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	...	Prof. Julius Kelp / Buddy Love
Stella Stevens	...	Stella Purdy
Del Moore	...	Dr. Mortimer S. Warfield
Kathleen Freeman	...	Millie Lemmon
Med Flory	...	Warzewski
Norman Alden	...	Football Player / Student
Howard Morris	...	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:

chemistry | professor | potion | nerd | jekyll and hyde | 

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Taglines:

What does he become? What kind of monster?

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 1963 (Japan)

Also Known As:

El profesor chiflado

Filming Locations:

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$7,630,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Jerry Lewis Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the original Nutty Professor, the professor's name was Julius Kelp not Sherman Klump.

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Goofs

The first two ingredients in Buddy's Alaskan Polar Bear Heater are vodka and rum, neither of which appears inside the bottles being poured.

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Quotes

Buddy Love: They're nice kids. All nice. All nice kids. They have very, very good taste, I might add.
Stella Purdy: I'm glad. It would be a shame to waste the genius of yours on the riff-raff.
Buddy Love: Well, honey, I always say, if you're good and you know it, why waste time beating around the bush, true?
Stella Purdy: And I always say that to love yourself is the beginning of a life-long romance. And after watching you, I know that you and you will be very happy together.
Buddy Love: Just a minute, sweetheart. I don't recall dismissing you.
Stella Purdy: You rude, ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

False ending which first displays, "That's all, folks!!" then inserts a NOT in between "that's" and "all," then a 5-minute story epilogue goes to the actual ending, which is credited as "The beginning." The actor credits are done as curtain calls, with each performer bowing behind their name.

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Connections

Referenced in Doctor Who Confidential: 'Ello 'Ello 'Ello (2007)

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Soundtracks

I'm in the Mood for Love
(uncredited)
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Sung by Jerry Lewis as Buddy Love at the Purple Pit student nightclub.

User Reviews

Hilarious, cynical and yet life-affirming.

"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.