The Nutty Professor (1963)

To improve his social life, a nerdish professor drinks a potion that temporarily turns him into the handsome, but obnoxious, Buddy Love.

Director:

Jerry Lewis

Writers:

Jerry Lewis, Bill Richmond

Stars:

Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens, Del Moore

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Lewis	...	Professor Julius Kelp / Buddy Love / Baby Kelp
Stella Stevens	...	Stella Purdy
Del Moore	...	Dr. Mortimer S. Warfield
Kathleen Freeman	...	Millie Lemmon
Med Flory	...	Warzewski - Football Player
Norman Alden	...	Football Player / Student
Howard Morris	...	Mr. Elmer Kelp
Elvia Allman	...	Edwina Kelp
Milton Frome	...	Dr. M. Sheppard Leevee
Buddy Lester	...	Bartender
Marvin Kaplan	...	English Student
David Landfield	...	College Student
Skip Ward	...	Football Player
Julie Parrish	...	College Student
Henry Gibson	...	Gibson, College Student

Storyline

Nerd. Milquetoast. Klutz. These are just three of the many undesirable words that can be used to describe Professor Julius Kelp. But all that changes when the chemistry expert invents a potion that transforms him into a suave, sexy chick magnet, whom Julius aptly names Buddy Love. Unfortunately, there's one side effect: Buddy can't control when he'll change back into Julius, an event that always happens at inopportune times. How will Julius/Buddy resolve his Jekyll-and-Hyde dilemma?

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Plot Keywords:

love | professor | potion | chemistry | nerd | 

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Taglines:

Well, any scientist who makes a girl like this can't be all mad.

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Genres:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 June 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

El profesor chiflado

Filming Locations:

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Jerry Lewis Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stella Stevens' character's name was first Stella Paine, but Stevens asked Jerry Lewis to change it to Stella Purdy.

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Goofs

At the prom, Stella's hand changes position on/off Buddy's shoulder,

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Quotes

Buddy Love: Here y'are, baby. Take this, wipe the lipstick off, slide over here next to me, and let's get started.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #22.103 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"That Old Black Magic"
(uncredited)
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Sung by Jerry Lewis

User Reviews

"That Old Black Magic"!

Further to my earlier review, I would wholeheartedly endorse the opinion of other reviewers that the original Lewis movie is superior - vastly superior

• to the crass Eddie Murphy re-make. Lewis's subtle points about Buddy Love

(whom, I am unsurprised to learn, he loathed) are utterly lost in the Murphy version. If Lewis's movie fails as popular entertainment, it is because it makes extraordinary intellectual demands on its audience, requiring them to see beyond the surface glamour of Buddy Love to the moral rottenness and egotism within. Strangely enough, however, Buddy Love is not without pathos. There is enough of Kelp in him, together with the shakiness of his chemically-induced persona, to lend a faint suggestion of vulnerability. Perhaps even this is part of his satanic charm (he literally charms the pants off the college Principal). It is no coincidence that his calling-card number is "That Old Black Magic"!