The Nutty Professor (1963) User Reviews

Hidelle and Jerk?

[BrandtSponseller · 8/10 · 2 June 2005]

On the Nutty Professor DVD extras, Jerry Lewis says that he had been "enthralled with Jekyll and Hyde" since he was a kid. So it's only logical that he'd long to create this "Jekyll and Hyde comedy/musical". Oddly, The Nutty Professor tends to be read as only a comedy, in the modern colloquial sense of that genre term, as "a film that's supposed to make you laugh", but there's much more to it than that, and more intended than that. Which is probably a good thing, because even though I didn't laugh out loud very frequently while watching The Nutty Professor, I did enjoy it quite a bit, despite the flaws.

Lewis--who also directs--plays Professor Julius Kelp, a bizarrely nerdy-but-stupid chemistry professor. He has a knack for conducting dangerous, unauthorized experiments in the presence of students. At the beginning of the film, he blows up his classroom yet again. On a later day, a football student who was denied permission to leave class early for football practice responds by stuffing Kelp into a shelf. Beautiful student Stella Purdy (Stella Stevens) feels sorry for Kelp and helps him unstuff himself. Stevens skillfully has the slightest gleam in her eye while doing this so that we can tell that Purdy has an attraction to the strange-looking professor.

Spurred on by the incident--with both the physical abuse and the physical attraction as motivators, Kelp decides to give himself a make over. He first tries his luck at the local gym. When that doesn't work out so well he puts his chemistry knowledge to use and hits upon a potion that produces a Jekyll & Hyde transformation. The Nutty Professor has Kelp trying to balance the two personalities, with the expected calamitous but humorous results.

Although Lewis' Hyde character, "Buddy Love", is often said to be a skewering of his early comedy partner and pal Dean Martin, Lewis claims this wasn't the case. Both the nerd and the debonair but sublimely obnoxious hipster were supposedly amalgamations of different people Lewis had encountered over the years. Still, the similarities to Martin are difficult to deny; perhaps the character was partially a subconscious parody of Martin.

In any event, Love is entertaining to watch--he's something like a glossy trainwreck. Or maybe like a suave Satan in a silk suit. Lewis makes both characters complex in their differences from their respective stereotypes. Kelp is the stereotypical "absent-minded professor", only the absent-minded professor is usually a wiz at his academic subject. Lewis paints Kelp as primarily a wiz at being a slightly sympathetic dork, where his cockeyed chemistry successes are more accidental. Love is the stereotypical overbearing but attractive-to-the-women brute, yet Lewis is quick to imbue him with an odd combination of pathos and flair, so that Love ends up being both more fragile and more talented/intelligent.

Some of the material employing both characters is quite funny, but Lewis dwells on humor no more than a whole gamut of modes and emotions, from fairly serious horror material during the slightly overlong initial Jekyll/Hyde transformation to poignantly sad, touching scenes showing the crack in the Love armor. To an extent, the Jekyll/Hyde theme permeates the film in its shifting tones.

One of those modes that works surprisingly well is the musical material. Lewis hired the superb Les Brown and other great jazz musicians to provide songs. Les Brown's "Band of Renown" even makes an on screen appearance, performing a couple songs at a college dance. Lewis isn't the greatest singer, but he does a passable job with an alluring rendition of "That Old Black Magic". There's also a great version of "Stella by Starlight" in the background of a couple scenes.

The performances are quite good. Both Stevens and Del Moore, as Dr. Hamius R. Warfield, the college dean, easily hold their own next to Lewis, who does a remarkable job with the transformations. He's helped a lot by W. Wallace Kelley's cinematography. Kelley had a more than respectable, varied background, including camera experience on a couple Alfred Hitchcock films--To Catch A Thief (1955) and Vertigo (1958)--and Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956). Kelley uses very subtle angle changes to make Kelp seem small and insignificant (aided by Lewis' physical contortions) while making Love seem like a big, macho guy.

The production design is also gorgeous. Lewis directs his crew to fill the film with bold, unusual color combinations--most overtly in the rainbow-colored paints on the lab floor during the first Jekyll/Hyde transformation, the nice overlaying of purples and reds in The Purple Pit club, and the great, unusual coordinations of Love's suits.

Whether you find The Nutty Professor hilarious or not, it has certainly been influential. Lewis considers this his best film. The American Film Institute placed The Nutty Professor at number ninety-nine on its list of the "100 Funniest American Films" ("100 Years/100 Laughs"). Both Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey have obviously been influenced by this film, as they have been by Lewis in general. And Andy Kaufman's disparate characters Latka Gravas (from 1978-1983's "Taxi") and Tony Clifton (a regular part of his live act) are direct parallels to Kelp and Love, even if Kaufman had other influences for those characters, as well.

The Nutty Professor is also a "message" film. The dual "morals" of the story, in addition to the less conspicuous subtexts dealing with personal identity, are to not be afraid to be your true self and to accept others for their true selves--to look deeper than the surface level.

Given such wide-ranging moods and aims, it's probably best to watch the film without genre expectations. That's not likely to make those averse to Lewis' shtick enjoy it any more, but for everyone else, The Nutty Professor is worth a look. It will surprise you with its diversity.

