“Here y’are, baby. Take this, wipe the lipstick off, slide over here next to me, and let’s get started.”
THE NUTTY PROFESSOR will screen double feature with JERRY LEWIS, THE MAN BEHIND THE CLOWN will screen Saturday Nov 12th at 1pm at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood) as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. This event is FREE
Since his earliest days, SLIFF Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Jerry Lewis had the masses laughing with his visual gags, pantomime sketches, and signature slapstick humor. But Lewis was far more than just a funny performer. After his breakup with partner Dean Martin, he moved behind the camera, writing, producing, and directing many of the adored classics in which he starred. In this double bill, Gregory Monro’s brisk, informative documentary reveals the man behind the clown, and THE NUTTY PROFESSOR provides the proof of Lewis’ comic genius. Lewis’ riff on “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” features the actor in a dual role: the nerdish professor who drinks a potion designed to improve his social life and, after the transformation, the handsome but obnoxious Buddy Love.
With exceptions of the comedy team of Martin and Lewis movies during the 1950’s THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, the classic masterpiece of split personalities from 1963 is the pinnacle of Jerry Lewis’s movie career. I can’t think of a better introduction to the wacky and unpredictable world of the Jerry Lewis genre. THE NUTTY PROFESSOR shows the panoramic range of characterization. On one hand you have the meek, stumbling Professor Julius Kelp. On the other hand, you have the suave, over assertive and obnoxious Buddy Love. Part of the Lewis genius here is that Jerry to this day boasts about the fact that he didn’t use any facial makeup to alter the characters. Instead he used mime and over- expression to make his alter imaginary beings different. The big debate about this movie is who is Lewis portraying while playing the part of Buddy Love? Some say Dean Martin; others say Frank Sinatra. Perhaps It’s just Jerry being himself. Lewis has been quoted as saying every person has an ugly, hostile side to their personality. THE NUTTY PROFESSOR has a moral to its story, Kelp at movie’s end says quite simply, “You might as well like yourself. Just think about all the time you’re going to have to spend with you, and if you don’t think too much of yourself, how do you expect other to? But don’t take it too seriously. Just sit back and watch the master at work. Familiar TV icons appear in THE NUTTY PROFESSOR such as Henry Gibson (The Poet) from LAUGH-IN, Norman Alden (Irate Father-In-Law) from MY THREE SONS, Howard Morris,The wild Ernest T. Bass ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW and what Lewis movie would be complete without the bubbly Kathleen Freeman?
THE NUTTY PROFESSOR will screen double feature with JERRY LEWIS, THE MAN BEHIND THE CLOWN. Since his earliest days, SLIFF Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Jerry Lewis had the masses laughing with his visual gags, pantomime sketches, and signature slapstick humor. But Lewis was far more than just a funny performer. After the breakup of his famed partnership with Dean Martin, Lewis moved behind the camera, writing, producing, and directing many of the adored classics in which he starred: “The Bellboy,” “The Ladies Man,” “The Errand Boy,” and “The Nutty Professor.” By becoming a “total filmmaker,” Lewis emerged as a driving force in Hollywood, breaking boundaries with his technical innovations, unique voice, and keen visual eye. Lewis garnered particular respect and praise overseas, especially in France. But if his French admirers regarded Lewis as a true auteur, American critics proved far more skeptical, often dismissing him as nothing more than a clown. Gregory Monro’s brisk, informative documentary offers answers to questions that have perplexed American pop culture for more than 50 years: Why do Europeans love Jerry Lewis? What is the inexplicable aversion many Americans have toward him? Is he just a brash, anything-for-laugh buffoon or is he a creative genius in the tradition of Chaplin and Keaton? Who is the man behind the clown?
