I 7 magnifici Jerry

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.

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.

Ten year old heiress Donna Peyton (Donna Butterworth) spends two weeks with each of her six uncles to try and decide who is to be her new father, when it's patently obvious that her caring chauffeur Willard Woodward is the perfect candidate.

A vanity project written by, starring and directed by Jerry Lewis, The Family Jewels sees the comic actor playing seven different characters, thereby allowing him to run the gamut of his comedic repertoire: loveable (Willard), scatterbrained (old sea salt Uncle James), grouchy (circus clown Uncle Everett, who hates kids), zany (Uncle Eddie the pilot, who sounds a lot like Jack Lemmon from The Great Race), logical (private detective Uncle Skylock), and villainous (gangster Uncle Bugsy).

Films don't get more self-indulgent than this, Lewis milking his multiple roles for all they are worth, the star often over-egging the pudding, with many of the characters outstaying their welcome. Lewis is having so much fun doing his zany thing that he doesn't know when to call it quits and move on to the next segment. The result is a film that could have done with some judicious editing to remove the chaff, but I imagine Lewis's ego got in the way of that happening.

Butterworth is charming as the young rich girl who is constantly bemused by her many uncles' eccentric behaviour, and Lewis is at his best when he's playing loveable Willard, but overall there is way too much grandstanding from its star for this to be considered a success.

Jerry had to reach deep into his bag of stupid jokes, gags, and ham handed comedy to come up with this little jewel[?]. It doesn't play well by today's standards, in fact the whole thing is double lame; especially the 2 bits using son Gary and his band. Did the Playboys need this gig to further their hinky dinky careers? I did get a few laughs, but the film was really just too goofy....as usual for Lewis. What was with Jerry's hair? Two or three inches long in the front, and a buzz cut in back: a reverse of today's style.

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.