Is there a more polarizing figure in the movies than Jerry Lewis?
No question that Lewis, who as a tireless telethon host and cross-country crusader has raised over $2 billion for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), richly deserved the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award he received Sunday at the Academy Awards. I say this knowing that for some, his characterization of the disabled as "half human" was both injuducious and untrue. If outside the Kodak Theatre, there were pickets protesting Lewis, inside it seemed that the Academy didn't want to acknowledge Lewis, whose previous brush with Oscar was as a three-time host of the ceremony, as a film artist.
Those who should know better continue to regard Lewis as an aberration loved only by the French or an annoyance like the uncle who gooses you at Thanksgiving. When will he get his due as a filmmaker who belongs in the pantheon with Buster Keaton and Stan Laurel? Or, like so many other gifted funnymen, will he continue to be at best underrated and at worst ignored? One can occasionally wince at the hyperkinetic Lewis in his early screen pairings with Dean Martin while admiring his work as a mature actor and director who did more than any health care provider to see the benefits of laughter.
Cinephiles wonder whether his peers will ever cite Lewis for his peerless work as a writer/director/actor in films as important and influential as "The Bellboy" (1960), "The Ladies' Man" (1961), and "The Nutty Professor" (1963)? Have you seen these films? And no, I don't mean the Eddie Murphy remake of "Professor," which had its charms but lacked the visual invention, the sight gags and exquisite timing that Lewis brought to his mature work. (Lewis was aided in his work as a director/actor by his invention of the "video assist," an instant-replay that enabled directors ever since to immediately review the scene they just shot.)
To be an American is to experience the contempt that his countrymen hold for Lewis. "Few things are held against the whole of France more fiercely than the French love of Lewis," drily observes David Thomson. When will Americans stop treating Lewis as a national joke and acknowledge him as a national treasure?
Are you a Lewis loather or lover? Why? Favorite movies? As an actor/director, I like him best in "The Ladies' Man" and "The Nutty Professor." As an actor, I love him in "The King of Comedy" and "Funny Bones." As "King of Comedy" director Martin Scorsese noted of Lewis' role as a Johnny Carson-like recluse and host of a late-night show, "Jerry is so naturally exuberant that you realize how much acting he's doing to play this subdued presence."
A Jerry lover? Count me in. Lewis rocks - one of Hollywood's most misunderstood (and underappreciated) commodities. "The Nutty Professor" is hands-down brilliant and his work as an inventive and, yes, influential filmmaker is evident in "The Bellboy" and "The Ladies Man" especially. "CinderFeller" deserves to be rediscovered.— Pash- I love Lewis in his SERIOUS films--THE KING OF COMEDY and FUNNY BONES (where he gets the funniest line). But I still laugh at him in HOLLYWOOD OR BUST.— garyk
Comment removed.- Do I love or loathe Jerry Lewis? Yes. Before the Oscars my husband and I were trying to "explain" Lewis to our almost 13-year-old son. "He is a comedian and he's very funny sometimes." "He has raised a lot of money for sick kids." "Sometimes he is a mean, arrogant jerk." Poor kid was completely confused. Aren't we all.— Amy Heller
- Well said, Amy.— carrierickey
- I used totally loathe him, so sanctimonious & maudlin & eogtistic in real life and stupidly unfunny in his act. But in recent years, I've kind of enjoyed seeing him on talk shows. Maybe because I felt sorry for him because he was blown up like a tick from the steroids he was taking for the illness he had. Or because by now he's more of a piece of comedy history & had some interesting, albeit self-serving, stories to tell. He did look kind of sad, health-wise, at the Oscars & was surprisingly tight-lipped in his acceptance.— MojoMama
- I'm neither a lover nor a loather, although I think his run of early '60s movies was funny and energetic. His role in The King of Comedy was an eye-opener, but even that was overshadowed by DeNiro's uncomfortable performance. Will someone like Ben Stiller be the Jerry Lewis of his time? There's humor and energy in a few Stiller films, but I don't feel compelled to run a "genius" equation on his significance. I loved, by the way, the sour grapes acceptance speech that Lewis gave at the Oscars.— frankenslade
- Whatever one thinks of Lewis personally, there was no stronger advocate of salesmanship when it came to pushing his Paramount features to an audience. Jerry toured with the films, often bringing an orchestra along at his own expense, and did live shows in theatres exhibiting "The Nutty Professor", "The Bellboy" and others. The fact he was part owner of these negatives supplied incentive, of course, but he was at all times a tireless showman on behalf of Jerry Lewis comedies, and that surely helped the gross. http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/— nyoka1
- Nyoka1: Thanks for that perspective about his promotion, of which I was unaware.— carrierickey
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