The Patsy

source: The Patsy

In "The Patsy", Jerry Lewis was able to assemble a long list of respected character actors. Nevertheless what resulted was a weak unlikely comedy. A famous comedian is killed in a plane crash. His production team producer Caryl Ferguson (Everett Sloane), writer Chic Wymore (Phil Harris), publicist Harry Silver (Keenan Wynn), director Morgan Heywood (Peter Lorre), dresser Bruce Arden (John Carradine) and secretary Ellen Betz (Ina Balin) are left without their meal ticket. They decide to find an unknown (guess who?) and make him into a star. Bell boy Stanley Belt (Lewis) happens to stumble (to put it mildly) into the meeting of the team and is picked as the new meal ticket to be. They try to make him into something he isn't with mixed results. First Richard Deacon is assigned the task of outfitting him, next Hans Conried (in one of the film's highlights) tries to teach him how to sing. Next is a trip to the barber (Neil Hamilton) and the stereotypical shoe-shine boy (Scat Man Crothers). He next goes to record a song with Phil Foster in charge and then appears at a small night club Emceed by Jerry Lester. Finally, Stanley is ready to throw in the towel but is convinced by lady love Ellen to soldier on. Incredibly, Stanley gets booked on the Ed Sullivan show where he ad libs his performance and........................................................................... Lewis gets plenty of opportunities to display his comedic talents but there's nothing out of the ordinary. Quite a list of cameos though including George Raft, Rhonda Fleming, Hedda Hopper, The Four Step Brothers (in an entertaining dance number), Mel Torme and Ed Wynn. Kennan Wynn's son Ned also appears as a band member making it three generations of the Wynn family in the film. Also appearing are Lewis regulars Del Moore, Benny Rubin, Robert Ivers, Richard Bakalyan and Fritz Feld. Kathleen Freeman is supposed to be in there some place but I missed her. And the ending, what was that all about? A sad footnote. Peter Lorre, who didn't want to do this film but needed the money, passed away only days after the film was completed. Watch his expression as he makes his final curtain call. Lorre and Carradine had appeared in several classic horror films back in the day. This was a an unfortunate ending to their long relationship.

In this celluloid atrocity Jerry Lewis moviestar/filmmaker/screenwriter/egomaniac at large rips off his former director Frank Tashlin's "The Girl Can't Help It," substituting himself for Jayne Mansfield and surrounding himself with a phalanx of veteran performers (Peter Lorre, John Carradine, Phil Harris, Keenan Wynn, and for that extra touch of "Citizen Kane," Everett Sloane) in an apparent attempt to make himself look classier, or funnier, or something. Whatever he was trying to do with this picture, it didn't work.

The Prolific, Near-Genius, Self-Indulgent, and as Always Self-Referential Jerry Lewis is at it Again. Pushing Film Conventions just a Nudge, not Over the Edge, Never Wanting to be Totally Dismissed and Forever Seeking Approval, He Managed to be Creative as well as, Like Most Comedians, Inconsistent. Jerry's Fans Rate this One Pretty HIgh, some Considering it His Best along with The Nutty Professor (1963). It is Deeper than His Other Movies and Lewis, who was a Constant Thinker, seemed to be Thinking Overtime on this One. Like All Jerry Lewis Movies this has some Very Funny Bits and His Comic Timing is in Evident Here with a Scene Involving Voice Lessons and Antiques. The Sight Gags in Jerry's Movies are Consistently Innovative and Succeed without Fail, One after Another. Armed with an All-Star Supporting Cast and a Number of Cameos, the Perennial Clown just might have Reached too Far on this One because in this Film when it is Embarrassing (most Jerry Lewis Films include cringe-inducements) it is Really Embarrassing, like in the Nightclub Scene. Overall, this is One of Jerry's more Ambitious Movies and Probably One of HIs Best, although that's Debatable. Still if You are one of those that can Only take a Smattering of the Jerry Lewis Charm, this is Probably one You should Check Out. It's got it All.

This Jerry Lewis comedy, which he also co-wrote and directed, begins with an unusual premise: a movie star has died and his staff of handlers (Keenan Wynn, Everett Sloane, John Carradine, Phil Harris, Ina Balin, and Peter Lorre who died before this was released) are discussing if they should split up. That would become "no" when Jerry, as bellhop Stanley Belt, shows up and clumsily drops his ice and glasses which makes the team try to make him a star. I'll stop there and just say that while I know that Lewis tends to overdo his shtick, I usually find it funny maybe both because and despite him doing so. I mean, when he mouths in the wrong places his recorded lyrics to his hit song (which I personally don't think would have been a hit even as a novelty tune) or has a disastrous encounter with music teacher Hans Conried (a veteran player of Lewis' movies), I'm so there laughing my head off! And a couple of silent sequences are pretty amusing if not as funny. But when we see Stanley at his night club debut, his accident-prone and mixed-words performance is painful to watch not only to the characters watching but to the actual film audience as well though it's possible Lewis meant it that way. There's also some entertaining tap dancing by The Four Step Brothers and some cool shoe shine-bopping by Scatman Crothers even though his character borders on an African-American stereotype though even there you get something of an edge in modern humor at the end of that bit. After the aforementioned night club bit, it loses some steam but the ending more than makes up for it. Oh, and cameos by the likes of Hedda Hopper and Ed Sullivan are also fine for the good sports they show up as. So on that note, The Patsy is well worth a look for any Lewis fan out there. P.S. This is one of the few movies that both Keenan and his father, Ed Wynn, both show up in though in this case, they have no scenes together. Oh, and Sullivan mentions both Martin & Lewis and The Beatles as among those that made their TV debut on his show, having filmed his scene not long after The Fab Four's first appearance with him on February 9, 1964.

