The Bellboy | | Cast : | Jerry Lewis | | Director : | Jerry Lewis | | Studio : | Paramount Home Video | | Format : | Black & White, Widescreen | | Released Date : | July 20, 1960 | | DVD Released Date : | October 12, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | NR (Not Rated) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | April 21, 2005 | | Summary | Jerry Lewis at the Fontainebleau in Miami | Content
 | Paramount planned to release "Cinderfella" in the summer of 1960. However, Jerry Lewis thought the movie would do better at Christmas. Jerry persuaded Paramount to delay the release of "Cinderfella" until Christmas, but only if Jerry Lewis could come up with another movie for summer release. Lewis decided to film a movie at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami, improvising the script as he went along. The movie has no real plot; it just follows a bell boy as he works at the hotel over a course of days, or perhaps weeks.
Jerry Lewis as the bellboy does not speak throughout the movie. There is a point where Jerry Lewis visits the hotel as himself, and he speaks lines then, but as the bellboy his only lines are at the end of the movie. Thus, most of the movie is sight gags. Many of the gags fall flat, and some are unimaginable today, such as when Jerry gets on a large commercial jet and takes off and lands in it. However, when the gags work they are hilarious.
Hidden in this movie are a number of cameos that are worth noting. For golf fans there is Cary Middlecoff. Walter Winchell distinctively narrates. Jack Weston, then President of Paramount Pictures, makes an appearance. Milton Berle also has a brief part.
This movie is very short at 71 minutes. The lack of a plot makes it a sort of novelty movie, being a series of vignettes tied together by Jerry Lewis's presence. However, the movie works. There are enough funny scenes to make up for the duds. Jerry Lewis had to be brave to attempt a movie that was unlike anything else being done at the time. We are left to laugh at the result.
|
| Rating | | | Date | February 09, 2005 | | Summary | "A Visual Diary Of A Few Weeks In The Life Of A Real Nut" | Content
| Jerry Lewis' first film entry of the 1960's, "The Bellboy", turned out to be a bit of a fluke. He'd just finished filming "Cinderfella" at the end of 1959, but wanted to wait to release it as a family film over the Christmas season in 1960, instead of over the summer like Paramount Pictures wanted. In order to delay the release of "Cinderfella", Lewis convinced Paramount to finance an undeveloped project, which he finally came up with while on his way to perform an engagement at the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. In it, he plays a silent bellboy running amok in the hotel. By using locals as extras and placing celebrities already appearing at the Fountainbleau in various roles, Lewis was able to film "The Bellboy" over a period of four weeks.
Billed simply as a "visual diary of a few weeks in the life of a real nut," a clumsy, eager-to-please bellboy known simply as Stanley (Jerry Lewis), the film is essentially 72 minutes of vignettes set at the Fountainbleau Hotel, pieced together in such a way so as to tell a credible story (which, by the end we're told is more of a moral). It's also Lewis' tribute to the silent film era. Not only does Stanley not utter a word throughout the movie - at least, not until the very end - but Lewis also asked Stan Laurel to play himself in the movie. Laurel turned the opportunity down, insisting his fans would be disappointed by his aged appearance, but was happy to offer input to Lewis on the script by suggesting scenes that would be better left cut from the final print. Lewis' cowriter, Bill Richmond, played Laurel as a caricature instead, randomly entering scenes from time to time with nary an explanation for his presence. As with silent films, background music plays a key role in the picture, thanks to the score by Walter Scharf. Comic sequences such as Stanley conducting an invisible orchestra in the ballroom are heightened by Scharf's score, and add to the production values of the film. Gags include Lewis having fun with trick-cut photography, Stanley's frequent scuffles with guests, and big-time movie stars Lewis and Milton Berle visit the hotel and meet bellboys who look like each other! "The Bellboy" did so well at the box office that Lewis was able to write his own ticket at Paramount for the next few years.
Of the ten Jerry Lewis movies brought to DVD in the Fall of 2004, "The Bellboy" is second to "The Nutty Professor" in terms of bonus materials included in the package. It's a lot of extras for a film with no real plot. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 01, 2005 | | Summary | Musical chairs in Miami | Content
| Paradox completists eventually must turn to la mystere de Jerry -- why is it that French film masters such as Godard and Truffaut so loved Jerry Lewis? The Franco-Lewis thing has become a well-worn joke -- something to swig down with Freedom Fries -- but it's a safe bet the directors weren't thinking of the braying, pratfalling side of the American comedian.
Instead, the new wavers cited Lewis' work from the early 1960s -- including what arguably are his best films as an actor and director: "The Bellboy" and "The Nutty Professor." Paramount, Lewis' longtime studio, has released both titles in splendid widescreen versions, along with seven of his other films. Some titles come with full or partial commentaries from Lewis and his pal Steve Lawrence; other modest bonus features are spread about the collection.
"The Bellboy," from 1960, comes in relaxed black-and-white, in contrast to the hot circus colors of "Nutty Professor." Lewis made his directorial debut on the project, cranking it out in 28 days in order to give Paramount a quickie summer film.
The movie with "no story, no plot" consisted of vignettes about the misadventures of a Miami bellboy (Lewis) who never spoke. The bumbling bellboy was named Stanley, in honor of the director's friend and idol, Stan Laurel.
Lewis wrote and shot the film while appearing nights at the Fontainebleau. All but two of the scenes are set in the hotel. Stranded from Hollywood, he scoured the clubs of Miami for visiting talent, dunning the showbiz night owls into making 7 a.m. calls. Among his finds was TV news and weather guy Bob Clayton, a terrific straight man in the bell captain role.
Much of the film has a 1960s Euro-cinema feel, helping it age quite gracefully. Seeing Lewis' film in its original aspect ratios unveils the director's dedication to offbeat and rewarding visuals. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 27, 2004 | | Summary | Laugh till you cough out a lung. | Content
| This movie doesn't really have a plot, its just a series of funny episodes in the day or week of a clumsy bell boy at a Miami Hotel played like no body else can do by Lewis. The movie is truely hilarious and has some charm as well, which is what is so good about Lewis and his movies, they are not just funny, they are warm and charming at the same time. I love the look of the film, the 1960's, the music, the clothes, it adds to the fun of it. It shows what can be done when you have a true comic genious behind and in front of the camera. So many laughs, you'll wonder how you survived. See it with your family doctor in case you cough out a lung. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 24, 2004 | | Summary | A real classic finally on DVD! | Content
| This has always been one of my favorites and this DVD does not disappoint. A very clean version in glorious black and white. The whole film is one skit after another in a big hotel about Stanley/Jerry (without saying a word until the very end) messing up one way or another. No running plot, but it works!
The audio commentary could be better, especially since Jerry Lewis did it himself. Steve Lawrence apparently was part of the commentary team because he laughs at everything Jerry says or does in the film. He added nothing to the commentary. But still, I'm grateful to have Jerry's comments about anything at all on the film, such as how he found the people to work and act in the film. His comments regarding Stan Laurel (his double appeared throughout the film) were quite nice.
There are also a lot of other extras ("Archival Materials"): movie trailer, rehearsal clips, blooper, dropped scenes, promo clips. There's even some home video (with commentary by Jerry's son) on Jerry's bus tour around the country to promote the film.
For the price, this is a real keeper for a Jerry Lewis fan. |
|
