BA_Harrison
Comic actor Jerry Lewis draws inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for his crazy fantasy The Nutty Professor, in which the star plays a nerdish chemistry professor, Julius Kelp, who invents a formula that transforms him into the debonair yet rather despicable Buddy Love, a cool cat who is hip with the kids at jazz club The Purple Pit, but who has a particular eye for blonde student Stella Purdy (played by the stunning Stella Stevens).A little less slapstick than Lewis's previous work, The Nutty Professor teaches a valuable lesson about being comfortable with who you really are, while at the same time providing plenty of giggles as Buddy's personality frequently collides with Kelp's at the most inopportune of moments. Even those unable to recognise the genius of Lewis in his other movies surely cannot deny the brilliance of the performers' work in this instance—how he effortlessly switches between Kelp and Love, bringing pathos to his role as well as humour.Also making The Nutty Professor a delight to behold are the wonderful production design, which is infused with bright colours throughout, and the the excellent jazzy soundtrack, which helps to keep the action swinging along.
paneraifreak
OK. Beyond writing a straight, common review of how funny or not so funny this movie is, i would like to make some points. Yes, i am a 60's child that grew up watching Lewis, Clint Eastwood and his spaghetti westerns, corny TV shows like Lost In Space, The Time Tunnel; enjoyed watching Elvis gyrating with babes on the beach, and was enthralled with the rudimentary art of the TV cartoons in the 60's. But here is one point: today, the youth understands humour as something that is wide open and that has no bounderies. That means anything goes in comedy nowadays: sex, drugs, perversion of all kinds, profuse swearing, strong condescending attitudes, acidic cynicism, manic depressive characters that will sometimes spit out a funny joke attached to a body part, a sex act or followed by a huge toke from a huge joint. Well, i am old enough to know that humour is not limited to what today's media dish out. There are many kinds of humour; of course some types of comedy originated from way back and because it was from a somewhat distant past, lots of youths will quickly dismiss it as UNfunny. What is funny is like " Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder": what is funny to one may not be funny to another. But what I find disappointing is the trend, the current, the direction comedy takes today. It seems to ignore the value of physical comedy, satire, slap stick, Vaudeville and so on. In the past, some of the best comedy was seen in duos, on stages of variety shows, etc. Mainstream TV still offers in modest ways those comedy styles (SNL of the 70's, 80's, SCTV, In Living Color) but nothing like Martin's Laugh In or The Carol Burnett Show delivered. Back then comedy was for the whole family, now comedy has a parental guidance warning. If someone like me dares to surf the channels to find and enjoy cleaner comedy, I will certainly hit a brick wall. That is the sad part of this issue: the present offers very little options in terms of a broad choice to comedy types. So, aside from this essay approach to my take on Comedy, this movie is one of many good comedies Lewis created. Many of his movies showed creative comedy that did not need fancy special effects or CGI to be funny. In fact, when people mention that Eddie Murphy's version is comparable and that his scenes with multiple characters he portrays "at the same time" is false. The effect seems to have Murphy doing the characters all at once but of course, they were each filmed then edited and CGIed to look as one event. Well, Lewis did not have CGI and advanced special effects with which he could play. But despite that technological absence, he pulled it off masterfully, with the techniques typical of the times. And then there are those small moments, details that express a subtle humour that is not loud, obnoxious or full of disrespectful attitudes. The scene where you see Lewis sitting deep inside a chair, chatting with his university chair person. The timing is classic, the sound effects support the comedic moment and, best of all, Lewis' expressions are what makes for a curriculum of comedy worthy of any college. His movies show us many examples of his unequalled talent in physical comedy, his ability to play with his voice, his face, his limbs and his admirable talent to portray many different personalities, characters with comedy that points out the humanity in even the least likable of characters (like the gangster in The Family Jewels). I agree that many of the films he directed were filled with flaws of all sorts but so are many, many other movies directed by other people (Clint, Spielberg and Hitchcock among others). The scripts were not always the best in Jerry's movies but they held their own and they survived because of Jerry's humour. we also do understand that Jerry had the habit of building his movies as series of skits, strung together with light hearted script. His movies were pure entertainment of the joyous kind, like most comedies of the past. They were not depressing, full of nudity, graphic sexual acts, scenes of death, gore and vulgarities of all sorts. They were light, happy, unpretentious and only wanted to make you laugh, that is it. If today's youth views his movies and fail to laugh when viewing, then i cannot help them, I cannot cure them, and i must move along with my generational differences and take to my grave what I enjoyed during my childhood and throughout my whole life. Call me old fashioned and that is more than fine with me. If i was to try redemption for our modern society, i could say that one of the last physical humorist of our times, who saw it fit to make movies almost comparable to Jerry's, would be Jim Carrey. In the 1990's, we saw him perform a similar type of comedy as Jerry's and it was refreshing to me. But by then came a huge wave of comedians that thrived on the F word and bodily functions to make people laugh, and that is when I stopped laughing.
PWNYCNY
This movie is remarkable and entertaining. It is part comedy, part science fiction and part social commentary. Jerry Lewis is brilliant. He plays three aspects of the same character - an over-intellectual introvert; a pushy and obnoxious extrovert; and a toddler. Lewis carries the movie. The story is endearing. It depicts a man struggling to be taken seriously, and the extremes he is willing to go to obtain happiness. Stella Stevens is wonderful as the female lead. She is perfect for the role of college student and confidante. Several scenes are hilarious, especially the one involving the meeting between Buddy Love and the bossy president of the college, played by Del Moore. The story is a take off on the Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde format, but with an amusing spin and an upbeat resolution. Jerry Lewis is both goofy and sharp. He also sings several songs, revealing an excellent singing voice. This is a wonderful movie.
james-shumway
In "The Nutty Professor", (1963), the Professor (Jerry Lewis) is a "nerd" trying to become a well-built man. He tried three different methods of making himself buff. When the Professor finally found the method, he used it repeatedly to keep up the act of his changing image. Because the Professor struggled with being a nerd, he was desperate to change how he looked.The Professor's first attempt to become "buff" was working out at the gym, which failed miserably. The Professor's second attempt was to try to take pharmaceutical drugs to enhance him self, but the medical doctor refused to prescribe him anything. His final attempt to enhance him self he used was a magic potion, which worked well. The Professor was ignored by most of his students and staff and as a result made him to change his image. The Professor was medium height and dark haired. The film accomplished its task to improve the Professor's look, but it seemed to be a very lengthy process. Because the Professor worked on his project alone, it took the film awhile to get to the point of the movie.In the 1960's, the production companies had less technology than available in this day and age. The film's original version was black and white. The cabinets in the Professor's classroom were outdated. They looked similar to what is in a doctor's office. The Bunsen beakers were long and skinny. The Bunsen burners were larger than they are today. The costumes were perfect for the movie's era. The white lab coat the Professor wore seemed to add just the right setting for the film. The imaging was very dark. It was darker than a film today. The Professor wore the black rimmed glasses suited perfect for the "nerdy" look. The experiments the Professor created would make an enormous explosion almost every time he created one, which made for excellent suspense in the film.
