"Hardly Working" came at a rough period in Jerry Lewis' film career. His two previous films were a decade earlier. "Which Way to the Front?" is among the comedian's worst films and his next one, "The Day the Clown Cried", is notorious and was never even released. Then came "Hardly Working". Not a particularly good film but an improvement over his next film "Cracking Up". If these were the only Lewis films you ever saw, you'd be very unlikely to see any more. Fortunately, he did have some excellent films...but this period is clearly his lowest.
When the film begins, Bo (Lewis) learns that the circus where he works is closing. Without a job, he moves in with his sister (Susan Oliver) and her husband (Roger Carmel). However, he does not endear himself to the brother-in-law because he keeps losing job after job after job. So, in desperation the brother-in-law helps him get a job working for the Post Office.
Much of the film is very episodic--with little vignettes where he loses jobs. Some of these are funny, some (such as the disco sequence) are too long and horribly unfunny. There was even one where he got a job as a chef in a Japanese restaurant. Seeing Jerry with giant fake teeth doing a Japanese man impersonation is something to behold! And I do NOT mean that in a good way!! Often the biggest problem was the timing...with scenes being way too long and losing all sense of momentum. Overall, the film is a very hit or miss affair...which perhaps a few too many misses. For his fans, it's well worth seeing but for others I recommend you see one of his better films, such as a Martin & Lewis picture or "The Bellboy" or "The Delicate Delinquent".
By the way, the film was made around Palm Beach, Florida...just north of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. I am not sure why this location was chosen instead of the more familiar Los Angeles area.
