Las joyas de la familia

I finally figured out why the French love Jerry Lewis. They have this idea that one guy should be the "author" of a film: director, scenarist, star performer, the whole bit. Fernandel was like that. For their transAtlantic tastes, this standup jokester turned movie mogul is just the ticket.

I saw "The Family Jewels" in the theater as a little boy and loved it; Lewis had reached the point where he could make kids laugh. But are Vegas audiences of adults still buying his act?

This story probably would have been more believable as a stage presentation, as Lewis's mugging certainly works better before a live audience. It's OK on film, and continues to appear on cable from time to time. For someone who figured out how to entertain the little ones, Jerry Lewis here pulls off the very considerable feat of not being upstaged by a child actor.

My friends and I laughed so hard. Even at age 10 I thought the movie was totally funny and engaging. Jerry Lewis was my favorite comic back then and I also liked the child actress Donna Butterworth. She and Jerry had chemistry. I loved the characters and I remember Sabastian Cabot trying to squeeze into or out of a car; too funny.

Whatever happened to Donna Butterworth? She acted in an Elvis movie and that was it for her. If anyone knows, let me know.

I have been familiar with both The Family Jewels and Paradise Hawaiian Style for many years, but it was only when I coincidentally bought both on DVD recently that I realised Donna Butterworth starred in both. I'm not sure her name even registered with me in the past. However, her performances in both films are winning and funny and I imagine she grew up to be a very lovely person. Her singing is sensational in what is otherwise a lesser Elvis Presley film (directed by Michael Moore (!) but not the Sicko guy). The audio commentary and special features on The Family Jewels provide some interesting information and background about Donna. Jerry claims to have discovered Donna in Hawaii and we see amusing and heartwarming screen tests of them together among the special features. She is now 50 or so years old and I hope she is proud of them. If you're reading this Donna, hi from me.

Ah, Jerry Lewis. One of the most underappreciated comic actor/writer/directors. In "The Family Jewels" he attempts to play every single member of a family of brothers...and pulls it off successfully. All these Lewis characters are funny and quirky, and this movie is consistently entertaining all the way through. Note the similarites between the voice of the airline pilot Peyton brother and the voice of Paul Reubens' Pee-Wee Herman. The plot here involves a young girl who must live with one of her uncles, and her search for the uncle she likes best. But that's mostly an excuse to let Lewis show off his incredible comedic character talents. Sometimes downright cartoonlike.

The father of a 9 year old Donna Peyton (Donna Putterworth) dies and she has to live with one of her six uncles, which are all played by Jerry Lewis.He also plays a chauffeur called Willard Woodward.All the uncles are nutty in a way or an other.There is a clown and the other is like Jerry's character in The Nutty Professor.The Family Jewels (1965) is a movie, that mr Lewis also directed and wrote.I remember when I saw it in 1998, when I was 16 and liked it very much.As a huge Jerry Lewis fan I was delighted to see Jerry Lewis in seven.He and the young Donna do both great job in this movie.This is a funny comedy which ain't a wonder since it's a Jerry Lewis film.It makes me glad to read from IMDB that he's making an appearance in a movie called Miss Cast Away this year.Let's hope we'll see this 78 year old comedian in more movies in the future.