Sadly Over-hyped

Good start, but then it gets ruined

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I came to this because Jerry Seinfeld spoke so admiringly of it in his CCC with Jerry Lewis. I can't accuse him of under-selling it.I can see why the French thought Lewis was a super genius. They saw "The Bellboy" and thought, "well, it's not as bad as Italian neo-realism and that's supposed to be genius stuff..."I imagine audiences of the time got a kick out of this. It's a bunch of silly sketches connected into one film without a significant story. It's a bit of a precursor to a film like Monty Python's "The Holy Grail" but without the strong writing, the strong comedy timing and the strong editing. After watching this film one understands a bit why Monty Python was such a shock a decade later... "The Bell Boy" is what passed for film comedy in the 60s.I understand that he patched this thing together in record time. It's a feat in just that regard but would say that Lewis has over-estimated his ability to carry a scene by himself and underestimated the need for strong supporting players.The opening scene with the "executive" is a cop out. Did the studio make him add that? I don't know, but it is typical of this movie's habit of pre-telegraphing the joke so it's not funny when it finally arrives.

I can take Jerry Lewis only in doses. The most pleasurable movie he was in that I watched was The Geisha Boy. I saw it long after it came out. I did like this movie but I don't think I would watch it again without a few intervening years. That is the doses part. I saw this movie almost ten years after it first played in a movie theater.Plot? What plot? There isn't one. It is just Jerry Lewis doing one gag after another like a stand-up comic. And that is the problem. Usually most stand-up comics are on stage for 30 minutes or less. So you may get tired of it. It could have been different. Jerry Lewis tried to get Stan Laurel for a part and we had a look-alike stand-in instead. He did get Milton Berle for a cameo which did help. He also tried to get Billy Wilder to direct and was again turned down with the response "why don't you direct it yourself?" or words to that effect. If he had got others to help maybe it could have been a better movie.The best part is at the very end of the movie if you last that long. I would say younger people are sour-pusses and probably won't last that long. But if you make it to the end you are in for a treat. Hint: Wilder won't be there. I chuckled at the other parts but almost died laughing at it. I hope they haven't cut that part out.

Jerry Lewis's directorial debut is 72 minutes of sight gag after sight gag as Lewis plays a bellboy at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami. Despite the harassment of co-workers and bullying of managers, Lewis manages to get EVERY job thrown at him done in his own outrageous ways. He also plays two roles...the other being himself(!), in town for an engagement at the hotel. Lewis is priceless in both roles, pantomiming his bellboy role and playing it straight as himself. There are many highlights in the film, from Lewis making the long walk across an insanely large empty theater to dozens of hotel guests trying unlock their rooms with the wrong key. The supporting cast includes Alex Gerry, Bob Clayton and two actresses playing Mrs. Hartunga! Milton Berle has a very clever cameo.

Well...the previous comments made me interested in seeing this film. But to call it a film is akin to calling advertising art. The film although quite old neither has the art or humour that slapstick or verbal comedy is supposed to have.It is a self-indulgent piece of fluff that doesn't highlight Lewis's obvious ability from other films and worse...involves other names from the era...notably Milton Berle and a Stan laurel look-alike that looks almost as embarrassed as the real Laurel would have been had he not wisely chosen not to appear.As homage even it fails. Silent film would have suited this better...but no...we get sound...because the silly faces just aren't enough.It may be that I am spoiled by watching so much comedy over the years (and yes...this film was made the year before I was born) but there is no real substance to the jokes...subtlety was not what I was looking for...after all..slapstick is hardly ever subtle...but sledgehammer and jokes telegraphed from Pluto was just a bit pathetic.The film is however watchable on a few levels.It highlights a man determined to milk the cow as much as possible while his star was ascendant...and that for whatever it means...is clearly a clever ploy on a managerial level.It highlights his obvious desire to be visible as much as possible...to the point of playing himself...It is so bad that just watching it makes you chuckle wryly about his motives.Worth a look just to see that the movie-going public in 1960 were just as gullible about BIG NAMES as they are now...no matter what dross they put out.There is no real wit...I guess that is my major grief with the film...no point to it even (and I realise it was shot in 4 weeks and had no plot) but it truly amazed me that so many people commented on the comedic genius of THIS film compared to some of the rest of his oeuvre...