Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis (2011) - full transcript

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Jerry Lewis!

Huh.

Huh.

Huuh.

Huuuh.

Whooo, I see.

Whoooa, I see...

Yer... yah... whooa.

Every time I get up
in the morning

I open my eyes,
I'm a hit.



You know, what do I need
to do after that?

I'm a smash!

I open my eyes,
I got another day,

I look up and I say,

"Okay, thanks!"

Move on.

Ma! Ma! Ma! Ma!

Oh God, how dumb.

When you get to be 85,

you think about all
the stuff you've learned,

and then you sit one day,

with a film documentarian,

and you talk about all
of your brilliant brains

that you had.



They weren't always brilliant.

I'm still working
on getting into that:

"I'm better than it
was yesterday" mode.

What the hell, are you nuts?

What a treat!

What a treat?

Come backstage,
I'll show you a real one.

I think if you don't
get Jerry Lewis,

you don't really
understand comedy.

Because he is
the essence of it.

He is essentially it.

He is the diamond of comedy.

The stuff that looks
like it's just slapstick

and just happening, you know,

that's 'cause he's a genius

and he can make it
look like that.

Can't reach as many people

for such a long period of time

unless it's thought out.

All kinds of...
you know who...

who loved funny...

were touched by him.

Ah!

There's only one
Jerry Lewis.

Look at all
of the laughter

that he has
given to people.

I really love Jerry,

and owe him so much.

He's just been a real,
you know,

mainstay in my life
as a child growing up,

and also in my career.

He is the last,
great giant

of the great days
of the business.

He bridges
the old Hollywood and now.

♪ Ma, ma, ma, ma yo quiero

♪ Ma ma yo quiero

♪ Ma ma!

♪ Ma ma yo quiero...

♪ ma... ma...

He was the most gifted,
intuitive person ever.

It was astonishing.

You know,
he spoke this language

that even probably
wildlife would laugh at.

I don't ever remember
a time before Elvis,

I don't remember a time
before Jerry Lewis.

He was always part
of my consciousness.

At the youngest age
that I can think of.

Everybody's like him
in the morning

when they get up
and look in the mirror.

Start making faces.

Everyone's like him

when they weren't
trying to be funny.

We're all like that.

It's just that he was
the best, you know.

You don't like Jerry Lewis,

I have no interest
in hanging with you.

We can't even have
a relationship.

Jerry Lewis was
in this magic position

of being a monster
box office star.

He could do
what he wanted,

and he didn't
play it safe.

He has done some
extraordinary things.

Amazing things.

Hahahaha!

He makes movie,
after movie, after movie,

that people go crazy
for this thing he's doing.

It's almost like,
before Jerry, after Jerry.

He's like the Beatles
of movie comedy.

How do you do?

How do you do?

Very good.

Are you French?

Oui. Oui.

Good, then you belong here.

Can you say in French,

Go, "bonjour, bonjour!"

A lot of people,

by the time they
hit their 70s,

you know,
they're pretty much...

Eh, I've done
what I needed to do.

He just keeps charging.

Love that about him.

I have a message
for your editor.

I just got off the plane,

and I opened up the newspaper,

and there's this picture
of Brad Pitt.

I don't want any of those
small little pictures.

And then I wanna
go see Brad Pitt

at the hotel
and tell him he's finished.

It's amazing
how much energy

and creativity
he still has.

The fact that he's still
doing it is pretty cool.

Are you going on
the red carpet tonight?

Yeah, I'm gonna
put on a tuxedo,

it better be a good bill.

I hope it's dirty.

France is always
given the credit

for discovering Jerry Lewis.

But in terms of fan following,

Italy is first,

Germany is second,

The Netherlands is third,

Japan is fourth,

Australia is fifth,

and France is sixth.

This week fan mail

will be the same amount we got

15, 18 years ago.

Monsieur Jerry Lewis,

We're excited
about our film

and we came to Cannes
because we knew there were films

like "Suck My Blood",

"I Was a Teenage Lesbian",

"After the Circumcision,
Lick It."

Jerry! Jerry!