Still the best version there is

[Mike-DD · 8/10 · 24 August 2000]

The original Jerry Lewis version of this movie is still the best one ever. Irregardless of the special effects employed in the Eddie Murphy version, or the novelty of him playing multiple characters at the same time, the original has something the copycat doesn't - Jerry Lewis, still one of the best comedians on the planet. Lewis doesn't need the power of special effects or multiple roles to fully convey the story here. How he transforms from a nerdy professor to a suave and sweet-talking singing/dancing/kissing Romeo is a sight to behold. He employs acting techiques which manage to convince us that these are 2 distinct people with distinct personalities and characters. No one can top Lewis in his prime, and this is one of better movies.

Jerry Lewis in Hilarious Jeckyl/Hyde Comedy

[mdm-11 · 8/10 · 25 May 2005]

This is by far the best of the Jerry Lewis (sans Martin) films. The Jekyll & Hyde storyline is the perfect outlet for Jerry Lewis' "physical comedy" genius. I bet the "French" were inspired by this performance, when they named Jerry Lewis their comedy idol. As a clumsy, yet lovable chemistry professor, the title character could hardly be considered a "babe magnet". When he discovers a magic potion that turns the nerd into "Buddy Love", his luck with the ladies appears to change. In the end, he learns that appearance is less important than character. A young Stella Stevens is effective as the grad-student love interest.

This original "Nutty Professor" is heartwarming and funny without offensive language and double-meaning visuals. It is far superior to its 1990s Eddie Murphy remake. Especially for a juvenile audience, Lewis beats Murphy by a mile!

No Classic, but Lewis' Best

[mrb1980 · 7/10 · 2 July 2006]

I think that people can be divided into two groups: those that love Jerry Lewis movies, and those that hate them. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground.

Having said that, I am a confirmed hater of Jerry Lewis films. I find them sophomoric and excruciatingly bad, and each one has the same basic plot: Jerry Lewis' character is introduced, then he proceeds to stumble through the rest of the movie.

I'll make an exception for this film; it is the one winner out of all of Lewis' losers. The plot has been described in detail here, but it's basically the Jekyll-Hyde plot placed in a college circa 1963, where nerdy chemistry professor Jerry yearns for the love of one of his students (Stella Stevens). Lewis' transformation from Dr. Kelp to ultracool lounge lizard Buddy Love manages to be both campy and fascinating.

Great cinematography and good acting, plus a warm message and the luscious Stella Stevens make for a fine movie experience. As far as I am concerned, you can throw away all of Lewis' other movies and keep this one...it's a winner.

Best thing Jerry ever did...

[El_Rey_De_Movies · 7/10 · 3 November 2005]

Let me get this off my chest first: I am not a Jerry Lewis fan. I've always found his comedic antics tiresome and stupid, and his telethons for Muscular Dystrophy are nothing but daylong snooze fests. But, at one point in his career, he was able to bring it all together and create one of the great comedy films of all time, "The Nutty Professor". A comedic take on the familiar Jekyll and Hyde tale, it's the story of über-nerd Professor Julius Kelp (played by Lewis) and his search for love and a better self-image thru chemistry…which results in him changing into a creosote-haired, obnoxious, hard drinking, sexually voracious yet musically talented Rat Pack swinger named Buddy Love (also played by Lewis). While Professor Kelp loves his student Stella Purdy (played by Stella Stevens) from afar, Buddy has absolutely no problem sweeping her off her reluctant feet – until, that is, Kelp's formula starts wearing off and Buddy's tenor singing voice suddenly starts squeaking like the Professor's nasal twang! It all comes to a head at the senior prom where all the kids want to swing to Buddy's music but the formula wears off and Buddy/Julius (in a touching and almost-profound moment) has to face the reality of what he's done and that you'd better love yourself because you're stuck with you for your whole life. But Lewis shows that he could also direct, and pretty well at that. From the opening shot of test tubes boiling away with candy-colored chemicals, this has to be one of the most colorful movies ever made – just look at the deep purples of the lettermen sweaters or the entire décor of the Purple Pit or the violent primary splashes during the first transformation scene or Buddy's suits – especially his suits! Lewis has always denied that Buddy Love was based on his old partner Dean Martin but it's pretty obvious that Dino and Frank Sinatra (the hard drinking, arrogant, and supremely confident King of the Rat Pack) are the prime models for Buddy Love. But it's also interesting to see how traits from one character show up unexpectedly in the other, like when Julius proclaims during class that hydrogen "is a total gas" or when Buddy sings "That Ole Black Magic" and his voice keeps slipping into Julius'. And there's all sorts of other touches, like Buddy's intro into the movie: after Julius drinks the formula, writhes all over a chemical-splattered floor and transforms into a hairy Beatlesesque gray monster, the next scene shows the shocked reactions of people on the street as the "monster" walks from the University to the Purple Pit where the camera pulls a 360° turn and we see…Buddy Love in full swinger regalia ordering a drink called an Alaskan Polar Bear Heater that's got to be the most lethal combo I've ever seen served anywhere! This is the movie that shows why the French think this guy was a comedy genius - his particular brand of physical comedy is not only timeless but also totally independent of language. When you see Julius bopping to Les Brown's band at the prom, it doesn't matter if you're sitting in a movie theater in San Francisco, Paris, Timbuktu, or Outer Slobodia, it's damn funny stuff even if you don't understand a word of what he's saying. A truly funny movie that's perfect for the whole family.

