Jerry Lewis: The Total Filmmaker
Series co-presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
It’s time to reclaim Jerry Lewis from the French. It’s hard to overstate the scale of the man’s popularity, the level of his influence or the range of his talents. At his peak, his fame rivaled The Beatles or Elvis Presley. Almost no talents outside of the silent era could claim as much total authorship of a film as Jerry Lewis did at the peak of his powers — as a director/producer/writer/star, he oversaw almost every aspect of production, from beginning to end. He was a genius of physical space, both as a performer, and as choreographer of the most incredibly controlled, elaborate setpieces of color and movement in Hollywood’s golden era. But, most of all, no one before or since has pushed the envelope further of what’s funny, for his jokes are as elastic as they are cartoonish. Too slow, too long, too strange, too insane — but somehow always incredibly funny in the end. Influencing a generation of comedians from Steve Martin to the Zucker Brothers, Jerry Lewis is the one and only King of Comedy, and can proudly wear the moniker of the Total Filmmaker.
In addition to nine feature films, we’ll also be sequentially screening hour-long episodes of Bonjour Mr. Lewis, the ultra-rare six-part 1982 French documentary series directed by film historian Robert Benayoun! Special thanks to the Academy Film Archive, which is generously loaning a bevy of archival 35mm prints we’re screening throughout the series!
BUY TICKETS ($12/free for members. Showtimes subject to change):
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THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (& B.M.L., Part 1): Tuesday, 3/5, 7:30pm
ARTISTS AND MODELS (& B.M.L., Part 2): Sunday, 3/10, 4:00pm
Frank Tashlin Tribute: THE DISORDERLY ORDERLY & Tashlin Toons!: Saturday, 3/16, 4:00pm
THE ERRAND BOY (& B.M.L., Part 3): Sunday, 3/17, 4:00pm
THE PATSY: Wednesday, 3/20, 7:30pm
THE BELLBOY (& B.M.L., Part 4): Sunday, 3/24, 4:00pm
CRACKING UP: Saturday, 3/30, 10:15pm
CINDERFELLA (& B.M.L., Part 5): Sunday, 3/31, 4:00pm
THE LADIES MAN (& B.M.L., Part 6): Sunday, 4/7, 4:00pm
Watch the trailer for “Jerry Lewis: The Total Filmmaker”!
The Ladies Man + Bonjour Mr. Lewis, Part 6
BONJOUR MR. LEWIS, Part 6 – 4:00pm
The show opens with the final hour-long episode of Bonjour Mr. Lewis (the ultra-rare six-part 1982 French documentary series) focusing on Jerry’s techniques as a director!
THE LADIES MAN – approx 5:15pm
There is no better argument for Jerry Lewis’s technical genius than The Ladies’ Man. After the wild success of The Bellboy, Jerry he was given unprecedented budgetary freedom — and boy, did he put it to good use. As a filmmaker, Jerry loved his toys, and for The Ladies Man he built the biggest, coolest playpen of them all: a four-story, sixty-room, open-faced dollhouse. This awe-inspiring set was so large that it comprised the entirety of two soundstages, each room armed with its own lighting kit, closed-circuit sound system, a working elevator, the world’s largest crane, and a battery of video monitors secreted around the set so Jerry could check his own performance at all times. Populating this dollhouse with (what else?) “dolls”, Jerry put a coterie of gorgeous dames to use in a series of hilarious, incredibly choreographed setpieces that could only be compared to the best of Buster Keaton or Jacques Tati, but with that signature Jerry mania.
The Ladies Man Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1961, 35mm, 95 min.
Bonjour Mr. Lewis (Part 6) Dir. Robert Benayoun, 1982, analog presentation, approx. 60 min.
Watch the trailer for “The Ladies Man”!
Cinderfella + Bonjour Mr. Lewis, Part 5
BONJOUR MR. LEWIS, Part 5 – 4:00pm
The show opens with the fifth hour-long episode of Bonjour Mr. Lewis (the ultra-rare six-part 1982 French documentary series) focusing on Jerry’s performance as a dancer!
CINDERFELLA – approx 5:15pm
This gender-bending take on the Cinderella story is the most extravagant of the Frank Tashlin-directed Jerry Lewis films — a big-budget, glorious Technicolor musical for the whole family. Lewis has always said music was the spine of his comedy, and his and Tashlin’s attention to rhythm and movement is exemplary here: watch Lewis make breakfast in perfect time to music, enacting every note with a goofy physicalization. And then there’s the legendary “Cinderfella dance”, in which a Dean Martin-suave Jerry smoothly descends a six-foot staircase with grace and style — which he impossibly nailed in just one single take. The beginning of a golden era flush with Jerry classics, Cinderfella is presented this afternoon in a gorgeous IB Tech print from the Academy Film Archive — don’t miss it!
Cinderfella Dir. Frank Tashlin, 1960, 35mm, 91 min. (Archival 35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive)
Bonjour Mr. Lewis (Part 5) Dir. Robert Benayoun, 1982, analog presentation, approx. 60 min.
