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Film version of Gore Vidal's stage hit was later re-made as TV's Mork and Mindy. UFO movies in the 50's and early 60's usually dealt with unfriendly, intellectually superior aliens out to kill helpless and somewhat naive humans. Then comes Jerry Lewis as a friendly, intellectually lacking alien who is out to study the "human condition." Most of the gags have been used and reused again on countless sitcoms but they are done well. Great character actors give hilarious supporting performances. Supposedly Gore Vidal was not happy with this version of his play. I've seen Vidal on TV many times over the years and never once ever seen him laugh or smile so maybe he has a different definition of comedy than the rest of the planet.

Back in 1955 Gore Vidal wrote a television play that later went to Broadway for 388 performances and starred Cyril Ritchard and Eddie Mayehoff. It was meant to be a satire on McCarthyism with an alien miscalculating a visit to Earth's American Civil War and arriving in Virginia a century later. So what must he have thought when his Broadway play wound up a vehicle for Jerry Lewis. Not that it's a bad Jerry Lewis, not his best to be sure, but surely not what Vidal intended.

Jerry plays a most innocent alien with powers akin to what Ray Walston had in my favorite Martian. His people from way the other side of the galaxy have progressed to not only having powers beyond mortal men, but have dispensed with emotions. His people like his mentor John Williams are just below the Organians from Star Trek in that they still have corporeal bodies. Jerry wants to feel some earth like experiences so Williams gives him a chance.

He experiences emotions all right, but a little too much for one Visit To A Small Planet. How he copes with Earth and its Earthlings is for you watch the film for.

I can see that the characters that are played by the cynical Fred Clark and the excitable and paranoid Gale Gordon might have made great counterpoints for satire. But Jerry Lewis never has done satire and I doubt at his age he'll try it. Lee Patrick plays a role modeled on what she did as Leo G. Carroll's wife in the television version of Topper.

It's jealousy that does Jerry in, mainly the jealousy that Earl Holliman feels as his girl and Clark and Patrick's daughter Joan Blackman starts taking an interest in their outer space visitor. Truth be told I can't see what Blackman sees in Holliman's lunkhead character. Holliman must have felt ridiculous doing the part.

Best sequence in the film is Lewis and Blackman's visit to a beatnik joint and the impression he makes on all those cool cats. You'll get a chance to see ace drummer Buddy Rich in that scene and that should never be passed up.

Visit To A Small Planet is a decent enough Jerry Lewis film, but far from whatever Gore Vidal had in mind.

A bumbling, clowning alien visitor named Kreton observes the ways of humans here on Earth. Arriving in Richmond, Virginia in Civil War costume in 1960, he believes he is just in time to witness the beginnings of the Civil War, but is off by 100 years. He then decides to observe the customs of 20th Century American life, including such things as lovemaking rituals and what people do for entertainment: he watches two people romantically involved with each other (Holliman & Blackman), billing and cooing at one another, and ends up getting between them; he goes to a Beatnik nightclub, and realizes that the Beatniks are more like the aliens he knows than humans. Lots of hilarious Jerry Lewis mugging, sight-gags and comedy routines, terrific special effects work by the master John P. Fulton; great flying saucers! Terrific counterpoint with Lewis' Kreton and his professor back home, Mr. Delton, played by the distinguished English actor John Williams; a few Lewis gems: "Keep your nose out of other people's planets", even if you think "the grass is greener on the other side of the galaxy"! A really fun picture. I saw this when it first came out in the summer of 1960. Too bad it wasn't filmed in Technicolor; that's really the only flaw I find in it - it was made in b&w. It would have been so much better in Technicolor. This is probably why it wasn't more popular. Great fun for the whole family, with a terrific cast. This was Lewis' last studio picture under his old Paramount contract before he formed his own independent production company; he made "The Bellboy" in six weeks completely on his own, right after completing work on this movie, and sold it to Paramount. This would be his arrangement with the film studio on all his subsequent films of the 1960s at the studio until he went on to other studios. Delightful for Jerry Lewis fans, and a delightful music score by Leigh Harline. So why isn't this out on video?

I'm suspicious to talk about Jerry Lewis he makes part of my life in my youthful days and today a l have almost all movie from this true genius of the comedy whose many actors were inspired by him, like Jim Carrey, this time he came to the Earth as a clumsy friendly alien visitor, who didn't scary nobody except a fearful dog which he talks each other, great acting from veteran actor Fred Clark , the always fine Earl Holliman and John Williams as Alien leader who almost stolen the movie with a funny performance!! Just came out officially in Brazil with dubbed short version and extended subtitled version, sorry for a wrong choice for black and white photography, as comedy works well in color!!

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First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

I was five years old when this movie came out and was intrigued more by the special effects (Jerry floating in air and walking up the wall and onto the ceiling). It was also of not that this was his last film for many years where he had someone else direct the film (the veteran Norman Taurog). From this Jerry went to make his kind of movies. My parents were big Lewis fans and I am to this day. This may not be up there with "The Nutty Professor" but it's close. This film also had a good supporting cast and had a "stagy" look befitting its origins as a play. I mentioned being intrigued by the FX (floating and walking on walls). Being a typical kid I thought I could walk on walls and quickly found out I couldn't. This is definitely something that shouldn't be tried at home-only in the movies.