I can't help it. I find many parts of this movie hilarious. I know, I know. I keep telling myself, "Self, this is JERRY LEWIS -- and you're not French," but it does no good. It's a funny movie.
The first half is especially good. Lewis, who co-wrote the movie and directed it, is Professor Julius Kelp, a chemist who is a hopeless nerd with buck teeth, a squeaky, nasal voice, and a straggly Beatles haircut avant la lettre. Lewis has a crush on one of his students. Understandably. This is Stella Stevens at her succulent best. He's much too shy to express his feelings towards her, and she in return is kindly, but that's all. Stalemate.
Then Lewis concocts a potion in the manner of Dr. Jeykll and finds himself turned into Mr. Hyde, a new persona that takes the form of "Buddy Love." The love character is identifiably Professor Kelp if you know the story. Otherwise Love is a strangely magnetic, narcissistic playboy. "Hey, Sweetie, take off and get your lips pressed," he tells the lounge singer at the Purple Pit, a local student hangout, before he wows the crowd by playing and singing a jazzy version of "That Old Black Magic." (For the cognoscenti, that's Shelly Manne on drums and Red Mitchell on bass.) He singles out Stevens for his attentions and she's attracted to his self-confidence and talent but repelled by his love of self. "You deserve nothing but the best, baby, and I'm the best." The entire business leaves her confused.
Lewis switches effectively back and forth a few times until the switches take on a life of their own, as in Stevenson's original story, and finally he loses Buddy Love altogether and turns into Professor Kelp while trying to perform at the Student Prom. His apology to the students and faculty could have come straight out of Dr. Phil or some Televangelist. "If you don't like yourself, how can you expect anyone else to like you? That's what I learned." No sense going on too long about the film but it's worth a brief comparison to Eddy Murphy's remake. Lewis's film is the more difficult of the two to pull off. For one thing, in 1963 the technology was limited. There were no effective fat suits and no CGIs. For another, Lewis's Professor Kelp's deficits are harder to define. He's shy, nervous, homely, and an egghead. His scenes at the gym, trying to build his muscles, are outrageous. Murphy's film, by contrast, is equally funny but easier to build gags around. Murphy's Kelp is statistically deviant chiefly because he's terribly fat. And it's easier to make fun of, and build gags around, people who are obese. Murphy's film suffers from gigantism and Lewis's seems constrained by comparison. That's not in any way to criticize Murphy's acting. He makes the character touching in a way that Lewis doesn't. But Murphy invites a dislike of Kelp, willy nilly. Nobody wants a fat person for a seat mate on the plane. And while the comedy in both movies is very broad indeed, Murphy's is REALLY broad! I never thought I'd find myself saying that a Jerry Lewis movie was tasteful, but next to Murphy's it is precisely that.
In any case, this is enjoyable and the whole family will probably find it amusing. I mean, it's not challenging in any way, not thought provoking. But it is a successful comedy and should be applauded for being funny without hitting the audience over the head with a loud and raunchy crowbar.
The first half is especially good. Lewis, who co-wrote the movie and directed it, is Professor Julius Kelp, a chemist who is a hopeless nerd with buck teeth, a squeaky, nasal voice, and a straggly Beatles haircut avant la lettre. Lewis has a crush on one of his students. Understandably. This is Stella Stevens at her succulent best. He's much too shy to express his feelings towards her, and she in return is kindly, but that's all. Stalemate.
Then Lewis concocts a potion in the manner of Dr. Jeykll and finds himself turned into Mr. Hyde, a new persona that takes the form of "Buddy Love." The love character is identifiably Professor Kelp if you know the story. Otherwise Love is a strangely magnetic, narcissistic playboy. "Hey, Sweetie, take off and get your lips pressed," he tells the lounge singer at the Purple Pit, a local student hangout, before he wows the crowd by playing and singing a jazzy version of "That Old Black Magic." (For the cognoscenti, that's Shelly Manne on drums and Red Mitchell on bass.) He singles out Stevens for his attentions and she's attracted to his self-confidence and talent but repelled by his love of self. "You deserve nothing but the best, baby, and I'm the best." The entire business leaves her confused.
Lewis switches effectively back and forth a few times until the switches take on a life of their own, as in Stevenson's original story, and finally he loses Buddy Love altogether and turns into Professor Kelp while trying to perform at the Student Prom. His apology to the students and faculty could have come straight out of Dr. Phil or some Televangelist. "If you don't like yourself, how can you expect anyone else to like you? That's what I learned." No sense going on too long about the film but it's worth a brief comparison to Eddy Murphy's remake. Lewis's film is the more difficult of the two to pull off. For one thing, in 1963 the technology was limited. There were no effective fat suits and no CGIs. For another, Lewis's Professor Kelp's deficits are harder to define. He's shy, nervous, homely, and an egghead. His scenes at the gym, trying to build his muscles, are outrageous. Murphy's film, by contrast, is equally funny but easier to build gags around. Murphy's Kelp is statistically deviant chiefly because he's terribly fat. And it's easier to make fun of, and build gags around, people who are obese. Murphy's film suffers from gigantism and Lewis's seems constrained by comparison. That's not in any way to criticize Murphy's acting. He makes the character touching in a way that Lewis doesn't. But Murphy invites a dislike of Kelp, willy nilly. Nobody wants a fat person for a seat mate on the plane. And while the comedy in both movies is very broad indeed, Murphy's is REALLY broad! I never thought I'd find myself saying that a Jerry Lewis movie was tasteful, but next to Murphy's it is precisely that.
In any case, this is enjoyable and the whole family will probably find it amusing. I mean, it's not challenging in any way, not thought provoking. But it is a successful comedy and should be applauded for being funny without hitting the audience over the head with a loud and raunchy crowbar.