Quote of the Week: Jerry Lewis on Comedy

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My philosophy of comedy is a man in trouble. There but for the grace of God go I.

-Jerry Lewis

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Screenshot of the Week: Jerry Lewis Struts

Jerry Lewis, ready to strut in Cinderfella (1960)

TCM Film Festival 2014: Jerry Lewis Immortalized in Cement

There's hardly anything better in life than the experience of something you anticipated with great excitement exceeding your expectations. This is what happened on day three of TCMFF, where I started my day witnessing Jerry Lewis' hand and footprint ceremony in the forecourt of Grauman's (TCL Chinese) Theater. It was pure joy. My favorite event of the festival.

I had only recently become a fan of Jerry Lewis. The announcement that he was to be honored at the festival inspired me to watch several of his films in an attempt to understand why he was considered a legend. While a lot of those movies were uneven, I did come to adore Lewis. I think he was best on the stage, where the strangely harmonious blend of meticulous planning and improvisation inspired by the energy of a crowd brought out his edgy, wild charisma.

This is why I wanted to see Lewis go free form. I thought he would be great in an interview, but brilliant totally off script. I was not disappointed.

The press had to show up an hour and a half before the ceremony, and there was a lot to see. It was exciting to watch a group of men preparing the cement for Lewis. No one ever thinks of these guys, but where would we be without them?

It was also lots of fun to watch random celebrities milling around, calm, but probably aware that they were constantly being photographed. It wasn't unusual to see TCMFF regular Illeana Douglas there, but I did a double-take when I saw comedian Richard Lewis. He still wears the same black t-shirt and suit. It was even more surprising to see Quentin Tarentino! I had no idea he was going to show up.

Illeanna Douglas looking perfect

As the ceremony drew near, it was interesting to see Lewis behind the scenes, preparing to address the crowd:

Then he was on. Silly, insulting, unpredictable and loving every minute of being there.

He laughed:

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

He took pictures of the photographers:

Photo courtesy of TCM

He bit Quentin Tarentino:

Photo courtesy of TCM

He flipped off the photographers:

I loved how Lewis paid special attention to the fans on the sidelines, making sure everyone had good sightlines and could get the perfect shot:

I think he's looking at his wife and daughter here, but he also loved looking at the fans.

The ceremony went by quickly, but I felt more than satisfied by the experience. It was a great performance by a man who loves to play for the crowd.

Then something totally unexpected happened. A fan behind us yelled to Quentin Tarantino that she wanted a photo with him. He said he wouldn't do that, but he would shake our hands. Here's blogger friend Raquel shaking Tarantino's hand while Jessica, Daniel and I wait in disbelief for our turn:

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

I was really excited and happy in that moment, and I'm delighted it was captured on film.

This was my favorite event of the festival because it had some of the most spontaneous, exciting and unexpected moments. And seeing Jerry Lewis! It's just amazing when a star you admire turns out to be exactly as you'd hoped.

More photos from the ceremony:

Lewis with his wife and daughter, photo courtesy of TCM

Photo courtesy of TCM

Playing to the fans

Photo courtesy of TCM

Richard Lewis, Jerry Lewis, Illeana Douglas and Dane Clark walked into a bar.../photo courtesy of TCM

After the ceremony a group of us walked over to the Roosevelt Hotel for something to eat, when we found out Lewis was being interviewed in the lobby. I had to check him out again. He was much calmer in his chat with Ben Mankiewicz and very sharp:

Photo courtesy of TCM

That's one of the things I love about TCMFF: I raced out on a table full of people before I'd even ordered and no one thought that was odd. There's so much to see at this festival that you almost lose your mind, but in the best possible way.


All photos property of A Classic Movie Blog unless otherwise noted.

Five Reasons I Dig Jerry Lewis

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As I wrote in my post about Jerry Lewis' rings last week, TCM's announcement that it would be honoring Jerry Lewis at its 2014 film festival inspired me to learn more about this legendary comedian.

After seeing several Jerry Lewis movies, checking out lots of random clips online, and reading the comedian's memoir of his relationship with Dean Martin, I get why people call him a genius. Lewis has worked hard to perfect his craft, but he was also born to entertain. He's got this remarkable confidence in himself, like he's telling the audience he's in command, and not to worry about things getting too out of control. And yet seeming out of control is what can make him exciting to watch.

The thing that always turns me off about Lewis is his mugging. Sometimes that still drives me a little mad, but his idiot faces and squeaky voice can also be the funniest thing about him. It's the part of his comedy that catches you off guard. He just goes for it. Sometimes he falls flat, sometimes it's the funniest thing you've ever seen.

I think that's why he and Dean Martin were such a popular team. Their act was pretty much Lewis jumping off a cliff and building his wings on the way down (to paraphrase Ray Bradbury). That created unbearable tension for the audience, but Martin just stood there being amused, which made it all funnier. They couldn't quite capture that same energy on the budget-conscious sets of Hollywood, I don't think anyone could, but they came close many times.

