yesfan2012
What makes this movie a Lewis gem is his terrific direction behind the lens.Jerry breaks the boundaries between fiction and reality,audience and story.The ending of the film shows that Stanley is actually Jerry,and his falling off the building leads to a shot of camera and crew.Jerry then states,"The people in the theater know i ain't gonna die;I'm gonna make more movies,so i couldn't die" while walking off the set with Ina Balin calling him a nut.So the ending is not a closing of a fictional tale but a revealing of reality in the form of Jerry exiting stage left off to make another movie.This can be maddening to some but what makes Lewis revolutionary to me. His opening of the film with Stanley falling out a window and falling with credits running only to hit a diving board and landing back in the room is terrific in form.The use of the mirror when Stanley is being fit for a suit wanting to look like is idol George Raft,Raft appearing in the shot as a reflection of Stanley.The Director is the star,brilliant.
wes-connors
After lucrative comedian "Wally Brandford" dies in a plane crash, his management team decides to make bumbling bellhop Jerry Lewis (as Stanley Belt) a replacement. Mr. Lewis manages to have a hit record with "I Lost My Heart in a Drive-In Movie", but his nightclub appearance bombs big time. The film's premise seems to suggest you should laugh at Lewis being unfunny. Eventually, he finds success with secretary Ina Balin (as Ellen Betz). Although you can see it coming a mile away, the segment with antique collector Hans Conried is nicely done. And, the enjoyable "Spring Hop" flashback shows Lewis in his element.**** The Patsy (7/8/64) Jerry Lewis ~ Jerry Lewis, Ina Balin, Everett Sloane, Peter Lorre
george.schmidt
THE PATSY (1964) ** Jerry again a bell-hop, again mistakenly hired - this time as a new star-to-be who has no talent whatsoever.
Anne_Sharp
In this celluloid atrocity Jerry Lewis moviestar/filmmaker/screenwriter/egomaniac at large rips off his former director Frank Tashlin's "The Girl Can't Help It," substituting himself for Jayne Mansfield and surrounding himself with a phalanx of veteran performers (Peter Lorre, John Carradine, Phil Harris, Keenan Wynn, and for that extra touch of "Citizen Kane," Everett Sloane) in an apparent attempt to make himself look classier, or funnier, or something. Whatever he was trying to do with this picture, it didn't work.
AD