Jerry's comic masterpiece

[george.schmidt · 11 April 2003]

THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (1963) **** Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens, Del Moore, Kathleen Freeman, Howard Morris. Jerry Lewis' comic masterpiece (which he also directed) adapts the Jekyll-Hyde story to tailor form-fitting to his loose frenetic talents and comes up with two memorable characters: feeble social outcast chemistry professor Dr. Julius Kelp all chipmunk-toothed geekiness and bad hair becomes lounge lizard, charming bully Buddy Love (some say he was inspired by Dean Martin, which Lewis steadfastedly denied). Funny, touching and out-there! Groovy, man, groovy!

Entertaining

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 31 May 2021]

Jerry Lewis's comic mash-up of Jekyll and Hyde, a weakling turning into an alpha male ala those old Charles Atlas ads, and the obnoxious, egotistical behavior of the ultra-cool. The latter is commonly thought to be shading his old partner Dean Martin, but I saw it more as Frank Sinatra, or a pastiche of the worst behavior of the Rat Pack, than Martin in particular. Regardless, it's an unpleasant character to watch, and while that's the whole point, it took away from my enjoyment a bit, even with the nice sentiment at the end.

With that said, Lewis is a funny guy, and it made me smile to see the nerdy professor bumbling around, sinking into the sofa at the dean's office, fumbling the pocket watch that blares out the Marines' Hymn into a fish tank, and having his arms stretched out while lifting weights. Meanwhile Stella Stevens brightens up every scene she's in, and oozes sex appeal in the outfits the professor imagines her in during a happy little montage. She wears an elegant evening gown, a very short tennis skirt, a red dress with a high slit up the leg, and a bathing suit, all while giving him various come-hither looks that steam him up. The romances that have her somehow first attracted to Buddy Love and then later the professor don't make a lot of sense, but she brings a welcome bit of light into the film. Overall, worth seeing.

Jerry Lewis plays lively two different characters as a chemistry professor and an elegant playboy

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 7 June 2012]

Amusing and spasmodic comedy with the genius comic Jerry Lewis by relinquishing creative control and concentrating on the humor more than the fright , skilfully combining the entertainment with the amusement . To improve his social life, a nerdish , mild-mannered professor (Jerry Lewis who wrote seven scripts for the film by himself and two with Bill Richmond) drinks a potion that temporarily turns him into the handsome , but obnoxious, Buddy Love , a wicked impersonation of his old pal (though Lewis has repeatedly denied is a Dean Martin parody , but the proof is quite strong) .

Enjoyable film with characters genuine and sympathetic , it is plenty of humor , tongue-in-cheek , side-splitting sight gags and amusement . Jerry Lewis is top-notch playing a double role as the timid , meek professor turned into a dashing debonair , slim playboy type with an irresistible attraction . It was widely believed at the time that the Nutty Professor's sleazy alter ego, Buddy Love, was a satirical swipe at Jerry Lewis's longtime partner, Dean Martin . The picture results to be a parody and comic variation based on the classic novel ¨Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde¨ by Robert Louis Stevenson . According to one of the trailers for this film, Jerry Lewis urges you to see this picture from the beginning, on penalty of losing your popcorn privileges , this spoofs Alfred Hitchcock's dictum that Psycho had to be seen from the beginning and his insistence that no latecomers be seated . In the co-starring role stands out Stella Stevens , surely the most gorgeous girl any professor ever had . Furthermore , watch rapidly to Henry Gibson in his film debut , Richard Kiel , Celeste Yarnall , and William Smith . The motion picture was produced by , directed by , and starred by Jerry Lewis , at his best . Colorful and shimmer cinematography in Technicolor by Walter Kelley . Catching musical score by Walter Scharf , including various songs sung by Jerry Lewis and special intervention of Les Brown orchestra directed by Les Brown .

It's remade in 1996 as ¨Nutty professor¨ by Tom Shadyac with Jada Pinkett Smith and Edddie Murphy who takes a swig of his own secret formula and is transformed into the suave buddy ; and its sequel (2000) by Peter Segal again with Eddie Murphy and Janet Jackson .

Hilarious, cynical and yet life-affirming.

[elf-65 · 9/10 · 8 August 2006]

"The Nutty Professor" never fails to amuse and touch me, no matter how may times I watch it. Kelp is an enormously sympathetic character whom nobody seems to like, while Buddy is an egotistical monster who dazzles students and staff alike. Lewis makes the point that it is not only Kelp who is unable to accept himself, but society is overly impressed by the flashy, the handsome, the glib and the shallow. Kelp's path to self-awareness isn't just a personal wake-up call, but an implied social critique.

Stella is the only protagonist apart from Kelp who processes on anything other than a superficial level. Her kindness to the professor hints at a deeper attraction, at least to the point where she acknowledges his attraction to her. Yet, the two bottles of formula in her jeans' pockets implies an incredibly cynical double-standard. Yes, she prefers Kelp's sincerity, his love, his kindheartedness, but she'd rather have Buddy Love in her bed. Edwina Kelp, similarly, has been tamed into girlish giggling submission by her newly confident and, one must assume, sexually dominant husband.

