It's Only Money

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source: It's Only Money

In IT'S ONLY MONEY, disaster-prone TV repairman, Lester March (Jerry Lewis) gets involved with a private investigator named Flint (Jesse White), in his attempt to find a recently departed millionaire's son. The sleuthing pair pretend to return the old man's TV set to his palatial estate. Confusion occurs when the man's daughter (Mae Questel) mistakes Lester for her long, lost brother, and fellow heir to the family fortune! Adding to the fun are a sleazy, conniving lawyer (Gregory Scott), and the creepy, homicidal butler, Leopold (Jack Weston). Lewis is at his lamebrained best in this movie, making it one of his finest / funniest outings! Besides, how many movies have a finale featuring an army of killer lawnmowers? Highly recommended for fans of old school comedy in general, and Jerry Lewis movies in particular. Co-stars the beautiful Joan O'Brien as the kindly nurse Wanda Paxton...

Even if you don't crave for comedies, you can't miss this kind of stuff, never boring material which always keep its promises in terms of entertainment. It is fast paced with always an excellent climax, here with the lawnmowers. The story is only a pretext, as usual, you have not to ask many questions, just enjoy and laugh. Only pure top entertainment. I guess Jerry Lewis was the best of his time. I am sure that Frank Tashlin made the best of his films with Lewis, though I have not seen all his films either. I am not a comedy specialist, you see.

"It's Only Money" is arguably Jerry Lewis' funniest solo (i.e., without Dean) effort. Some might plump for "The Big Mouth" but most of those laughs come from the late, great Charlie Callas; and from a shock appearance by a famous chicken magnate. Besides, Lewis himself directed "The Big Mouth." "It's Only Money" was directed by former cartoonist Frank Tashlin, whose work always bears watching at least once. The PLOT (or, rather, the line on which to hang Lewis' antics) is the search for a missing heir to millions. Lewis, following in the footsteps of his hero, a private detective (played by Jesse White) tries to find the heir, not knowing he's it (that's not a spoiler--it's revealed early on). The complications come when the family's fortune-hunting lawyer (suave and, in this case, funny Zachary Scott) and his henchman, the family butler (Jack Weston) try repeatedly to bump Lewis off. But despite various funny bits of nonsense concerning a manhole and some remote-control lawn mowers, Lewis proves as indestructible as Inspector Clouseau. Even under Tashlin's expert comedy direction, Lewis has the problem, as usual, of a dual persona he was able to exploit later: most of the time he's an apparent idiot, unable to hold anything or to speak a complete English sentence; then he shows uncharacteristic moments of sensitive maturity. Usually these sides mitigate against each other in Lewis flicks, but Tashlin helps tamp down the more cloying aspects of his personality, sticking mainly to the comedy. Not only is solid comedy support provided by Scott and Weston, Mae Questel, longtime voice artist (Betty Boop, Olive Oyl), is hilarious as the woman Scott intends to marry--and bump off--for her money. But the show in this movie is Lewis. His maladroitness grows tiring, as usual; but when he bursts into nonsensical monologues about electronics, he's keen as a razor and side-splitting. Like another great comic actor, Peter Sellers, Lewis ruined himself by a touch of megalomania and an inability to see what was good for him in the long run. "It's Only Money" proves what Lewis could be if properly handled.

While not on par with Lewis's very best (The Nutty Professor, The Ladies Man, The Bell Boy, Who's Minding the Store, the underrated The Family Jewels, and others), It's Only Money is entertaining for fans. It includes many instances of iconic Lewis linguistics and enough funny gags to sustain its 90 minutes. While not on par with Lewis's very best (The Nutty Professor, The Ladies Man, The Bell Boy, Who's Minding the Store, the underrated The Family Jewels, and others), It's Only Money is entertaining for fans. It includes many instances of iconic Lewis linguistics and enough funny gags to sustain its 90 minutes.

