Tres en un sofá

I'm not normally a Jerry Lewis fan ... but this is one of his very few movies I can watch more than once. Lewis held back on his normal goofy, over-the-top performance to play a more normal type of romantic comedy lead.

In this one, his paramour is Janet Leigh: mature, gorgeous, and worth the watch all by herself. Lewis has given up a career as a commercial artist to take on art for art's sake, and won a contest to spend a month in Paris painting a wall-sized mural ... all expenses paid plus a $10,000 commission. He wants Janet to spend the month in Paris with him. Who wouldn't?! :-)

The problem is she's a psychiatrist with three patients she can't abandon until she'd given them more confidence after bad breakups. So Lewis set out to date the three patients, as three different impostors, and give them confidence. What could go wrong?

Plenty!

One of my first exposures to Jerry Lewis as a child was the 1966 comedy THREE ON A COUCH in which Jerry played a nebbish engaged to marry a beautiful psychiatrist (Janet Leigh) who feels spends entirely too much time obsessing over three of her female patients (Leslie Parrish, Mary Ann Mobley, Gia Golan) who all have serious hang-ups regarding men and dating. In order to free up his fiancée so she'll have more time for him, Chris, Jerry's character, pretends to be three different guys and initiates a romance with all three women so that they'll gain some self-esteem where men are concerned and his fiancée will have more time to plan their wedding. I remember, even as a child, thinking to myself, "Does he really think he can get away with this?" but I guess Jerry thought like I did, he'd have no career. The three imaginary suitors border on cartoon characters and the lovely Leigh is wasted in thankless role, but there are scattered laughs throughout and Jerry has made worst movies, but it's better than a route canal.

Jerry's portrayal of Rutherford and sister Heather is one of his best. I'm giggling now as I remember the scenes. The movie is truly a delight to watch; I discovered it during the late 70's. Despite bad press from some and in my opinion, Jerry Lewis is one of the kings of comedy. In fact, Jerry is my second favorite comedian next to Richard Pryor.

Jerry Lewis (as Christopher Pride) wants to marry Janet Leigh (as Elizabeth "Liz" Acord) and move to Paris, where he has been commissioned to design a mural. But, Psychiatrist Leigh doesn't want to leave her patients; especially three strikingly beautiful women, who can't seem to develop romantic relationships with men. Mr. Lewis decides to assume three different alternate identities, in order to warm up the three frigid women, and free up fiancée Leigh. Will things get too hot?

Leigh and the three women (Mary Ann Mobley, Leslie Parrish, and Gila Golan) are lovely looking; but, don't watch for them to run around in bikinis and towels a lot -- there isn't much skin on display. James Best (as Ben Mizer) handles the role of Lewis' straight man well. The supporting cast performs ably; Kathleen Freeman and Buddy Lester are always fun to watch, drunk or sober. Lewis plays his "main" personality and four others -- "Warren", "Ringo" (not Beatle-influenced), "Rutherford", and "Heather". They are not complicated characterizations and, so, are not among is best.

"Three on a Couch" is interesting in its overindulgence. It's the Lewis brand, with a drink in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. Note, the script and situations are drenched in alcohol. This gives the film a "drunk", enochlophobic feel. The film's closing "party" has a surreal quality, with guests pouring into spaces they shouldn't fit. Lewis directs this "party" scene very effectively, by the way; his directorial skill is sometimes overshadowed by his on screen persona -- he might have been wise to peruse a parallel career directing movies in which he does not appear.

This is the first and only movie I've seen from Jerry Lewis. He is from before my time and I didn't have great expectations of his comedic abilities. But it was better than I expected. There were moments I really had to laugh and that doesn't happen all to often. Even if not all the scenes are even funny and sometimes irritating long (the farewell party at the office), I must say that Jerry Lewis can be a very funny man.