As I write this 86-year-old Jerry Lewis has been hospitalized for a blood sugar problem. Since I am not from France and because I have some French blood in me, I am of two minds about Lewis. At one time he and Dean Martin were the hottest, hippest comedy act going and Lewis first solo movies were a smorgasborg of really funny gags. IMHO, Lewis lost a lot of his edge later in his career and he could evidently be a very difficult person to deal with, but his work with the Muscular Dystrophy Association is truly praiseworthy. As with all of us, there are good and bad parts. My thoughts go out to him during this health crisis and I wish him the very best.
Anyway, here's a really funny bit that works for me from the Martin and Lewis movie Artists and Models:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfeLe3_GxzE
And, as much as I have disliked most of Lewis's later acting, I thought he was very good during his run on an arc in the television show Wiseguy.
Do have any favorite Jerry Lewis movies? Which ones do you feel fall flat, if any?
I was a fan of the duo on radio and loved 'em when they turned up in MY FRIEND IRMA. I thought many of their early movies were hilarious, and when the split, I thought Lewis would do well. Wasn't so sure about Martin until I saw SOME CAME RUNNING, and I thought he was great. I came to like his movies a good bit better than Lewis's.
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