Watch the trailer for “Cinderfella”!
Cracking Up
Jerry’s directorial swansong, Cracking Up is one of the strongest doses of unadulterated, Percodan-laced comedic madness you’ll ever witness on 35mm; we can’t say what Jerry’s intent might have been here beyond getting some yucks, but what he concocted is not just an assault on filmic conventions and comedy norms, but reality itself. The film’s setpieces revolve around a middle-aged weakling in extensive therapy, as he tries to figure out what went wrong with his pathetic life. This apex of pure head-scratching, stultifying insanity takes Jerry’s trademark anarchic live-action cartoon style, and modulates/slows/extends it all to the breaking point, resulting in a singular brand of spectacle as entertaining to stare at with mouth agape as it is to chuckle at. The absolute highlight here is Jerry’s tête-à-tête with Zane Busby (Up In Smoke’s Jade East) as an encyclopedic waitress, easily worth the price of admission alone. Cracking Up comes off as so formally brazen that the end result of this Airplane-style gag-fest was avant-garde enough to appeal to academically-inclined critics — Jonathan Rosenbaum sandwiched it between Bresson’s L’Argent and Kiarostami’s Fellow Citizen on his “Best of 1983” rundown (the only English-language pick on the list.)
Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1983, 35mm, 89 min.
Watch Cinefamily’s original trailer for “Cracking Up”!
Watch a truly amazing moment from “Cracking Up”!
The Bellboy + Bonjour Mr. Lewis, Part 4
BONJOUR MR. LEWIS, Part 4 – 4:00pm
The show opens with the fourth hour-long episode of Bonjour Mr. Lewis (the ultra-rare six-part 1982 French documentary series) focusing on Jerry’s perspectives on the art of clowning!
THE BELLBOY – approx 5:15pm
Walking too many dogs? Carrying too many suitcases? Too many phones a-ringin’? Well, join the club! The Bellboy, Jerry’s directorial debut, was miraculously conceived, written, shot and released in just six months as part of a promise to Paramount to deliver a summer film after the production of Cinderfella. With no actual story, no real plot, a main character that utters only one line of dialogue, and a baggage cart full of highly surreal jokes, The Bellboy remains Lewis’ most experimental endeavor, and one of his most endearing to boot. A true testament to Lewis’ love of the great silent clowns (Stan Laurel in particular), the Miami hotels he played in his youth, and every schlub who could never get a word in edgewise (not even a “Hey, ladeeee!”), The Bellboy is an eruption of cinematic talent that proved Lewis wasn’t just a comedian, but a total filmmaker.
The Bellboy Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1960, 35mm, 101 min. (Archival 35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive)
Bonjour Mr. Lewis (Part 4) Dir. Robert Benayoun, 1982, analog presentation, approx. 60 min.
Watch the trailer for “The Bellboy”!
The Patsy
In one of the most self-reflexive films in the Lewis canon (originally conceived as a sequel called Son of the Bellboy), The Patsy chronicles a young bellboy chosen at random to be transformed into a famous actor, Pygmalion-style, by an out-of-work entourage who just lost their movie star employer in a freak accident. What transpires is a stage-by-stage satire of the Hollywood machine, and some of Jerry’s best signature fake-bad performance pieces — a hapless and hilarious attempt at lip-synching, the ultimate cringe-inducing, cricket-chirping standup act, and a singing lesson that literally brings down the house. Here, Jerry’s perfectionist nature also shines, as the famous “vase” sequence is a master stroke in physical timing — requiring weeks of rehearsal just to stage himself catching a plethora of falling vases in mid-air a fraction of a second before they would smash on the ground. The last of Jerry’s big-budget Paramount pictures, The Patsy closes out an era in style — and with plenty of deep laughs.
Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1964, 35mm, 101 min. (Archival 35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive)
Watch the trailer for “The Patsy”!
The Errand Boy + Bonjour Mr. Lewis, Part 3
BONJOUR MR. LEWIS, Part 3 – 4:00pm
The show opens with the third hour-long episode of Bonjour Mr. Lewis (the ultra-rare six-part 1982 French documentary series) focusing on Jerry’s comedic connection with children!
THE ERRAND BOY – approx 5:15pm
The perfect companion piece for Jerry’s directorial debut The Bellboy, The Errand Boy is both its mirror and its opposite. Again, we’re given a minimally-plotted series of outrageous gags riffing on the misadventures of a lowly schlemiel in a big, pretentious institution — but whereas The Bellboy was a quiet film, a silent film homage in an environment of luxury and relaxation, The Errand Boy is more like a noisy, manic film shoot wrap party capturing all the crazed energy of the biz. It’s also Jerry’s love letter to filmmaking — shot all over the Paramount lot, it’s a virtual documentary of the industry that could have been called “A Day at the Studio.” The film gives you riffs on every aspect of filmmaking, from ADR sessions to test-screenings, and every profession is gently mocked from the mailroom shlubs all the way up to the starlets. A rollicking, raucous, timeless romp!
