¿Dónde está el frente?

The idea behind "Which Way to the Front" - a millionaire rejected for military service during World War II deciding to form his own army platoon and fight the war his way - is definitely one that is original and has a lot of potential for humor. Unfortunately, the execution here is lacking, to put it kindly. Watching it, I often got the feeling that star and director Jerry Lewis was not trying very hard. For example, while the movie is set in 1943, the movie has a very 1970s feel to it from the costumes to the sets.

A bigger problem is that the movie is simply not that funny, especially in the first half. The movie starts off very slowly, taking both forever to set the situation up and then to get Lewis and his team into the field. And while this is going on, one attempted gag after the other lands with a thud.

The second half of the movie is a bit more successful. There is an injection of serious energy by both Lewis the star and Lewis the director. And this energy does end up generating a few (mild) giggles. (But I certainly didn't laugh at the offensive last scene; you'll see for yourself when you watch the movie.) While there are worse comedies out there (both with or without Lewis), it's easy to see why Warner Brothers only gave the movie a limited release in North America. Though the movie did extremely well in a number of foreign countries, suggesting there's an audience for just about any movie.

I had watched this as a kid but, not being much of a Jerry Lewis fan, I had completely forgotten it (not that it's in any way memorable). The film revolves around impersonation (which seems to be in the curriculum of every comic star!) - in this case a German officer - and, while not as bad as Leonard Maltin claims (awarding it a BOMB rating), it's not exactly classic stuff either - certainly leagues behind Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940), even if comparably narcissistic! Ironically, the scenes prior to the appearance of the would-be wacky General offer more felicities than the rather forced humor at Nazi expense!

The film was really Lewis' last gasp during his heyday; in fact, this proved to be his last vehicle to be released for 10 years (it's painfully apparent here that his particular brand of foolishness wouldn't pass muster in the age of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen)!

Warner Brothers botched the distribution of this movie.Lewis made a movie that was more adult and topical in light of the times.The movie was more plot driven then many of his other directorial efforts.Lewis makes great use of the art of verbal humor,the scene of Byers trying to learn German from a phonograph record.He fractures and mocks the instructor and the sound of the German language.The scene of Byers/Kesselring's meeting with Hitler is one of Lewis's great masterworks of verbal comedy.Byers in disguise at a German checkpoint double talks the guard,then Byers/Kesselring gets the guard to hand him the password and then gives him the password back.Byers great line at the beginning of the movie that "every man has a right to be killed fighting for his country" is pure gold in the light of Vietnam.The comedy gems in the second half of this movie are fast and furious.I think it is the most verbal driven and more adult in it's comic pacing than most lewis vehicles.I think Lewis was going in new directions.WB killed any such future which we can only guess at seeing it all but derailed his career.

The idea of a rich man, rejected by the army as 4F, then creating his own military experience, has possibilities. It could be a funny movie.

This wasn't. Lewis' vision of the comic bits has no sense of timing. It moves along at a snail's pace, and includes myriad supporting scenes that just aren't funny. Each scene has a punch line, but most of them were a waste of film. Evidently, firing a mortar and then blandly declaring "We just blew up a Texaco station" just doesn't pack the comedic punch it used to.

Jerry stammering gibberish was barely tolerable in his early days. In this film, it just looks tired.

While the film is set in 1943, hair styles, colloquial expressions, mores, costuming, and just about everything else are firmly rooted in the late 60s.

To get picky, the freeze frame method of ending scenes, as used in this film, is just odd.

I actually got pained looks from my wife when I held on past the first twenty minutes hoping that it would eventually get to the "good part". Twenty-two minutes after that I finally gave in and stopped watching this mess.

Which Way to the Front? (1970)

BOMB (out of 4)

Insanely awful film has Jerry Lewis playing Brendan Byers III, the richest man in the world. He gets drafted to join WWII but he fails his physical and becomes a 4-F. When he can't get into the war he decides to start his own Army with various other 4-F's and soon they are going after Hitler.

WHICH WAY TO THE FRONT? would turn out to be the last Jerry Lewis film to see a theater for a decade. This here is without question the worst film I've seen from Lewis and it even managed to be worse than his comeback films HARDLY WORKING and CRACKING UP. With three incredibly awful movies, it makes me wonder how bad THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED if Lewis was willing to keep that movie on the shelf yet release these three.

Why did WHICH WAY TO THE FRONT? deserve a BOMB rating? I will admit that it's actually better made than many Lewis movies but this film was completely worthless to me because I didn't laugh a single time. Usually Lewis is very forceful in regards to his comedy style but that's not the case here. The comedy is much more laid back but that doesn't mean it's any funnier. The entire film is just very poorly paced and lacks any laughs. In fact, there really wasn't a single scene where it seemed like they were even going for laughs.

I'm really not sure what Lewis and company were thinking when they made this turkey. There's really not a single funny moment throughout the incredibly long 96 minute running time. Just check out the scene where Lewis is messing around with Hitler to see how bad the comedy fails. WHICH WAY TO THE FRONT? is without question one of the worst comedies ever made but it does succeed at many many other bad Lewis films appear better than they actually are.