Product Description

Although he's quiet, Stanley does have a tendency to work with a slapstick style that includes various amusing facial expressions. When famous actor Jerry Lewis comes to stay at the hotel, people around Stanley notice the strange resemblance between the actor and Stanley and this causes Lewis to have trouble with his entourage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15124 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2004-10-12
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 71 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Jerry Lewis was at the height of his popularity when he took his first directing credit, on The Bellboy, which turned out to be a huge hit and one of his funniest movies. But it wasn't business as usual: The Bellboy has no storyline, and the central character (a bellhop at the fantastically ornate Fountainebleau Hotel in Miami) executes his role essentially without speaking. Some of the gags are duds or dated, but the good ones are great: Jerry's anxious stroll across a cavernous, empty ballroom, and a small masterpiece involving four telephones at a reception desk. There's also a hilarious sequence in which the movie star "Jerry Lewis" comes to the hotel, which gives Lewis a chance to speak ("Stop with the brushing!"). The Bellboy is very short at 71 minutes, but contains essential proof of Lewis's gifts as comedian and director. --Robert Horton

DVD features
The commentary track with Jerry Lewis and Steve Lawrence is a disappointment; Lewis, who could certainly talk about filmmaking for 71 minutes straight, seems content to watch and appreciate his movie, with very occasional anecdotes. Steve Lawrence laughs a lot. Some brief but cool archival outtakes show deleted jokes and marvelous glimpses of Lewis in his director persona--very different from the goofball on screen. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Funny for its time :-)
By today's standards, this may not be considered an outrageously funny movie - back in the day, I can see that this would have been hilarious. I really love Jerry Lewis and it's one of the better roles I've seen him in. He doesn't have too much of a dialogue in this - whenever he is playing the bellboy character Stanley, he only whistles and uses his facial expressions to emote his clumsiness.
The only scene where I truly laughed out loud, was when he was in charge of the bellboy desk for a short time and one of the four phones would ring. Do you think he knew which phone to answer? Of course not. Other than that, it was good throughout but just not as funny as I would have hoped. He is a genius for sure, but I prefer him doing his crazy voices. Even so, I'd recommed this to his fans, as I'm sure they'll definately enjoy it.

A Beginning
This film occurred when Jerry Lewis needed a summer movie, Paramount wanted to release "Cinderfella", but Lewis insisted that wait for the Christmas season. Therefore, on a shoe-string budget he created his first masterpiece as actor, director, producer, and writer all on one film (with "The Ladies' Man", "The Nutty Professor", and other notables to follow). The film promises--from the beginning--to be about "fun", no more, no less. Indeed, it is pretty much a romp through sketches involving Stanley, a bellboy. Nevertheless, Lewis couldn't help added some social commentary, and the scene where he plays himself is among one of cinema's finest moments. Certainly not his best work--overall--but a great start to what is a lavish solo career.

The Bellboy
The start of the funny parodies. Every scene is funny, Lewis has very different versatile roles in this movie.