The Bellboy (1960)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Jerry Lewis

Writer:

Jerry Lewis (writer)

Release Date:

20 July 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Jerry Lewis rings the bell for buffoonery!

Plot:

In Miami Beach, the mute bellboy Stanley works at the luxurious Fontainebleau Hotel. In spite of being a serviceable and friendly employee, the clumsy Stanley gets successively into trouble with his mistakes.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Slapstick | Bellhop | Actor Meets Character

Cast

Jerry Lewis	...	Stanley / Himself
Alex Gerry	...	Mr. Novak, Hotel Manager
Bob Clayton	...	Bob, Bell Captain
Sonnie Sands	...	Sonnie, Bellboy (as Sonny Sands)
Eddie Shaeffer	...	Eddie, Bellboy
Herkie Styles	...	Herkie, Bellboy
David Landfield	...	David, Bellboy
Bill Richmond	...	Stan Laurel
Larry Best	...	Apple Man
Cary Middlecoff	...	Himself
Art Terry	...	Himself (as The Novelites)
Frankie Carr	...	Himself (as The Novelites)
Joe Mayer	...	Himself (as The Novelites)
Stanley Allan	...	Hotel Guest
Duke Art Jr.	...	Bit part

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:U | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Fontainebleau Hilton Resort - 4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Company:

Jerry Lewis Pictures

Trivia:

The first theatrical release directed by Jerry Lewis.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When the staff helps the overweight Mrs. Hartung up the stairs you see the reflection of the boom mic raising up in the window

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jerry Lewis - König der Komödianten (2006) (TV)

Non-stop gags

"The Bellboy" unapologetically states in an introductory scene that it has no plot or story and is made purely for fun. "The Bellboy" really is seventy minutes of nothing but sight gags, some hilarious, some clever, and some disappointing.

"The Bellboy" was Jerry Lewis' first film as director and is just as divisive as you would expect it to be, with some consistently claiming it is one of the great physical comedies, up there with Tati et al and others reacting to it the way one is sadly expected to react to a Jerry Lewis comedy nowadays. I personally think "The Bellboy" displays a lot of talent from Lewis as director, with some attempts at surrealism being surprisingly successful. Lewis also works the sight gags into the film beautifully, not ignoring one inch of the frame when composing the gags, one of the many reasons I suspect I hated this film when I first saw it on VHS.

Still, "The Bellboy" is far from Lewis' funniest or best film (see an unfairly maligned favorite of mine, "The Disorderly Orderly" for the former, and "The Nutty Professor" for the latter) and has its fair share of misses as well as hits with the gags. In addition the lack of structure the film has is occasionally distracting.

I won't comment on Lewis as a person or on his personal beliefs, but he makes me laugh which is really what matters in a filmmaker. Moreover, "The Bellboy" is surprisingly well-directed and more inventive than you might expect, but I'll leave it to the Europeans to explain to you why it's a great film as opposed to a good one, because I can't see the reason in that.

7/10