For the most part, I still find Lewis' films uneven. I think he was just meant to be a live performer, where he can balance meticulous planning with the kind of improvisation that can only be inspired by the wild energy of a crowd. Still, I appreciate that he is a versatile talent, and he has made me laugh out loud plenty. There are lots of things I've come to admire about Jerry Lewis, here are a few that strike me the most:

His Musical Pantomime

Lewis got his start comically lip-synching to records on any stage that would have him. So it doesn't surprise me that he knows how to time comedy to music. I think he's at his best when he's a silent comic in general, and particularly when he's got a good tune to jive to. My favorite example is his wordless tirade to an empty boardroom, scored by Count Basie's Blues in Hoss' Flat, in The Errand Boy (1961):



This legendary routine has inspired all sorts of imitations. Check out how many highschoolers and young actors have posted videos of their renditions on YouTube. My favorite version is from The Family Guy.

Other great Lewis pantomime: his also-influential typewriter routine from Who's Minding the Store? (1963) and the orchestra scene from The Bellboy (1960)

His Physical Humor

There have been so many times that I've been about to give up on a Lewis flick when he gets me back with a simple movement: a double take, a flailing limb or most often, by just falling suddenly. You have to be in pretty good control of your body to look this out of control:



His Voice

Lewis is most famous for what he calls his "Idiot voice"--that high pitched squeal with the heavy New Jersey accent. Sometimes that whole monkey boy act drives me mad, other times it's just so bizarre that I can't help laughing. But the thing that really intrigues me is when he switches to his regular voice, which is smooth, warm--almost seductive. Sometimes he moves between the two voices in one scene, as he does in the clip from Geisha Boy (1958):



His Love for Dean Martin

Long before the birth of the gag-worthy term bromance, Lewis had the deepest platonic love for Dean Martin. You can actually see how much he loved him on the screen. There's a moment in the last scene of The Stooge (1952) where he sort of jumps into Martin's arms and gives him this affectionate nuzzle. It's like watching a boy and his puppy. These two had a complicated relationship, one that we will probably never fully understand, but I have no doubt that Lewis adored his partner, no matter what they went through.

The clip below is a famous television moment, where the two reunited on Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy telethon twenty years after the unhappy dissolution of their partnership. It's kind of an awkward moment, but you can see that Lewis is clearly thrilled to see his old partner:



His Stand-up

This is where Lewis really shines, because being in front of an audience allows him to create chaos in the manner that made him famous. He knows how to play the crowd, bringing them up and down as he pleases and with unwavering confidence. Just look at his entrance here, he's being the performer that people expect, but the way he does it is delightfully surprising:

Jerry Lewis and Those Rings

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I was delighted when the special guest announcements began to roll in for TCM Classic Film Festival 2014. Each name made me think of movies I had loved. Kim Novak, Margaret O'Brien and Maureen O'Hara were all a part of many happy memories.

The announcement that Jerry Lewis was to be a guest of honor at the festival didn't have that effect on me. I remembered liking The Nutty Professor (1963) and cracking up at a couple of scenes from The Bellboy (1960), but other than that, I didn't know his work well. I didn't like what I'd seen well enough to go any further.

I know that Jerry Lewis is one of the most successful entertainers in the world though, and that and the TCM announcement were enough to inspire me to see more of his films. They had a weird effect on me. Parts of them were soul-cringingly bad, other times I'd be choking with laughter. Dick Cavett once said something to the effect that you enjoy Lewis in spite of yourself. You're sitting there thinking how corny and stupid it all is, and suddenly you're cracking up without fully realizing why.

My mixed feelings kept me working my way through Lewis' filmography. I've seen twenty of his movies so far. I have a lot to say about what I've seen, which I will share in a later post, but in watching Lewis onscreen my dominant thought has always been: what is the deal with those rings he wears?

No matter what character he played, it appears Jerry Lewis almost always wore two rings. One looks like a large gold wedding ring, which is weird, because he tended to play single characters:

The other is a pinky ring with an enormous sapphire, which can be seen in the photo at the top.

These rings almost never fit with Lewis' characters, who tend to be not only single, but not wealthy enough to afford such fancy jewelry. So you've got his Fella character in Cinderfella (1960), who has no money of his own, working like a dog for his stepmother and stepbrothers, but he's got the rings:

In Who's Minding the Store? (1963) he's struggling to make a living working at a department store, but there they are again:

I thought they were most bizarre on his Professor Julius Kelp character in The Nutty Professor. I can't picture this guy caring about jewelry:

However, they work perfectly when he becomes Buddy Love in the same movie, which is funny, because when I see Jerry Lewis in interviews, he sometimes reminds me a bit of this guy:

I'm not sure when the sapphire ring first showed up. But Lewis wore the wedding ring as early as The Stooge (1952), one of his first flicks with Dean Martin:

In fact, I don't know for sure why he had to wear either of those rings, regardless of the character he played. I can't think of any actor more determined to keep a personal piece of himself in every performance like that (He even wore them in his notoriously unavailable The Day the Clown Cried (1972), as can be seen in this footage).

I've found very little to explain the rings, though the wedding ring was acknowledged on this page and in this review of Lewis' memoir about his partnership with Dean Martin, the author claims Lewis said the pinky ring was just his way of flaunting his wealth. Is it really that simple?