This masterpiece, IS by far, Jerry Lewis's best movie! It has a similar plot to other films like; Errand Boy, Bellboy, but it's as if Jerry took it up a big notch, and threw in every strange thought that was going through his head! The opening scenes, where he is being offered "the deal" to make him a star, is worth the price of admission. It does lose a bit of steam towards the end, but overall, the gags,music,etc.. are first rate! Jerry was so ahead of his time. This hilarious & strange movie, predicted the whole "American Idol", and no-talent reality show personalities, that we all have thrown in our faces daily! Get the DVD for some cool bonus features, and dig that 60's color!

What makes this movie a Lewis gem is his terrific direction behind the lens.Jerry breaks the boundaries between fiction and reality,audience and story.The ending of the film shows that Stanley is actually Jerry,and his falling off the building leads to a shot of camera and crew.Jerry then states,"The people in the theater know i ain't gonna die;I'm gonna make more movies,so i couldn't die" while walking off the set with Ina Balin calling him a nut.So the ending is not a closing of a fictional tale but a revealing of reality in the form of Jerry exiting stage left off to make another movie.This can be maddening to some but what makes Lewis revolutionary to me. His opening of the film with Stanley falling out a window and falling with credits running only to hit a diving board and landing back in the room is terrific in form.The use of the mirror when Stanley is being fit for a suit wanting to look like is idol George Raft,Raft appearing in the shot as a reflection of Stanley.The Director is the star,brilliant.

Not a big Jerry Lewis fan but I remembered this one from my childhood and found it very funny but there were whole parts that I didn't "get". Forty years later I think I get it. It isn't supposed to be a comedy in the classic Hollywood sense. Much of the story is about someone who is either socially retarded OR is far more manipulative and ambitious than is apparent to the casual observer. SPOILERS AHEAD One thing that kept going through my head was Jerry was feeling the heat coming from Lenny Bruce at that time. This film was how he imagined the world would look if HE died suddenly and Lenny Bruce was pushed into his slot. The scene in the small night club with the horribly named 'Step Brothers' was extremely revealing. It appeared that the Stanley character was whacked out on something, drugs or who knows what. The SS firing squad bit seemed more than a bit too much but by this time we're way too deep into Jerry's mind to bail. I suspect that both Scorsese and the late Robert Altman wanted to pay a type an homage to this film with their works, THE KING OF COMEDY and THE PLAYER. The Patsy is a very good film but not great, too many self-indulgent bits but still worth seeing if want to see the Hollywod system attempt show a mirror to itself circa early sixties.

There isn't a big star that you can name who doesn't have an entourage. These folks have their careers rise and fall with the stars that time and circumstance has attached them to. But what does happen to these people if the star is taken out of the picture. Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley were known for their large entourages and I daresay right at this moment there any number of people trying to figure out what the future holds for them with Michael Jackson's demise. The Patsy examines one such entourage who when its star, a popular comedian is killed in a plane crash, they will not just disperse. They function as a team and all they need is another star. Where to find one however. And that's where Jerry Lewis comes in, an innocent schlep of a bellboy who comes in with an ice tray wreaking havoc in the typical Lewis manner. The rest of the film is devoted to how well they succeed in their objective. As one of the last players under studio contract, Paramount kept in the black pretty much during the Fifties and Sixties because of Jerry Lewis. Either with Dino or later as a solo, Jerry's films made money and gradually he got creative control over them. In this one he directs as well. It's not his best work, but it's still pretty good with some really hilarious performances. Jerry Lewis has a reputation as an egotist, but you would not know it in The Patsy, he was quite generous in giving time to the fine cast he assembled. The entourage consists of Everett Sloane, Phil Harris, Ina Balin, John Carradine, Keenan Wynn, and in his last film Peter Lorre. You're not going to hold too tight a rein on this group of scene stealers and Lewis doesn't even try. Best scene in the film however is with Hans Conreid as a voice teacher the entourage hires for Lewis. It involves Jerry with a snooty Hans who is also an antique collector. Let's just say the laughs are equally for Hans as they are for Jerry. And the ending is something that Mel Brooks could have used. In fact I'm not sure Brooks didn't appropriate an idea or two for some of his films. The Patsy is a great introduction to Jerry Lewis and I know his fans count it among his best.

Jerry Lewis is a great talent and has given plenty of laughs for millions of people, however, this picture is just plain CRAZY and way out. Jerry Lewis needed the support of all time Classic greats as Everett Sloane, Phil Harris, John Carradine(Dracula 1940's), George Raft, Hans Conried, Hedda Hopper, Ed Wynn along with many other greats. I noticed that even Peter Lorre("Beast with Five Fingers") with all his great acting talent made this his final swan song. If you like to see some of the truly great classic actors, who sometimes just briefly appear, please view this picture and also everyone who loves JERRY LEWIS !