A couple of reviewers have mentioned that they don't find the film terribly funny. Have you had a fun-ectomy, people? Kelp's first visit to Dr Warfield's office (the seat, the watch, the fish, "your greens"); the business with his glasses having no home at the gym ("Actually, I'd appreciate it.."); the flashback to his parents early married life; Buddy ordering a cocktail; Buddy hijacking Stella's test ("Write nice!")......it goes on and on and on. Best bit, though, is Kelp's solo dance at the prom. Gets me every time, and I watch this flick at least twice a year...it certainly is a toe-tapper. Well, zip and I'm gone.

Great idea, so-so movie

[bobc-5 · 6/10 · 22 January 2000]

"The Nutty Professor" is Jerry Lewis' original take on the Jekyll and Hyde story in which the Hyde character, lounge lizard Buddy Love, is almost unrecognizable as a monster. The monster actually looks and sounds much more like the real Jerry Lewis than his over-the-top caricature of a buck-toothed bumbling professor. Buddy Love is talented, handsome, and witty. He is also so thoroughly detestable that Jerry Lewis claims to have hated every minute of every scene in which he had to portray the character. Add to this the occasional flashes of comedic brilliance which Lewis brings to all of his films and we have a classic depiction of the social outcast trying much too hard to be something he isn't.

Unfortunately, unless you happen to be a big fan of the Jerry Lewis of the 1950s and 60s, you will probably consider this movie to be only mediocre. I think most people, like myself, believe that his humor hasn't aged well and we simply cannot view his films in the same way as the audiences who made Lewis the top box-office attraction of his time. The humor is predictable and repetitious. Add to this a romance which makes absolutely no sense (and completely overlooks one with Kathleen Freeman which could have) and a closing speech that pounds the moral into your head just in case you missed it. It's a classic, but it's a tedious classic.

Nutty isn't enough

[counterrevolutionary · 5/10 · 3 November 2003]

The typical Lewis schtick is cute, but it isn't enough to carry the film (especially without a strong straight man for Lewis to play off), and apart from a couple of very brief bits with Howard Morris, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR offers nothing else. The story is uninteresting, Stella Stevens's startling beauty doesn't make up for her lack of acting talent, some of the dialogue (e.g., the lover's leap scene) is so stilted as to be painful to listen to, and Lewis insists on beating us over the head with the incredibly obvious moral.

Perhaps the worst thing is that nothing we see on screen justifies the adulation Buddy Love receives from everyone he meets. Lewis isn't a bad-looking guy, but come on: he's Jerry Lewis, not Paul Newman (or even Dean Martin). As for his singing, he's OK in a gather-'round-the-piano sort of way, but he's not nearly up to a professional standard. Buddy is also obnoxious and annoying, and his line of patter wouldn't impress a child, let alone a moderately intelligent adult. The discongruity between what the film shows us and what it tells us is simply too jarring for the film to succeed.

"The Satanic Glow of Buddy Love's Lounge Suits"

[hernebay · 10/10 · 13 August 2001]

One of the most depressing symptoms of the phenomenon of "dumbing down" is the drastically diminished time-frame of people's imagination and empathy, which function well enough microscopically and telescopically (at a range of, say, two or three hundred years, or the day before yesterday), but which cannot make the small leap back thirty or forty years. It is surely on such grounds that Jerry Lewis's masterpiece, "The Nutty Professor", might be dismissed as "dated" or be found "unfunny". Ever since I saw this movie as a child back in the late 60s it has haunted my imagination, and taken on a mythic existence that floats free of its actual content and context. On recently viewing it again on a borrowed videocassette I was startled by the internal organisation of the movie, by its pacing, and by the fact that Kelp's odious alter-ego, Buddy Love, who dominates the movie conceptually, is actually on screen for so little of its longish running-time. Since childhood I had cherished Buddy Love for his wit, glamour and self-assurance, which contrast so strongly (and therapeutically) with the painful gaucheness of Julius Kelp. Only now, as a mature adult, do I fully appreciate just how fundamentally unlikeable he is.

It is interesting to note that his allure works better at a distance: idolised by the hipster habitues of the Purple Pit, he is viewed with deep suspicion by Stella Purdy, even as he fascinates and intrigues her. "The Nutty Professor" is as firmly located in its milieu (the United States of the early 60s) as "War And Peace" is in its (Tsarist Russia at the time of the Napoleonic Wars); therefore, talk of "datedness" is beside the point. As an exact picture of life in 2001 the film is hopeless, but as a myth or parable, with Kelp, Buddy Love, Stella, et al., as archetypes, its power is undiminished. Jerry Lewis has never been happy playing it straight, and Buddy Love is as extreme and grotesque in his way as the hapless Kelp. He is also by no means entirely free of Kelp's flaws; his clumsiness during the slow dance with Stella shows how aspects of Kelp's personality continue to permeate his, and point to the incompleteness and volatility of the metamorphosis. Even his name, opportunistically extemporised for Stella's benefit, contains a deep irony, since, in spite of his superficial popularity and supreme sexual confidence, he is essentially friendless and incapable of deep feeling. If kindly Kelp is crippled by involuted intelligence, the sybaritic, self-seeking Buddy Love is stunted by affectlessness. (I am puzzled by the IMDb reviewer who found him insufficiently monstrous.)

