite respectful of Dino, but did brag a bit about beating Martin at golf (Dino’s game) and about Jerry’s father berating his son for doing it. Martin was the funny one, many have stated. Jerry, the better businessman. Their heyday was really their club act, most of which the public-at-large missed. They were at their best in the clubs. Unscripted, they were great together. Their movies never conveyed that magic on the screen.
O.k., I read your post asking for an answer to your Jerry Lewis quandary. I used to think like you …how did he become such an icon, with such dumb movies, and why all the accolades from the other comedians?First off, I believe it was Seinfeld that was going on about the typewriter skit. Secondly, Jim Carrey can thank Jerry Lewis for his career. (Almost as much as Denis Leary can thank Bill Hicks, in the respect that ‘No Cure for Cancer’ was Bill’s material from almost beginning to end.)Remember Christopher Walken as ‘The Continental’ on Saturday Night Live? Get on YouTube, and type in Comedy Colgate hour, Martin and Lewis episode 13. I couldn’t BELIEVE that that was one of Jerry’s characters! Lisa Lupner and Todd? The Carol Burnett Show with Jerry Lewis. When you watch their two nerds sitting on the couch, falling for each other, I think you will begin to see what the comedians are talking about …he did it first.Charlie Chaplin was the first to write, produce, direct, act, and score his own music for silent movies, Jerry Lewis was the first to do it in ‘Talkies.’ (I think they are still the only two)Jerry had some truly genius pantomime skits, and his physical comedy had never been seen before, (yet it has been copied, ad nauseum through the years). Once again, SNL comes to mind. The schoolgirl who tries out for the school play (s) Mary Katherine Gallagher, who throws herself into chairs, bounces off walls, falls (hard), and smells her armpits?It is The Colegate Comedy Hour shows where Jerry is laugh out loud funny, and …he can break your heart with his underdog characters who are always left out. Watch ‘The Dummy’ (that is truly inspired talent) physical, facial, and timing) also, I love ‘The Lola skit.’ (All of these references are to the Colegate Comedy hour shows w Martin and Lewis) Their nightclub act was untouchable, the way they played off one another. And keep in mind, audiences had never SEEN ANYTHINGlike them before. They were FIRST.No one had seen two men kiss each other on the lips, or lick the other’s face spontaneously. Not to mention jump into the other one’s arms. They were bold and rowdy and unpredictable. They were as close as brothers, truly cracking the other up, that was their goal, to make the other one laugh. They were having SO much fun, and it showed.Jerry came up with character after character, everything was fresh, sometimes bawdy. M&L were THE pioneers.I was like you, I had NO idea they were as big as The Beatles, before The Beatles! But, the news clips of the day captured it all. They had thousands of people clogging the streets of NY when they were there. The biggest stars of the day were at their shows everynight. We are talking Frank Sinatra (long before he had met either of them) Marilyn Monroe, ( on an aside, she and Jerry both claimed that the other was one, was one of the best lovers they had ever had! Hard to believe Jerry the idiot, could be so suave and sexy, but, he learned a lot from Dean from when he was 20 to 30 yrs old. They were a team for exactly 10 years to the day!)Times Square was choked with people screaming for them under their hotel room window. They couldnt keep up w public demand, they were doing EIGHT shows a day for awhile, starting at 10 am, ending at 2 or 3 am. )And Dean …he thought Jerry was absolutely hilarious when they did the show. You can tell. And Jerry really WAS! I swear to you, start watching that show, he will make you laugh out loud, the dipshit.Now, what’s up with the stupid movies, and unfunny faces? Here’s my take on it, (and I was exactly like you are, perplexed) When Dean and Jerry were partners, everything was new, original and fresh. Jerry is too unbridled. He needed Dean to anchor him. Jerry was also 20 years old. Being an overgrown kid worked for him. It wasnt that far of a stretch. However, when they broke up, Jerry continued being ‘The kid.’ He had no one there anymore to reign him in, no one to let him know he needed to dial it down a couple notches, and the most important thing, he was 30, and then 40 …costuming and dumb haircuts, could not disguise the fact that he wasn’t 20 anymore. It’s just stupid, and kinda weird when you are acting like a kid, when you are in your 50’s.Plus …it was old schtick by now. It had been done, overdone, A LOT. He originated it, but then ran it into the ground (along with many others by then) and most importantly, the other half of what made it work, and so funny, was missing.Lastly, (and I appreciate and love Jerry, but I think I am objective) Jerry gets so wound up (like Robin Williams), that he spews out EVERYTHING that pops into his head. He has no edit button. He is actually a very clever guy. However, if he says everything that pops into his head, it’s going to take the spotlight away from the genuinely great timing and witty remarks, and going to make it hit or miss. The stupid shit counteracts the really funny shit, and makes it a wash …mediocre shit.I hope this helped. Let me know what you think. I am dying to know your opinion on the CCH shows w Dean, especially the specific ones I mentioned.Chat later,Lisa
He was mine too! That Elvis black, slicked back hair, great tan, and silky smooth charisma. You know, I read he had a huge …and, Marilyn Monroe counted him among her best lovers.
