Die Heulboje

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.

A fun 1964 film that combines Jerry Lewis's talents in directing, screenwriting, and comedy, offering a critical look at the American entertainment world. It features well-known names in supporting roles, such as Ina Balin, Everett Sloane, Phil Harris, Keenan Wynn, and Peter Lorre.

The film begins with the unexpected death of a much-loved comedian in a plane crash. The comedian's management team (producer, writer, press agent, etc.) panics, fearing unemployment now that they've lost their "golden goose." To overcome this situation, they decide to find someone completely talentless but naive and easily manipulated to replace the deceased comedian and turn him into a new star. This person is Stanley Belt (Jerry Lewis), the clumsy bellboy at the hotel where they work. As the team tries to reinvent Stanley and open the doors of fame for him, comedic events ensue. However, Stanley's natural lack of talent complicates matters. During this process, Ellen (Ina Balin) from the team develops sympathy for Stanley and genuinely tries to help him.

The film satirically addresses and criticizes the artificial nature of fame in Hollywood, how a star is "manufactured," and the behind-the-scenes workings of show business. Additionally, there are plenty of scenes where Lewis makes nods to Chaplin-esque physical comedy.

Overall, it's a typical/standard Jerry Lewis film and a good entry point into Lewis's cinema for first-time viewers. This is because it contains many of his thematic and stylistic traits and is a production where Lewis boldly puts his persona front and center.

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.

The Patsy boasts a fantastic cast but falls incredibly short. Lewis is rather cringeworthy in a handful of sequences here with the exception of about three skits (the ice in the beginning, the chair/seat sketch somewhere in the middle) and the finale). It's also worth mentioning Lewis was fantastic at breaking the 4th wall and using scene set-up and prop set-up rather masterfully. He just doesn't keep it consistent enough in this. It would also help if he didn't babble nonsense so much. Worth watching if your a fan of Lewis. Definitely doesn't crack his best work though.

Jerry Lewis directing Jerry Lewis, shouldn't that go wrong? No not really. The Lewis-films nearly always rely on his physical acting, which must be seen as his strongest asset. This is also true in "The Patsy" and it's actually going very well. At least for the first hour of the film. Perhaps it should have been a little shorter.

Jerry plays the bellhop Stanley, who serves at a hotel. Now in that hotel a group of employees of a newly dead comedian are talking about their future. One of them Morgan Heywood (played by Peter Lorre) gets the idea to find a man that they first of all can control, and secondly teach the trade of entertainment. After Stanley have tried to serve the team champagne (with ice, wet ice!) They find that he well be the perfect new man. Now this starts the most fun part of the film, he tries his luck at singing recording and what else he needs to know. Along the way the secretary of the team Ellen (Ina Balin) and Stanley falls in love. All that takes about an hour, sadly the last 40 minutes doesn't live up to the good start. The solution to, if Stanley will be successful and if he and Ellen will be a pair. Guess yourselves our even better see the film.