Buddy Love's glittering lounge suits emit a satanic glow, and Jennifer, the caged mynah-bird, is a kind of familiar to Kelp, whose Faustian alchemy effects his painfully achieved and all-too-brief transformations into this eerie nightclub singer who generally only appears after nightfall (his one diurnal appearance being a spectacularly successful bid to persuade the otherwise pompous college Principal to sanction his headlining performance at the Senior Prom). In view of their acrimonious split it is tempting to view the Buddy Love persona as an acerbic commentary on Lewis's erstwhile partner Dean Martin, but the character also contains generous helpings of Frank Sinatra, and is perhaps best seen as a broad swipe at the Rat Pack. The wider message of the film is that kindness and intelligence (which Kelp already possesses) are far more important than the kind of shallow and flashy qualities that invest Buddy Love with his powerful but limited appeal (the rapid wearing-off of Kelp's formula, whose ingestion is attended by such agonising side-effects, shows that such a persona is literally unsustainable for any length of time).

Kelp's final speech at the Prom, when his appearance as Buddy Love has been cut catastrophically short, is indeed "heart-wrenching", but as both a summing-up of the main themes of the movie and a token of Kelp's increased self-knowledge, it is indispensable. This brilliant and disturbing film uses comedy as a vehicle to explore serious questions about the nature of identity. The Kelp who wins Stella's love is a better-integrated personality than either his earlier self or the grotesque alter-ego of Buddy Love, but a note of mild cynicism (defusing any hint of sentimentality in Kelp's Prom speech) is sounded when Stella pockets two phials of the formula put on sale by Kelp's formerly timid father (to whom he had entrusted it). (He had also entrusted it, of course, to his domineering mother, but it is perhaps significant to observe that the formula presumably only works with men.)

Jerry Lewis's Most Successful Comedy.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 23 August 2008]

I can't help it. I find many parts of this movie hilarious. I know, I know. I keep telling myself, "Self, this is JERRY LEWIS -- and you're not French," but it does no good. It's a funny movie.

The first half is especially good. Lewis, who co-wrote the movie and directed it, is Professor Julius Kelp, a chemist who is a hopeless nerd with buck teeth, a squeaky, nasal voice, and a straggly Beatles haircut avant la lettre. Lewis has a crush on one of his students. Understandably. This is Stella Stevens at her succulent best. He's much too shy to express his feelings towards her, and she in return is kindly, but that's all. Stalemate.

Then Lewis concocts a potion in the manner of Dr. Jeykll and finds himself turned into Mr. Hyde, a new persona that takes the form of "Buddy Love." The love character is identifiably Professor Kelp if you know the story. Otherwise Love is a strangely magnetic, narcissistic playboy. "Hey, Sweetie, take off and get your lips pressed," he tells the lounge singer at the Purple Pit, a local student hangout, before he wows the crowd by playing and singing a jazzy version of "That Old Black Magic." (For the cognoscenti, that's Shelly Manne on drums and Red Mitchell on bass.) He singles out Stevens for his attentions and she's attracted to his self-confidence and talent but repelled by his love of self. "You deserve nothing but the best, baby, and I'm the best." The entire business leaves her confused.

Lewis switches effectively back and forth a few times until the switches take on a life of their own, as in Stevenson's original story, and finally he loses Buddy Love altogether and turns into Professor Kelp while trying to perform at the Student Prom. His apology to the students and faculty could have come straight out of Dr. Phil or some Televangelist. "If you don't like yourself, how can you expect anyone else to like you? That's what I learned." No sense going on too long about the film but it's worth a brief comparison to Eddy Murphy's remake. Lewis's film is the more difficult of the two to pull off. For one thing, in 1963 the technology was limited. There were no effective fat suits and no CGIs. For another, Lewis's Professor Kelp's deficits are harder to define. He's shy, nervous, homely, and an egghead. His scenes at the gym, trying to build his muscles, are outrageous. Murphy's film, by contrast, is equally funny but easier to build gags around. Murphy's Kelp is statistically deviant chiefly because he's terribly fat. And it's easier to make fun of, and build gags around, people who are obese. Murphy's film suffers from gigantism and Lewis's seems constrained by comparison. That's not in any way to criticize Murphy's acting. He makes the character touching in a way that Lewis doesn't. But Murphy invites a dislike of Kelp, willy nilly. Nobody wants a fat person for a seat mate on the plane. And while the comedy in both movies is very broad indeed, Murphy's is REALLY broad! I never thought I'd find myself saying that a Jerry Lewis movie was tasteful, but next to Murphy's it is precisely that.

In any case, this is enjoyable and the whole family will probably find it amusing. I mean, it's not challenging in any way, not thought provoking. But it is a successful comedy and should be applauded for being funny without hitting the audience over the head with a loud and raunchy crowbar.

A bit of Jerry goes a long way!

