The Patsy (1964)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Excellent but underrated film

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

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

Accident-prone bellhop at the Beverly Hilton is groomed for stardom by a group of show biz people eager to keep their cushy jobs after their star-client perishes in a plane crash (oh, the hilarity!). Jerry Lewis in another plush Paramount comedy, which he also directed and co-wrote with Bill Richmond, but one that doesn't have any central interest in its own plot. Lewis' klutz is supposed to be replacing a TV comedy star, but first he has to cut a hit record and lip-synch it on a teenage dance show. One isn't sure if the project got away from Lewis or if he just lost interest in seeing the picture through. He's assembled a colorful cast of old pros, and there's a hilarious bit involving music teacher Hans Conried, but after the first 30 minutes it's just frittered away. The worst line is given to Ina Balin, describing Jerry's bellboy: "He's really very shy." Who were they kidding? *1/2 from ****

This is another Jerry Lewis film I could not finish.Once again he plays the same character--a bumbling idiot whose sole purpose in life, it seems, is to make mistakes. The plot of this film was bad enough, but the silliness is compounded when it asks us to invest time in a character that is clownish. I can enjoy watching a simpleton if the act has some subtlety, but not when the act is transparently stupid. That we expect of circus clowns. For example, when Jerry drops a tray of ice and glasses, and he pretends to try to pick them up, we see him squeeze each ice cube he picks up so that it shoots out of his hand. That is not physical comedy at its best. That is insulting.There are other Lewis films that are worth seeing. This is not one. For example, try The King of Comedy. Some of Jerry's movies with Dean are actually good, perhaps because someone else had control of the production and could keep Jerry in check.

There isn't a big star that you can name who doesn't have an entourage. These folks have their careers rise and fall with the stars that time and circumstance has attached them to. But what does happen to these people if the star is taken out of the picture. Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley were known for their large entourages and I daresay right at this moment there any number of people trying to figure out what the future holds for them with Michael Jackson's demise.The Patsy examines one such entourage who when its star, a popular comedian is killed in a plane crash, they will not just disperse. They function as a team and all they need is another star. Where to find one however.And that's where Jerry Lewis comes in, an innocent schlep of a bellboy who comes in with an ice tray wreaking havoc in the typical Lewis manner. The rest of the film is devoted to how well they succeed in their objective.As one of the last players under studio contract, Paramount kept in the black pretty much during the Fifties and Sixties because of Jerry Lewis. Either with Dino or later as a solo, Jerry's films made money and gradually he got creative control over them. In this one he directs as well.It's not his best work, but it's still pretty good with some really hilarious performances. Jerry Lewis has a reputation as an egotist, but you would not know it in The Patsy, he was quite generous in giving time to the fine cast he assembled. The entourage consists of Everett Sloane, Phil Harris, Ina Balin, John Carradine, Keenan Wynn, and in his last film Peter Lorre. You're not going to hold too tight a rein on this group of scene stealers and Lewis doesn't even try.Best scene in the film however is with Hans Conreid as a voice teacher the entourage hires for Lewis. It involves Jerry with a snooty Hans who is also an antique collector. Let's just say the laughs are equally for Hans as they are for Jerry.And the ending is something that Mel Brooks could have used. In fact I'm not sure Brooks didn't appropriate an idea or two for some of his films.The Patsy is a great introduction to Jerry Lewis and I know his fans count it among his best.

If your a big Jerry Lewis fan, and I am, you will enjoy The Patsy. It's not his funniest, at least on a consistent basis, but it does have it's share of big laughs. The premise is that a big music star perishes in a plane crash and his associates, including Claude Raines and John Carradine, need to find a replacement. In steps bumbling Jerry as a hotel employee who must be turned into the next big music star. Some hilarious scenes such as Jerry being groomed in a beauty salon, being "taught" how to sing by the always dependable Hans Conried and Jerry's attempt at lip-synching his hit song on TV. again, not his best but enjoyable and funny enough for me!