Hardly Working (1980)

In Jerry Lewis's first film in a decade, he plays Bo Hooper, an unemployed circus clown who can't seem to hold down a job. The film opens with a brief montage of clips from past Lewis ... See full summary »

Director:

Jerry Lewis

Writers:

Michael Janover (screenplay), Jerry Lewis (screenplay)

Stars:

Jerry Lewis, Susan Oliver, Roger C. Carmel

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Lewis	...	Bo Hooper
Susan Oliver	...	Claire Trent
Roger C. Carmel	...	Robert Trent
Deanna Lund	...	Millie
Harold J. Stone	...	Frank Loucazi
Steve Franken	...	Steve Torres
Buddy Lester	...	Claude Reed
Leonard Stone	...	Ted Mitchell
Jerry Lester	...	Slats
Billy Barty	...	Sammy
Alex Henteloff	...	J. Eating
Britt Leach	...	Gas Station Manager
Peggy Mondo	...	Woman in Restaurant
Amy Krug	...	Michele Trent
Stephen Baccus	...	Peter

Storyline

In Jerry Lewis's first film in a decade, he plays Bo Hooper, an unemployed circus clown who can't seem to hold down a job. The film opens with a brief montage of clips from past Lewis movies. He then moves into a succession of jobs that he gets himself fired from including a gas station attendant and a mailman - all with disastrous results.

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | clown | stupidity | legs | written and directed by cast member | 

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Taglines:

The world's funniest funny man is back!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 1980 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Alles in Handarbeit

Filming Locations:

Broward County, Florida, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hardly Working, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final film of Roger C. Carmel.

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Goofs

At one point, Lewis tries to open the hood of a car. The hood quickly pops up and knocks Lewis on his feet. In the next shot, the hood is back down without having been touched.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Rod Stewart (1981)

User Reviews

Hardly worth it

"Hardly Working" was heralded for being Jerry Lewis's first film in a decade. After seeing the final results maybe he should have waited longer. I loved Lewis films as a kid and wondered if perhaps I had just outgrown him. Watching some of his older films up against this one convinced me that it was the movie and not my maturing. "Hardly Working" is a bad film. It's poorly written and ineptly directed.

The film's best scene is its first as we see a brief montage of clips from past Lewis movies. Trust me there is nothing close to being this amusing once the film gets going. But it does get going and we see Jerry as the lovable loser who can't hold a job. He starts as a circus clown and soon gets fired and for good reason. The one scene we see him as the clown is painfully unfunny. He then moves into a succession of jobs that he gets himself fired from. One scene in particular shows how clumsy the script is. He has been hired to work at a gas station. His new boss is setting up a pyramid of cans that Jerry (of course) keeps knocking over. The exasperated boss finally sends Jerry out to serve a customer and (of course) can't even fill the gas tank without causing havoc. What does the boss do? He knocks the same pyramid of cans over that he has struggled over and over to build. Why? You tell me.

The bulk of the film has Jerry as a mailman. Certainly there are funnier things they could have come up with then sagging pickle spears and donut jokes and multiplying rabbits within the postal service. "Hardly Working" is a lame comedy that picks up where Lewis left off with his lame comedies of the late 60's.