Product Description

Contains: The Nutty Professor, The Ladies' Man, The Delicate Delinquent, Cinderfella, The Bell Boy, The Errand Boy, The Patsy, The Disorderly Orderly, The Family Jewels, and The Stooge.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5066 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2005-10-25
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 10
• Running time: 946 minutes

Amazon.com
This 10-DVD boxed set is a delight for anyone afflicted with a susceptibility to the fractured antics of Jerry Lewis, or "Le Roi du Crazy" to the French. This set emphasizes Lewis's busy period after the breakup with Dean Martin, when he was exerting more influence over his vehicles (six of the titles are directed by Jerry himself) and almost single-handedly keeping Paramount Pictures propped up with his box-office take. The set curiously includes one of the Martin-Lewis pictures, 1953's The Stooge, which has echoes of the real-life vibe between Jerry and Dino.

The other titles include Lewis's 1957 solo starring debut, The Delicate Delinquent, and his directing bow, The Bellboy (1960). The latter is an often-ingenious and plotless collection of gags with Jerry as a bellhop in Miami Beach's Fountainebleau Hotel. His character doesn't speak (making the connection with silent cinema more pointed), but in one uproarious sequence the obnoxious movie star "Jerry Lewis" comes to visit the hotel.

The Ladies Man puts Lewis alone in a boarding house full of women. This film's bizarre sexual politics (and its amazing cut-away set) helps explain why French critics such as Jean-Luc Godard consider Lewis a cinematic genius--Godard actually borrowed the cut-away set idea for his film Tout va bien. The Errand Boy is a cascade of gags strung together on the set of "Paramutual Pictures," a movie studio that employs Lewis's klutzy gofer; it features one of Jerry's best musical miming routines. The Patsy is another good one, as nebbish Jerry is drafted into impersonating a famous deceased celebrity, but by 1965's The Family Jewels the inspiration is flagging a bit.

Two of the titles are directed by Lewis's mentor, Frank Tashlin. Cinderfella works a sentimental variation on the fairy tale; it's slow and at times mawkish, but some of Lewis's physical stuff is top-notch. The Disorderly Orderly is livelier, with a hospital setting and some of Jerry's most inspired babbling. The box also includes Lewis's acknowledged high point, The Nutty Professor, in its special-edition form. Its Jekyll-and-Hyde story is still the funniest and weirdest premise Lewis ever had. There are other Lewis films out there, but this box is definitely the cream of the career. If some of the jokes haven't aged well (and those who can't stand his mugging won't be convinced even by this set), Lewis still seems a more interesting filmmaker than he's usually given credit for. Extras include some disappointing commentaries with Lewis and Steve Lawrence, plus a smattering of outtakes, some of them funny and/or revealing of Lewis's directing technique. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Jerry Mon Frer
The author of a recent book in appreciation of Lewis' film work, Enfant Terrible! notes that he's been honored primarily not in the US but in France, by "those incomprehensible hedonistic strangers across the sea." This set affords an opportunity to reappraise his standing in the cinema, and I find myself falling in with the hedonistic strangers in appreciation of his considerable talents.

I can remember as a kid laughing my head off in the theater watching Who's Minding the Store? (not included in this set), but it wasn't until I saw Martin and Lewis on the Colgate Comedy Hour shows on DVD that I had any idea of his range and versatility. Then I saw the first Dean and Jerry movie, My Friend Irma, a film based on a radio show, and thoroughly forgettable but for one thing: the Martin/ Lewis interplay. Paramount long ago saw what I'm just finding out, and the duo made sixteen movies together.

Only their last film in that series is included in this set, The Stooge, from 1953, in which, as Leonard Maltin has noted, Lewis shows hidden depths as an actor. His first solo outing, The Delicate Delinquent (1957) is surprisingly poignant, with only intermittent comic bits. This unimaginably rich set of ten films from 1953 to 1965 may not convert staid critics on this side of the Atlantic, but it certainly will prove the Lewis lover's cup of tea. The films are on ten single sided DVDs in five slimline cases which fit in a box set. The slim cases are too thin to comfortably hold two discs, however, and plastic pieces had broken off in all the cases I opened. The DVDs were still OK though (single sided discs are tougher than double sided ones), and except for that problem this is an attractively packaged set.

The ten films are in widescreen, four in black and white and six in color. In chronological order they are: The Stooge (1953, black and white), The Delicate Delinquent (1957, black and white), The Bell Boy (1960, black and white), Cinderfella (1960, color, with Ed Wynn as the fairy godfather), The Errand Boy (1961, black and white), The Ladies Man (1961, color), The Nutty Professor (1963, color, special edition), The Patsy (1964, color), The Disorderly Orderly (1964, color, with an opening song by Sammy Davis Jr.), and The Family Jewels (1965, color, in which Lewis plays six roles). There's not much information on the box, but many films include trailers and extra features, listed inside the DVD cases. The piece de resistance is a personal note from Jerry slipped into the box, expressing his hope that the Martin/ Lewis films will also soon make it to DVD. A sentiment we fans, mon ami, fervently echo.

Le Jerry!
I'm thrilled that Paramount has boxed up their 10 Jerry Lewis titles and cut the price. The titles include The Bellboy, Cinderfella, The Delicate Delinquent, The Disorderly Orderly, The Errand Boy, The Family Jewels, The Ladies Man, The Nutty Professor, The Patsy and The Stooge.

I've been entertianed by most of these films - having checked out the single releases - but was unwilling to buy them for $15 a pop. But now the price is right and I will be able to torture my children with Jerry on the loose.

While the bonus features on most aren't overwhelming, they seem enlightening to understand what Jerry was doing at the time. He was an innovator using video monitors to help direct himself.

I do hope Paramount is able to put out a good low priced boxset of the Jerry Lewis - Dean Martin comedies.

Slapstick Slapschtick
As a child-- I'm 60-- my dear mother used to give me a
dollar to go to the movies every Saturday. For that $1,
I'd have enough to see a Triple-Feature amongst Woody
Woodpecker/Mickey Mouse/Stooges' shorts... buy a soda,
a candybar, popcorn and return home [on a 15-cent bus]
with a nickle!
Jerry Lewis was my favorite. Well, here's YOUR chance
for a bargain. It may not be the same experience-- it
MAY cost a little bit more-- but you'll OWN the movies!
What a treat; what a bargain!
It's often said that Jerry Lewis's biggest fans are
the French; little kids; and... Jerry Lewis. I think
that Jerry has all the right in the world to have a big
ego... he's EARNED the right.
I give it TEN STARS-- the meter, unfortunatly only goes
to 5.
"Oh Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"