Sad thing abouut MDA. A Doc did an interview saying he thinks he found a cure. Selenium. Said he got 3 kids out of their chairs in 9 weeks. He calls Jerry. Jerry is ecstatic. Takes it to MDA medical board. Doc said, then the MDA Committee comes to Jerry, "Mr. Lewis, you have a non-disclosure contract, if you say anything about any of this, we will sue you. Why don’t you tell the American peeps you are taking a world cruise this year, and are unavailable to do the telethon. We don’t care what you tell them after that. We don’t need your services any longer. I.E. Thanks for the memories. I believe this story, because his caricature is no longer part of it, his name is no longer involved, and he doesn’t even VISIT. Jerry would have at the very least shown up and sang that song that made us all cry, till the day he left this earth. Not a peep from him.Jerry is NO wallflower. If he could have said anything about his hush hushed sudden disappearance from the show he dedicated over half his life to, he would have spoken out on why. Most people assume he is ‘too old’, or ‘too sick.’ He would say so. His last telethon would have been a bid farewell. Nothing. Not even a goodbye. Jerry is actually still doing an occassional engagement, where his mind is still sharp as a tack. He does off the cuff Q and A with the audience. A guy I met, said he saw him in Vegas last year, and he still engages in quick, witty repartee with the audience. MDA telethon btw, is losing millions every year because of his absence. Oh, and he gained all that weight because he had a pulminary disease and had to take steroids. Lost all the weight now. He turned 89 on 3/16. Says he wants to outlive George Burns. To see the Dr. Interview, type Why is Jerry Lewis no longer on MDA telethon. Any other JL related questions? 
See if you can stump me. I have doing extensive research on him for a book. I bet I can answer your most obscure ones. !
If you’re going to judge Mr. Lewis, I think you really need to do that in terms of his original fans who were in their teenage years back in the 50s.
Alternatively, if you were in your teenage years back in the 60s - let’s say when The Nutty Professor (1963) was released, you may understand one of the important historical facts about him. Back in 1963, his work in The Nutty Professor may not have been a comedy classic. But back then, no one else was much funnier than he was. The result is that he acquired a whole lot die hard fans back then.
If you are older - say a teenager in the 50s - then, his work with Dean Martin was some of the leading entertainment of the time. As a result, by the end of the 60s, Mr. Lewis had a large number of die hard fans. His comedy was unique and people at the time loved it and they loved him too.
Most of you never saw CinderFella (1960). It was a dismal, terrible movie. But for true Lewis fans, it was the first choice in movie theatres back in 1960.
By the 70s and 80s, his best work was long behind him. But many of his fans would still prefer to go to one of his movies instead of anything else available.
By the way, as far as Mr. Lewis outliving George Burns, I would put my money on Mr. Burns. George Burns always had the last laugh on any of the many celebrities who would take pot shots at him (mostly Jack Benny).
Hello Lisa,
I’m sorry I couldn’t read your entire post because it was far too long and all appeared to be like a single sentence with no paragraph breaks.
There is nothing wrong with making a very big long post. But I think you really need to break it up into paragraphs and use commas and other punctuation so that it would be much easier to read.
Best Wishes to you.