The Errand Boy Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1961, 35mm, 92 min. (Archival 35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive)
Bonjour Mr. Lewis (Part 3) Dir. Robert Benayoun, 1982, analog presentation, approx. 60 min.
Watch a classic pantomime routine from “The Errand Boy”!
Frank Tashlin Tribute: The Disorderly Orderly + Tashlin Toons!
The only director with a style wild and wacky enough to match Jerry Lewis’ manic energy and rubber-limbed physicality (along with the experience and savoir faire to earn his personal respect), Frank Tashlin directed the best Jerry films not directed by the King of Comedy himself. “Tash”, as Lewis affectionately called him, was also a bit of a mentor; Jerry once said Tashlin taught him “everything I ever learned” about filmmaking. And Tash knew a lot: his resumé included creating classic cartoons for both Disney and Warner Brothers, and writing gags for Bob Hope and the Marx Brothers. Tonight, we celebrate Tashlin’s looney legacy with a selection of his greatest cartoon work (screened from rare 16mm and 35mm prints) — and with The Disorderly Orderly, set in a hospital where all the patients seem to be insane, along with at least one orderly to boot. Some of Jerry’s strangest moments ever are all present, including some wicked fourth-wall-breakers, and the legendary full-body cast gag. Plus, Jerry’s constant empathetic reactions to his patients are throughout the film are priceless.
The Disorderly Orderly Dir. Frank Tashlin, 1964, 35mm, 90 min.
Watch the trailer for “The Disorderly Orderly”!
Martin & Lewis Tribute: Artists and Models + Bonjour Mr. Lewis, Part 2
BONJOUR MR. LEWIS, Part 2 – 4:30pm
The show opens with the second hour-long episode of Bonjour Mr. Lewis (the ultra-rare six-part 1982 French documentary series) focusing on Jerry’s relationship with his ultimate comedic partner: Dean Martin!
ARTISTS AND MODELS – approx 5:45pm
Some comedy duos are matches made in heaven, with perfect timing, sleek rapport and distinct character — and, every once in a lifetime, then there comes into being a partnership so beautiful, full of genuine love and emotion, and seismically singular that, sixty years later, the world still swoons as if laying eyes on them for the very first time. From the very start in the mid-’40s until their shocking breakup a decade later, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis owned the comedy world as Elvis or the Beatles would later dominate rock and roll — throngs of screaming fans everywhere, endless sold-out live shows, and a run of feature film vehicles that showed off their intimate, complex performative bond. Directed by Frank Tashlin, whose cartoonist background fused perfectly with Dean & Jerry’s anarchic sensibilities, Artists and Models is a hyper-colored explosion of style and silliness: Jerry’s an eternal child obsessed with superheroes, Dean’s his struggling comic book artist roommate, and a network of international spies are gunning for their heads after Dean publishes a comic accidentally containing real-life missile codes!
Artists and Models Dir. Frank Tashlin, 1955, 35mm, 109 min. (Archival 35mm print courtesy of the ConstellationCenter Collection at the Academy Film Archive)
Bonjour Mr. Lewis (Part 2) Dir. Robert Benayoun, 1982, analog presentation, approx. 60 min.
Watch the trailer for “Artists and Models”!
The Nutty Professor + Bonjour Mr. Lewis, Part 1
BONJOUR MR. LEWIS, Part 1 – 7:30pm
The show opens with the introductory hour-long episode of Bonjour Mr. Lewis, the ultra-rare, six-part 1982 French documentary series! There is no better way to appreciate Jerry’s genius, originality and uniqueness than with this thoughtful and highly entertaining doc; we’ll be showing a different episode in front of all our Sunday afternoon Jerry Lewis screenings, in addition to tonight’s series kickoff.
THE NUTTY PROFESSOR – approx. 8:45pm
The crown jewel of Jerry Lewis’s directorial career, The Nutty Professor is his most undeniable masterpiece — the film to thrust upon Jerry doubters and dare them to deny its perfection. With perfectly-combined, awesome color coordination, it is a visual feast. As well, Jerry creates not just one, but two brand-new, completely original characters that are each miracles of meticulous acting craft. Just creating the iconic klutzy Professor Kelp would be enough: a personage so memorable, both in appearance and voice, as to haunt all of our subcortexes forever, if only second-hand through a staple character from the “Simpsons” stable (Professor Frink). But then you’ve also got Kelp’s frighteningly funny and terrifyingly sexy alter ego Buddy Love: the suave, greazy Rat Pack incarnation of Lewis’ Id. Every molecule of Buddy Love’s body, every inch of his movement, is completely realized, in a comedic acting ballet that will have your jaw on the floor. So wipe off our lipstick, slide over here, and let’s get started. Rare IB Tech 35mm print — plus, reception to follow on our back patio.
The Nutty Professor Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1963, 35mm, 107 min. (Archival 35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive)
Bonjour Mr. Lewis (Part 1) Dir. Robert Benayoun, 1982, analog presentation, approx. 60 min.
Watch Cinefamily’s original trailer for “The Nutty Professor”!
