Amazon.com: Jerry Lewis conjured up one of his simplest concepts for this 1961 hit, but it required a lot of scaffolding. The Ladies Man puts love-scarred Jerry (who has sworn off women) in an all-girl boarding house, infuriated by the constant temptation. Except for the opening sequences, the film is entirely shot in the four-story-high, cut-away set of the boarding house, one of the most elaborate indoor sets ever made in Hollywood up to that time. Lewis, as director, finds dozens of angles to shoot within the set; this movie is one of the reasons the French are always talking about his directorial genius. (Jean-Luc Godard, who once called Lewis "the only one in Hollywood who's doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories," borrowed the cut-away building idea for his film Tout va bien.) There's some great physical stuff, such as Lewis trying desperately to save the crushed hat of visiting tough guy Buddy Lester, plus a lot of Lewis vocal whining, especially concerning his name: Herbert Heebert, not Herby Heebert. The film has its share of gags falling flat, but for Lewis fans it's prime stuff, not far from the high-water mark of The Nutty Professor. --Robert Horton
You gotta be kidding . . . How could anyone consider this funny? I enjoy (mildly) some Jerry Lewis movies. The Nutty Professor and The Big Mouth, to name a couple, get some chuckles and a few laughs out of me. But this thing--The Ladies Man--is horrible. Fancy sets and carefully staged pratfalls aren't what make a comedy funny.
The skin of my back is caught in the crack of the door..... I loved Jerry Lewis movies as a kid, but naturally lost interest as I grew older and it seemed the movies simultaneously declined in quality while Jerry became increasingly annoying as a pontificating pseudo-intellectual. However his early work was interesting as he tried different things (silence in The Bellboy for example) and he made a couple of fine comedies early on. I have always found parts of It's Only Money and The Ladies Man hilarious. Many feel The Nutty Professor to be his best, and it has some good stuff, but I have always been partial to the all-out, anything-goes assault of gags in The Ladies Man, one of his best efforts. Also the shmaltz and sentimentality that marred so much of his later films is, for the most part, thankfully absent here.
Comedy, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, and you cannot fake a laugh. You either find a non-sequiter throw-away joke like the bit with the door cited above funny, or you don't. Likewise many of the non-stop gag setups and deliveries here will crack you up or they won't. Of course it's silly. It was meant to be silly. Silly done well, is just fine.
There are some great bits here: the opening "heartbreak" scene (hilariously exaggerated); the butterflies; the other "pain" jokes (the toaster); "baby"; the dance with George Raft; the surreal encounter with Miss Cartilage; the "sound test" with Doodles Weaver; the intrusions into Mrs. Wellonmellon's TV show and so on. And if none of the above make you laugh, there is the one certified classic routine of the "hat bit" with Jerry Lester doing his patented "slow-burn".
Jerry made good use of the elaborate set and his direction here is as concise and appropriate as possible. As to the DVD, unfortunately, on the Commentary Jerry offers a few useful insights, but Steve Lawrence seems to be there just to say "Great Jer" after every bit. Egregious, but I suppose they don't watch many DVD's, and fail to understand what a Commentary is about. Take the 5 stars in context.
Jerry's Character's Name It occurred to me that Jerry's character in this classic 1961 film, "Herbert Heebert" may have been inspired by the 1931 gaff when radio personality Harry von Zell mispronounced President Herbert Hoover's name as "Hoobert Heever"....
Cinematic Jerry "The Ladies Man" (1961) survives as a dazzling vehicle for Jerry Lewis' filmmaking virtuosity. A decidedly thin premise (girl-shy Jerry unknowingly takes a job at an all-female boarding house) becomes a showcase for some of Lewis' most audacious camera work. The lavish interior set is a stunning creation and Jerry's sight gags are among his best. Transferred from an excellent 35mm print, the DVD edition includes plenty of extras and a commentary track by Lewis and Steve Lawrence.
What can i say....its jerry lewis.... Here is another Jerry Lewis production that i have'nt seen for a while, and it was another pleasant surprise....maybe not as good as some but very viewable....hey what can i say...its Jerry!
Jerry Lewis, is a top performer that worked hard to make people laugh. He was one of my heroes when i was young cause he put a smile on everybody 's face... from the drive-ins and theatres that i attended in the 60's.... I cant understand the portion of the population that really hates Jerry and dont think he's funny and cant act..... But we all know, that most of us loves him, and we thank him for his tremendous efforts through his life to make the kids in us retain our youth and laugh.........
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