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 5/10 · 22 July 2022]

"The Nutty Professor" was the first Jerry Lewis film I ever saw, back in the mid 1990s on TV. Then I saw it again on DVD last year. My opinion hasn't changed. Once you've seen Jerry Lewis in action, you never forget it. He is one of these comedians who you either like or loathe. His style is of an aquired taste and "The Nutty Professor" is no exception. I had a hard time maintaining interest in the film. At a 107 minutes, the story isn't strong enough to last that long. At least 20 minutes should have been edited. Lewis can be incredibly irritating with all his mugging and childish performing. His role as the professor bears this out. As the alter ego Buddy Love, he isn't much better. There are a few positive things: Kathleen Freeman does well, even though she hasn't a lot of screen time. A couple of classroom scenes and the one at the gymnasium are okay but that's about all. At his worst, Jerry Lewis is about as amusing as having a bad cold while stuck in a traffic jam in the middle of a heatwave!

Jerry's solo best

[yenlo · 4 January 2000]

Easily Jerry's best film without Dean. After all these years it still holds up well. The Eddie Murphy remake was fine but this one did it without special effects. Favorite scene is the flashback of The Professors early life. His mother rules his milqtoast dad with an iron hand and in the background can be seen a toddler in a playpen who looks a little goofy. The close up reveals Jerry in baby PJ's. Then there is the legendary Alaskan Polar Bear Heater!

Lewis's Hyde

[Cineanalyst · 7/10 · 4 September 2005]

This might be Jerry Lewis's most acclaimed vehicle made during the height of his popularity. While I'm not a fan of Lewis, this one does have a lot going for it. It's a reworking--a parody of sorts--of the familiar Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story, which has had an interesting history in film and other media, including comic books. The movies (and I'm mostly referring to the 1920, 1931 and 1941 Hollywood versions) are a reworking of the original novella, as well (which is, of course, common in adaptations). The result is a shared heritage removed in many ways from Stevenson's original. Not unfortunate, I think, but interesting. "The Nutty Professor" fits right in with this progression.

I didn't find it a remarkably funny experience--much of it falls flat and seems specifically aimed at an audience foreign to me (campy 60s pop culture, for example). Everyone other than Lewis seems in need of acting lessons, a better-written role, or something amusing to do, but that doesn't matter. Lewis is delightful. His geek professor Julius Kelp is a well-honed character--the typical role that Lewis made his career out of. His Buddy Love is what's special about this vehicle; it works because it really is the Hyde--a suave egocentric--to Lewis's Jekyll (who looks more like Hyde). Buddy Love may very well be closer to the real Jerry Lewis, but it's the antithesis of the Jerry Lewis image, or persona. This movie doesn't need to be always funny; it's worth seeing just for Lewis's play on his own image.

Furthermore, the Eddy Murphy remake is void of this concept, or any interesting reworking of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or this 1963 original. And, its humor is in very poor taste. Not Lewis's movie; it is family entertainment--and is clever, too.

like/dislike

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 28 January 2021]

Bumbling bespectacled chemistry Professor Julius Kelp (Jerry Lewis) blows up the classroom again. Dean Warfield is losing his patience. After getting bullied by a football player student, Kelp tries to bulk up. He has trouble at the gym but he does stumble upon a chemical concoction which does the job. He takes on new personality Buddy Love whenever he drinks his potion.

It's a reworking of Jekyll and Hyde. I like Kelp for the most part but there is an issue with hot for the student. That issue only gets worst with chasing after the student. Times have changed and it may not be as big of an issue back in the day. I don't like Buddy Love nevertheless. On the positive side, Jerry Lewis is great playing the duo roles. It may be better to play up the good and evil duality of the roles. All in all, there is a lot to like but modern morality makes this a less appealing film.

Dr. Kelp and Mister Love!

[bsmith5552 · 7/10 · 18 September 2018]

"The Nutty Professor" was Jerry Lewis' version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was a change in direction for Lewis whose movies had tended to be more madcap comedy than drama.

Jerry plays nerdy Professor Julius Kelp complete with buck teeth, glasses and a stooped over posture. He is clutzy to say the least but a somewhat brilliant scientist nonetheless. Wanting to change his image he invents a serum that transforms into Buddy Love a cool cat who is abrasive and egotistical. He has his eye on student Stella Purday (Stella Stevens - smack, drool) who sees something within the bold and unpleasant Buddy that she can't explain.

Unfortunately, Buddy changes back into Julius without warning and is forced to flee from Stella, leaving her dumbfounded. This happens several times until prom night when singing with Les Brown and his band of renown, his voice cracks and he changes back into Julius. He apologizes to the assembled crowd leaves the stage and.......................................................................

Lewis demonstrated that he could act going seamlessly from the professor to Buddy. His depiction of Buddy contains little or no comedy turns and he makes the character totally despicable. The professor is closer to the Jerry we all know but has his serious side as well.

Jerry employed many members of his in house stock company in key roles. Kathleen Freeman plays the Dean's secretary, Del Moore the college Dean, Milton Frome a fellow professor and Buddy Lester as a befuddled bartender. Others in the cast include Howard Morris as Julius henpecked father, Evia Allman as his domineering mother, Med Flory as Warzewski the giant football player and Henry Gibson, Norman Alden and Marvin Kaplin as other students. And watch for Richard Kiel briefly in the Gym scene.

Was it me or didn't most of the "students" look to be well into their thirties. And Jerry Lewis as a singer makes a great actor/comedian.

