Smorgasbord (1983)

Director:

Jerry Lewis

Writers:

Jerry Lewis (writer)
Bill Richmond (writer)

Release Date:

13 April 1983 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

He's gone... Beyond nutty. Beyond wacky. Beyond zany!

Plot:

Suicidal nerd seeks help from psychiatrist, runs into various nutty characters.

Plot Keywords:

Actor Playing Multiple Roles

Cast

Jerry Lewis	...	Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks
Herb Edelman	...	Dr. Jonas Pletchick
Zane Buzby	...	Waitress
Foster Brooks	...	The Pilot
Buddy Lester	...	Passenger
Milton Berle	...	Female Patient
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robin Bach
Dick Butkus	...	Anti-Smoking Enforcer
Paul Davidson
Sammy Davis Jr.	...	Mr. Billings
Ruta Lee	...	Voice
Bill Richmond
Francine York	...	Marie Du Bois

Also Known As:

Cracking Up (USA) (new title)
Smorgasbord (The Movie) (UK)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:7 | USA:PG

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The title was changed to "Cracking Up" so late that when the characters go to see this movie, the marquee of the theater still has the original title "Smorgasbord".

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)

not Lewis's best but not his worst either

The best way I can describe "Cracking Up" is it is a medium effort by Lewis, not his worst but not his best either. This Lewis film is worlds above "The Big Mouth" for example. The best and funniest sequences are the ones in which Foster Brooks and Zane Busby appear in. In fact, Zane Busby's scenes are among the funniest (and most annoying) in the entire picture. The annoying part of them is what makes them so darn funny. I wish Foster Brooks had more screen time than he does here but what he does with what he has to work with is very very funny. Lewis's main problem in this film is that he milks a gag on far longer than it is funny. This was not so much the case in many of Lewis's earlier films especially ones not written or directed by lewis himself. Lewis can be very very funny as his earlier pictures (after Martin) indicate and Lewis has a wild and fertile comic imagination that has served him pretty well. But as usual when Lewis writes and directs for Lewis, Lewis the editor does not know when to say "Cut!" and often scenes drag on far too long than they need be. I consider Jerry Lewis a true comic genius, much better than Chaplin, but not quite as good as Buster Keaton whose comedies in my opinion are very very underrated.