I've noticed that in Jerry Lewis' earlier solo films, he tended to play his roles a bit more...quietly. In films like "The Delicate Delinquent" and "The Sad Sack", Lewis was reasonably restrained. However, as the 1960s arrived, Lewis began a long period in which being loud and overplaying things was his schtick. This mugging was quite obvious here in "It'$ Only Money". He's very loud, his voice is much more intensely annoying and ethnic and he is anything but subtle. As a result, it's difficult going at times. The film finds Jerry playing a TV repairman. A rich inventor has recently died and Jerry's detective friend (Jesse White) wants to use Jerry to infiltrate the dead man's mansion. What no one knows at this point is that Jerry is the heir to the estate--the rich guy's long-lost son. The first to realize this is a shyster lawyer (Zachary Scott) who plans on using his homicidal assistant (Jack Westin) to kill Lewis before he can collect his fortune. And, his plan is to then marry the dead guy's sister (Mae Questel) and then kill her--and taking the fortune for himself. Can Jerry somehow survive? And, for that matter, can the audience survive the ordeal?! Considering how much Lewis mugs during the train recording sequence, when he's shaving and when looking at the painting of his dead father, it's doubtful. Subtle and well acted, it ain't! If you do watch, look for Barbara Pepper (Mrs. Zipfel from "Green Acres") and Mae Questel (the voice of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop). Pepper is just there in a cameo as the lady at the fishing pier and Questel plays Jerry's aunt with the very annoying voice (hence, it's easy to tell they are supposed to be related).

Perhaps one the most ignored picture from Jerry Lewis, as a great admirer I've never watch this picture on commercial circuit on TV, here Lewis takes ahead one of most successful formula at Hollywood, the missing inheritor millionaire, Jerry plays Lester March a daffy owner of TV repairs, when is aired on TV about a missing nephew from a death unmarried millionaire, they offer a hundred thousand dollars reward over his whereabout, guess who is the real inheritor, yeah Lester, having in the casting the great Zachary Scott as the crook lawyer and the disastrous private detective Pete Flint (Jesse White) and his romantic pair the nurse Wanda (Joan O'Brien) also appears the clumsy killer Leopold (Jack Weston) in your best performance, without forget the eye candy Francine York as sexy girl at agency, hilarious Jerry's picture!!! Resume: First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

When the French deliver accolades regarding the genius of Jerry Lewis, this is, no doubt, one of the flicks they refer to. IT'$ ONLY MONEY provides the viewer with a perfect blend of Dir. Frank Tashlin's deft touch with a comedic script and the harnessing of star Jerry Lewis who, for this movie, walks a fine laugh-filled tightrope all the way with nary a mishap. Jerry has referred to Tashlin as his "mentor" and probably for that reason, the comedian has restrained himself from his usual on screen excesses. The result is unbridled humor from the star with special emphasis on featured player Jesse White who is a perfect foil to Jerry's man-child character. Eye candy is provided by the lovely Joan O'Brien who portrays Jerry's girl. Uh! Oh! Opposites do attract,especially in the movies. IT'$ ONLY MONEY pays off with interest.

I had wanted to see this movie for years after hearing it was one of Jerry Lewis' best films, but for the longest time I couldn't find it anywhere. But I finally found a video store that stocked it, so I got it in my hands at last. And after watching it, I can safely report that its reputation is deserved. Sure, it's not a perfect movie - for one thing, Lewis is too old to be playing someone in his 20s. But Lewis' performance makes up for it, making his character amusingly goofy, but not TOO much so that he remains pretty sympathetic and not annoying. The script and direction are good, not just with Lewis but with the supporting characters, who do get a good amount of comic meat to work with. There isn't much plot, but the laughs do come in on a regular basis so you won't mind very much about that. The movie is breezy fun right from the start to the bizarre (but very funny) climatic sequence when Lewis is on the run for his life. This may not be Lewis' best film, but it's not very far behind, and would make a good introduction to anyone not familiar with him. Now someone convince Olive Films to get the DVD rights to Lewis' "Don't Give Up The Ship", which is just as funny, maybe even more so!