Product Description

In THE PATSY, after a star comedian dies his handlers are resolved to find a replacement to take the deceased star's place so their gravy train will continue. They decide to hire a total unknown and find the ultimate Patsy in hotel bellboy Stanley Belt. After realizing that Stanley can't do anything right, the team begins to think they've made a mistake, but the television show's air date approaches and it's too late to hire someone else.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72123 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2004-10-12
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 101 minutes

Customer Reviews

Jerry Lewis Manipulated, Again
When a star comedian dies his team decides to replace him. Jerry Lewis is the fortunate, or unfortunate, victim. We see the team, which includes Ellen Betz (Ina Balin), Harry Silver (Keenan Wynn), Morgan Heywood (Peter Lorre), and Bruce Alden (John Carradine), among others, attempt to transform Stanley Belt (Lewis) from a bumbling bellboy to a comedian.

There is a tie-in to another Lewis movie. In 1960 Lewis starred in "The Bellboy," where he played Stanley. However, I thought that the bellboy in the earlier movie was much more confident and capable than the bellboy in this later movie.

There are portions of this movie that I thought were funny. There were even portions that I found touching. However, in comparison to many of Jerry Lewis's other movie; I thought this movie was less funny. Sometimes the attempts at humor fell flat for me. However, I will also note that this movie is quite popular with fans of Jerry Lewis.

If you like only some of Jerry Lewis's movies, you may find this one too tedious to be enjoyable. If you are a fan of Jerry Lewis, likely you will find this movie to be humorous. However, Jerry Lewis had many other films that were better and funnier.

Thoughtful, reflexive and funny
The Patsy, Lewis' fifth film as a director and one of his best, can be considered as a semi-sequel to both The Bellboy (his first) and The Errand Boy (his third). Like its two predecessors, it features a confrontation between a complete outsider (always played by Lewis) and a lavish, illusionistic and mercantile milieu. As in all of his films, the interplay between 'Lewis the artist' (a natural performer whose inventiveness knows no bounds) and 'Lewis the star' (has more swagger, aggressiveness and self-confidence but far less freedom) is central here. It takes place in a single character (named Stanley as in The Bellboy) whose road to stardom is as unexpected and multi-layered as Morty's was in The Errand Boy. In many ways, the artist-star conflict is resolved in the postmodern conclusion: Lewis' choice to equal Stanley with himself - and The Patsy's world with 'reality' - implies that the true star-artist is finally made possible. Some of the movie's set pieces - Stanley's first appearance, the singing lesson, the silent flashback, the failed stand-up performance - are among the most effective of Lewis' filmography, seamlessly weaving together the sophisticated and the grotesque. A very impressive film from an underrated filmmaker.

The Patsy is certainly one of Lewis' best efforts!
If you like the humor of Jerry Lewis when it comes to spoofing the entertainment world then this is the VHS to own in your collection. Personally I thought it was one of his best efforts with his years with Paramount. A great cast of Hollywood's past is featured in this 40 year old comedy. It's a rollicking look at creating a big time wannabe from Lewis' own perspective. Enjoy!