It Should Have Been a Tashlin Directed Martin and Lewis Film

[Kittyman · 6/10 · 13 September 2019]

In my opinion, the best Jerry Lewis films are (with Dean Martin) Artists and Models (1955) and Hollywood or Bust (1956) and (by himself) Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958) and Who's Minding the Story (1963). However, Boeing, Boeing (1965) is also worth seeing. It is the only time Jerry acts as a normal adult (while Tony Curtis plays what would usually have been Lewis' role).

However, most consider Lewis' The Nutty Professor (1963) to be his best film. But to me, it is deeply flawed. Apparently, he had been so beaten-up by life that he confused twisted arrogance with "coolness." As a result, Buddy Love, his professor's handsome, drug-induced alter ego comes across like Don Rickles on speed. Why anyone besides masochists would be attracted to him is hard for me to understand. This jarring darkness, and a couple of painful monologues, which briefly stop the picture's progress, make me never want to watch it again (despite Jerry's luscious co-star, Stella Stevens).

If only Dean Martin, who oozed charm, could have played Buddy love. And if only Frank Tashlin (responsible for all four of Jerry's best pictures above) had directed Lewis. Both the film's faults would have been solved. Consider, then, what a masterpiece it might have been!

Surprisingly good.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 14 April 2014]

Professor Julius Kelp (Lewis) is a kooky chemistry professor. He's extremely awkward, socially inept and a complete weakling. However, and this is important, he's a very nice and likable guy. However, Kelp is tired of being pushed around and he's also very lonely. Perhaps he can use his knowledge of chemistry to make himself into the man he wishes he could be. Unfortunately, like the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this new facade is a hit with the ladies and is sophisticated...but he's also a major jerk. What's to become of poor Dr. Kelp? And, who will the girl (Stella Stevens) love--the nerdy professor or the slick lady's man, Buddy Love (also Lewis)?

I had a rare privilege because I got to see this film on a big screen at the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival. And, the audience was crammed full of die-hard Jerry Lewis fans who laughed uproariously throughout the screening. Plus, Lewis made an appearance and talked at length about the film, life and much more--and was marvelously animated and youthful for a man of 88!

I would have to say that although I don't think I thought this film was the masterpiece many have proclaimed it to be (I do think Lewis made some better films), it is extremely enjoyable and a few of the gags were hilarious (particularly in the gymnasium). I also appreciate how the film has heart--a nice message and greater depth than the usual comedy. One of Lewis' best films, certainly, and one that has exceptionally good timing and subtlety--something you just don't see in a lot of his comedies.

Jerry Lewis delivers a hilarious performance, but heartwrenching and sometimes even dull scenes take away from what is nonetheless a classic comedy.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 7/10 · 23 August 2000]

The Nutty Professor may star a man who is often difficult to endure and who sometimes makes a little too much of an effort to be funny (efforts which often induce embarrassed and uncertain laughter), but the character that Jerry Lewis created in The Nutty Professor is something to be admired. His transformation from the geeky Professor Julius Kelp to the overly confident Buddy Love is perfectly acted. A particularly memorable scene (especially as far as directing and editing) was the scene when Buddy Love transforms back into Professor Kelp toward the end of the film. Very well done and very entertaining.

However, the comedic intensity of the film is diluted by the almost painfully heartwrenching speech given by Professor Kelp at the end of the film, as well as a crudely delivered message. I've never been too fond of films that slap their message (or significant parts of the plot, as with the latest Bond film, The World Is Not Enough) awkwardly in the dialogue. It gives the feeling that the makers of the film didn't have enough confidence in the clarity of the story, or they simply wanted to take the easy way out. My point is that I don't think that the speech at the end was necessary in its present form, if even at all. The audience should be left to at least derive some part of the film's message on their own.

As a whole, The Nutty Professor is a very good film. It is entertaining, and at some points, hilarious. There have been countless imitations of this film, including a couple of respectable remakes with Eddie Murphy, and even a character on The Simpsons (Professor John Frink) that is based on Lewis' character in this film. There are a few slow parts that seem to drag on and become boring that take away from the sheer hilarity of the movie, but it is still a timeless comedy that could be enjoyed by virtually everyone.

Terribly Unfunny...

[MovieAddict2016 · 1/10 · 13 April 2003]

"The Nutty Professor" is what you get when you cross Jerry Lewis as an actor and Jerry Lewis as a director: A mind-numbingly unfunny comedy that tries to be something it isn't. I think it's safe to say that the 1996 remake (or just a film with that shares the same name) is not only funnier, but also entertaining--and that's pretty sad, because the remake wasn't even that great.

Jerry Lewis plays a crazy dork-of-a-scientist that creates a...er...creation that makes him "hunkier" and more hip. Feeling more self-confident than ever before, Lewis hits the streets in his new persona: Buddy Love. He (Buddy Love) then sparks relationships with women and becomes suave and vogue--until his new persona starts to ultimately take over and causes trouble.

