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.

---

Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | last film role for actor | clown | stupidity | legs | 

---

Taglines:

The world's funniest funny man is back!

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie was picked up for distribution in the United States by 20th Century-Fox after it had made $25 million at the box-office in South America and Europe. The picture had been independently financed outside of the studio system when developed and made.

---

Goofs

Bo gets knocked in the jaw when the hood of the car raises in the gas station scene. When the camera switches to the driver, the hood is down but starts to open on its own. When the camera switches back to Bo, the car hood is down again.

---

Quotes

Claire Trent: Bo, tell me about the circus closing.
Bo Hooper: They closed us down, honey, simple as that.
Claire Trent: Who shut you down?
Bo Hooper: The bank.
Claire Trent: Can't you get with another circus?
Bo Hooper: It's too late, honey. It's much too late in the season.
Claire Trent: They must need clowns somewhere.
Bo Hooper: Sure they do. But who wants to get into politics?

---

Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Rod Stewart (1981)

User Reviews

Does the laughter ever START!?

Auteur Jerry Lewis does it all. He plays inept Bo Hooper haplessly drifting from job to job. Lewis' sense of timing as a director is phenomenally off. The scenes of Lewis' fussing with the donuts, the wacky "my ring is caught in your mesh" gag, and the lumbering appearance of the Budweiser Clydesdales are the three longest and most drawn-out scenes in "comedy" history.

Director Lewis is trying to give us time to savor our laughter; it really isn't necessary.

I absolutely dare you to watch this movie from start to finish. So bad it changes your concept of space and time. Then again, if you like seeing Jerry with big fake teeth pretending to be a wild Japanese cook at Benihana's, then you might genuinely like this movie. If so, shame on you. Absolutely awful.

I've never been lucky enough to see Lewis' legendary "The Day The Clown Cried", so this one will have to do as the worst movie I've ever seen.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 1980 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Hardly Working

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