Original poster
The Bellboy, Jerry Lewis, USA, 1960, 72 mins, Paramount Pictures
|
Jerry Lewis’ 1960 directorial debut, The Bellboy, came about as a means to an end. In Christmas 1959, Lewis had just finished shooting Cinderfella, under the helm of Lewis’ mentor, director Frank Tashlin. Paramont Studios wanted a Jerry Lewis film to be released in July, and Lewis thought the film was suited as a Christmas holiday showcase. The studio agreed-- if he could deliver another film for the summer slot. While working nights as a headliner for the Fontainebleau Hotel in Florida, Lewis cut his teeth on his first film during the day directing a seemingly simple film about a hapless Bellboy featured in vignettes of almost totally silent pantomime. The studio was nervous about a silent film and withdrew funding which was then financed by Lewis himself. Now fully in control of his own train set, Lewis was able to make what for the time in Hollywood was a fairly experimental film by the biggest star in the world. The film has no plot. There is no love interest. There is no theme. There’s not even a damn dog to save. And Lewis doesn’t talk until the last twenty seconds of the film. But this was a dedicated comedic craftsman entering the most prolific, profitable and artistic phase of his career. What Lewis delivers is a series of gags that would lose their charm in about two reels with most stars, but the vaudeville trained Lewis knew how to hold an audience and created a charming, innocent dreamer that we love to watch get into trouble. The film opens with a Paramont producer telling the audience that this will be a different type of film. “A film based on fun.” And that is the way the film should be approached. It’s not a story, or a lesson to be learned. It is episodic entertainment that we can come and go with as we please and merely watch as carefully manicured and orchestrated chaos unfolds in front of the camera. There is a a kind of indulgence in this type of work. As much as art and European directors are accused of indulging in style, Lewis indulges in visual jokes and doesn’t construct a story. That’s not a bad thing, it’s a choice. But there is a simple joy in the bravura employed to throw away convention. You could argue the film is more of an exercise, but then again a lot of great comedic films are thin stories used as an excuse to then tell the jokes they want to tell. The Bellboy does away with the conflict resolution drive of Western storytelling and finds a way to still emotionally move us by creating a character we love and fear for, all without Lewis saying a word. Maybe he was trying to show off. Maybe he just didn’t have time to write a story between headline shows, but never the less, The Bellboy is a great showcase of a director using film grammar to entertain us. - Reviewed by Chris Sacks |
