The Big Mouth (1967)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"An Emperor who cares for nothing but his appearance and attire hires two tailors who promise him the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "just hopelessly stupid". The Emperor cannot see the cloth himself, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing unfit for his position; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him and the Emperor then marches in procession before his subjects, who play along with the pretense. Suddenly, a child in the crowd, too young to understand the desirability of keeping up the pretense, blurts out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all......"."The Big Mouth" was perhaps the greatest inside joke on audiences since the 1938 radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds". Billed as a comedy, heavily promoted, widely distributed, and featuring Jerry Lewis (who played three roles and directed) this was a must see for our junior high group of cut-ups. We found the experience a surreal one. A comedy film where nobody in the theater laughed including us (absolutely no laughter). We caught on quicker than the adults that this was a complete sham but were spellbound waiting for a single funny sequence that would shatter the audience silence. It never happened.Afterward we scanned newspaper and magazine reviews for some sign that a prominent reviewer was going to spill the beans and expose the "Emperor", but there was nothing. It was like the whole industry had clammed up by mutual agreement to allow Columbia to recover a portion of their investment. I suspect that this kind of industry-wide "quid pro quo" was fairly common in those days. Word of mouth (pun intended) in our town killed attendance within a few days, although some may have attended just to observe Hollywood finally bottoming out. "The Big Month" deserves a place in cinema history because it was this bottoming out process that opened the door for innovative stuff like "Bonnie & Clyde" and "Easy Rider" in mainstream theaters.In fairness the chase sequences might have had some amusement value except they had been done much better by Harvey Lembeck (playing Eric Von Zipper) in countless beach movies released earlier in the decade.The only saving grace at the time for us 14-year-olds was that Jeannine Riley (Billie Jo from "Petticoat Junction") was featured in several eye-scorching outfits. Hence the extra star.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

The Big Mouth has always been one of my favorite Jerry Lewis movies. Jerry surrounds himself with the cream of the crop of character actors in this one. The manner in which each actor goes crazy after seeing Jerry, (thinking he's dead), makes this movie, truly, one of Jerry's most bizarre and funny! The Kabuki scene, with Jerry in white make-up and "frightwig" is priceless! The original score by Harry Betts is first class. This film is classic "1967", (referring to films released that year like "Casino Royale", "Danger:Diabolik",etc.). I would love to see a special edition DVD release of this, with commentary from Jerry & Charlie Callas. In my dreams!

This time, Jerry Lewis plays reporter Gerald Clamson, who just happens to be a dead ringer for Sid Valentine, wanted by a crime syndicate. The only thing is, Valentine is supposed to be dead, so when the thugs see Clamson, you can imagine what sorts of things they do! Mistaken identity seems to be a frequent source of comedy (or drama; see "North by Northwest"). So even though "The Big Mouth" is nothing special, it's good for a few laughs. Most of the laughs come from what happens with the thugs when they see Clamson. But one also gets the feeling that Lewis was sort of losing his ability to come up with anything new after this. And now that we know what sort of a person he is in real life, that weakens it. But overall, this one's pretty funny.

Jerry Lewis is a transitionalist between Vaudevillian slapstick and today's one liner comedic actors. In the Big Mouth, Jerry executes his humor with finesse. Younger audiences perhaps wouldn't enjoy this movie due to its lack of explicit sex, strong language, and graphic violence. That is exactly what makes this movie attractive. It is a great break from the routine movie, a chance to giggle and laugh. It is a good story that could be remade today into a suspense or comedy. Jerry shows his ability to be a flexible actor. Susan Bay was likewise good for her first starring role.