O Terror das Mulheres

Sure, it's spotty with its gags (what Lewis film isn't?) but it looks fantastic and the gags that work are hilarious...good sight gags with Buddy Lester, some funny surreal stuff (the lipstick on the painting, the butterfly collection and that great white room sequence with Harry James's Band and Miss Cartilage)..Lewis's reactions to "Baby" are a scream...even the opening titles bit with LOOK magazine is funny... ..downsides...well, the ad libbing with Kathleen Freeman doesn't always work and the serious story with Pat Stanley could be excised (for the better), but who cares?...this and Nutty Professor are definitely his best

Jerry Lewis made one of his best solo films in 1960. "The Bellboy" had VERY little plot and consisted of a bazillion little gags all strung together with Jerry working as a bellboy at a fancy hotel. The gags came so rapidly that even the ones that fell flat didn't slow the film down and you can't help but like the movie. A year later, Lewis created a film with some similarities to "The Bellboy" but it just didn't work as well for two main reasons. First, there is a tiny bit more plot--but this was a minor problem. Second, and by far the biggest problem, is Lewis' performance. He is LOUD--L, O, U, D!!!!!! Throughout the film is literally screams about every minute and there is very little subtlety to the film. A few of the characters (such as Miss Wellenmelon) were also incredibly loud--as if screaming or singing in a LOUD voice was funny in and of itself. Now it's not a total loss, as, like the other film, there are so many gags that occasionally they worked--such as the performance by Jerry's mother (you gotta see that one) or 'Baby'. But, again and again, all the momentum is derailed by just going too far--too loud, too unsubtle and just too much. It's a shame, as some things about the film are great and sure could have worked a lot better. For example, the set is about the coolest one I have seen--very similar to a giant doll house. It must have cost a fortune to build this cutout house--and in some of the long shots, it really impresses. Had the film only shown more restraint, it EASILY could have been scored a 7 or higher. A shame, but a wasted opportunity.

I think it´s time we recognize something that should be said a long time ago: Jerry Lewis is a genius and "Ladies´Man" is his most amazing production. The enormous doll´s house he has created serves perfectly for the development of a succesion of hilarious gags that will make the audience fall from their chairs. Using cranes to shoot the scenes, Lewis obtains beautiful scenes and perfectly timed humor. A band playing lively, walls that move, the partition of the main character in four and lots of beautiful girls complete the picture. Believe me when i say: this man knows what he is doing and it´s about time we accept that he is not just a silly clown; he is a talented and creative filmmaker who took movie techniques to its extremes and gave us both a comic and tragic view of the world we live in. Jerry Lewis is what Godard was to french cinema: an innovator. Let´s adore him.

Herbert H. Heebert (Jerry Lewis) is broken hearted when he finds his childhood sweetheart with another man. Swearing off women for good he accepts a job at a boarding house run by Helen Wellenmellen (Helen Traubel), unaware that it's a women only house-and it's full of them! Could it be that they can be good for Herbert and he be good for them?

Jerry Lewis stars, co-writes and directs a virtually plot less film that's almost entirely set in one magnificent mansion set. As was the case with many of Lewis' film's, it relies on his character creation to bring in the laughs. Which is the case here, the problem being that his surrounding cast are not of the required standard to fully form the comedy. With the exception of the dependable Kathleen Freeman, nobody else comes forward to raise some laughs or enhance on Jerry's goofing. Thus Lewis has to once again carry the can, which works to a degree, but entering the last third the joke that is Herbert Heebert starts to wear thin and only his hardiest fans will be able to stay with him. There's many musings on the film across various internet sources that delve deep into the piece as some sort of masterpiece of sexual identity, machismo empowerment and etc. I don't see it myself, but maybe that's just because I want a Jerry Lewis movie to make me howl with laughter above all else! And for sure The Ladies Man does do that on occasions; because it ultimately is a comic vehicle for Lewis, as a soloist, that works splendidly. His direction is excellent with the camera work around the house fluid and very involving, while the Technicolor production really sparkles and enhances the rich visuals available around the star of the show--the set! A good but not great film, but Lewis as ever, to us his fans, entertains royally. 6/10

Anyway, here Jerry is at something close to his (solo) best as a jilted man who finds himself inadvertently at the beck and call of a house full of movie actress wannabes, and misadventures abound. The house itself was a huge sound stage set with the fourth wall cut away so that the camera could zoom in and around, capturing Lewis' trademark ballets of catastrophe to excellent effect. He really was a marvel at comedic staging and there is some great stuff here. Unfortunately, you also have to take the rest of the Lewis formula too - the sappy romantic sentimentality, the awkward chemistry with his female co-stars and the contrived love sub-plots with girls who ought to have had the good sense to run screaming for the opposite coast as soon as the first catastrophe ended. Honestly are we really supposed to buy the belief that love conquers even Jerry's level of incompetence? Anyway, this movie should be enjoyed for its merits, which are considerable for any fan of comedy cinema, while discreetly closing one eye to its contrivances.