Jerry Lewis not only directs a boring film here, but a terribly pretentious one, too. How are we to care for a character in which there is no depth or emotional attraction? I couldn't care less about what happens to Lewis' character, nor those who come in contact with him. It seems Lewis thought that by setting up a few gags he could forget about character development and no one would notice. Perhaps, as a summer fun flick, you could get away with this, in a sense. But you know what you can't get away with? You can't get away with it when the film is not funny--the only thing Lewis relies on to carry his film is nonexistent. No matter how dull the character study was in Eddie Murphy's 1996 "The Nutty Professor," you have to admit it was at least kind of funny--I barely laughed at all in Jerry Lewis' take on the story.

The script writing by Jerry Lewis and Bill Richmond is like colliding together a horribly unfunny blend of humor and a terribly boring, slow-paced plot. Jerry Lewis as the barsinger-type-hip guy was incredibly boring and lasted about ten minutes--way too long for something so unfunny.

Jerry Lewis has put together an unfunny, boring, pretentious, unimaginative film that had inspiration but not enough charm to carry off the project the whole way.

1.5/5 stars -

John Ulmer

Nutty + Proffesor= Fun!

[curtaincall9000 · 8/10 · 25 January 2003]

i enjoy watching jerry lewis's movies and this one is an all-time classic! the story is out of the ordinary and that's what makes it fun and enjoyable. it's very interesting to watch jerry's cute mannerisms such as:running his tongue over his teeth, stuttering [especially towards stella]and that memorable voice. i find the proffesor kelp character much more appealing then buddy love. b.l. can get on one's nerves with his smooth fonzie/gangster attitude. one of the best scenes in the movie was when j.l. sings "that old black magic". stella stevens portrays stella very well but how could a student/teacher marriage be looked upon? a must see and definetly a classic!

a mug's game hindered by its own myopia but survives only for Lewis' comedic knack

[lasttimeisaw · 6/10 · 8 November 2016]

American comedian Jerry Lewis' fourth director-cum-co-writer-cum-star vehicle in his solo career, a loopy parody of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where he playfully juggles with the dichotomy between the geeky, bucktoothed, accidental-prone professor Julius Kelp and the raffish, chain-smoking, hipster crooner Buddy Love.

What prompts Professor Kelp (Lewis) to undergo a thorough transmogrification is his swooning over his student Stella Purdy (Stevens), who is far out of his league, although no one in his class is even remotely credible to pass for a college freshman, or maybe the 60s simply was not a kind era for adolescents. Thanks to an inexplicable magic potion he manages to confect, with a faint reference to the turning of a hirsute werewolf, Kelp's new-born alter ego, Buddy Love fabulously materializes (introduced by a laboriously arranged reaction long-shot from on-lookers to elicit the anticipation), he is the antithesis of Kelp, and whose rebarbative behaviour has also implausibly escaped from the latter's clutches. But then the grating part emerges, albeit his condescending, offensive and self-serving attitude, this chimney-mouthed slicker is portrayed as a virtuoso show- stopper, and perversely sweeps Stella off her feet (although she does have some reservations but condones to fall for his bad-boy mojo). This male-patronising, female-stereotyping angle, becomes the undoing of a well-intentioned comedy, as in the final speech Buddy/Kelp delivers, we must brave ourselves to embrace who we are, we can always learn to be a better me, but leave the ideal me in that imaginative realm only.

The film would be treated with a redux remake starring a multiple-role-playing Eddie Murphy in 1996 with great popularity owing to its staggering make-up magic and special visual effects. It also foreshadow the personality-sea-changing in Jim Carrey's breakthrough stunner THE MASK (1994).

Since this broad comedy relies heavily on its star's slapstick, Lewis unstintingly turns it into his own shtick-boasting vehicle, and as obnoxious as Buddy Love is, one has to admit Lewis' protean performance is something to be reckoned with, sometimes he is also evocative of a young Jack Lemmon. Therefore, it barely leaves anything for other players, only Del Moore's prim but showbiz- passionate university president Dr. Warfield can swipe some thunder from Lewis' omnipresence, whereas, Stella Stevens' buxom ingénue is too amicable and souless for her own good, as a corollary of being projected from a parochial and patriarch world-view. In hindsight, the film is a mug's game hindered by its own myopia but survives only for Lewis' comedic knack, when he stays in his nebbish character.

The Good & Bad Of 'The Nutty Professor'

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 7 November 2006]

Many critics consider this to be Jerry Lewis' best film. Not being a big Lewis fan, I can't comment on that, but it offers - at least in this day-and-age - a number of good and bad features.

THE GOOD- This has a much nicer tone to it than the re-make, of course, (restrictions back then when this was released). The speech at the end of the movie by the professor (Lewis) was outstanding: touching with some profound statements. Some earlier comic bits were funny, beginning with Lewis in the Dean's office. Perhaps the best humor was simply provided by Lewis making faces when he played the nerdy science prof. His other character is not appealing, but it's not supposed to be. However, I got tired a seeing a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. (This was supposed to be a takeoff on Dean Martin). Stella Stevens was a pretty woman, except for the excessive eye makeup that was the style of the '60s. Some of the dated expressions in here were funny to hear.

THE BAD - A number of Lewis' bits were not that humorous and his singing was atrocious. Why almost all entertainers - comedians, actors, etc - back then thought they were also good singers, is beyond me. You can just fast-forward through Jerry's songs.

SUMMARY - If you are younger and-or watched the Eddie Murphy re-make first, you'll be disappointed in this.