Jerry!

Merci beaucoup!

Although my films, to this day
make a lot of money,

all over the world...

I never received critical
and loving affection

like I do from the French.

When I played Paris,

I was on stage
and I knew there were

13 to 15 thousand people

lined up to try
to get tickets

for the day after.

It went on like
that for 30 days.

At the end of one show,

they brought me
affectionate gifts.

Flowers, wine, cheese,
ham, cookies, candy.

The stage was engulfed.

I would love
to do that again.

I could do it again.

All I have to do is say,

"I'm gonna do it again."
that's all.

The story of an older man

is not ordinarily
why you would make a film.

But since everyone
I know grew up with me,

I want them
to get old with me.

And you know
what's so wonderful?

To see the signs
and the billboards and the ads.

"Jerry Lewis Live!"

Beats the hell
out of the alternative,

I'll tell you that.

We do two things
all over the world.

We throw away the garbage,

and we throw away
the old people.

And I think the old people
have a life,

they have...

they have no interpreters,

I'm not so sure
Jerry Lewis ever has quit.

He's just too important.

I think that I recognize

that I am strictly a
professional entertainer

and my concern is getting
them entertained.

It comes from a long,
long way back in his life.

Making people laugh
is what made him feel accepted.

You know, from not
having his parents

because they were traveling
in vaudeville all the time,

being raised
by his grandmother,

the acceptance that
he got from people around him

was by making them laugh.

I did a show
one night at Sahara.

And my dad comes backstage,

and it was
one of those shows

that was so electric,

I did about two hours
and 20 minutes

and I said,
"Dad, what about tonight?"

He said, "Don't worry, you can
make it better tomorrow."

I said, "What the hell
are you talking about?

It's the best show
I ever did in my life."

He said, "With one exception.

You turned your back
on your audience

to get a laugh from your band.

That's not professional."

There was no way to go with it,

I had to just hear him.

I'm a little heavier now,
did you notice?

That's right.

Okay, hahaha.

♪ When there are Grey skies

What don't you mind
in the least.

My dad played in burlesque
getting 50 bucks a week

as the singer, straight man,
and MC at the burlesque show.

My mom was his conductor.

She was an
incredible musician.

He and she would play
on a Saturday night

four hotels
in the Boer circuit.

So the owner
said to my dad,

"If you let the kid go on,
we'll give you ten more."

So the following Saturday,

my mom had
a tux made for me.

How do you not clap for
a five year old in a tux?

As a kid,
I can't see it working.

A little five year old going,

"Hey lady!"

It'd be like, "Hey,
what's wrong with that child?"

You kinda gotta grow into that.

And when my dad
taught me this song,

he knew what he was doing.

Now I sang a depression song.

♪ Once in khaki boots

♪ Gee we look swell

♪ Full of that Yankee
didlee dum ♪

♪ Half a million boots

♪ Slogging through hell

♪ And I was the kid
with the drum! ♪

♪ Hey don't you remember

♪ I'm your pal

♪ Buddy can you spare

♪ A dime...

The people went ballistic.

And I take the bow,

my foot slips,

breaks the bulb, explodes,

and makes this huge noise

and I jumped three inches
off the stage

into my father's arms,

and I heard this laugh
was incredible.

It was the first audience
I ever heard

laughing at something I did.

And it was good.

I thought to myself,

"God is that my life,
I'm gonna be a bulb breaker?"

A bulb breaker.

♪ God bless me...

Oh I'm such a doll.

♪ When I go...

I was already
telling my dad

I know what I wanna do
in this life,

and that's just
perform like you.

♪ Promise you won't stray...

Everything that
was on that stage

was for the betterment
of his performance.

You're a fancy singer boy!

I never saw such
a selfless man.

You went out there
to give them pleasure.

♪ Sonny boy...
♪ Sonny boy...

I was like the kid that knows
he's gonna play baseball

and has to spend four weeks
at Babe Ruth's house.

He was part of the last

wonderful vaudeville people

that taught all of us in
motion pictures what to do.

In order for comedy to work

there must be a pace.

A tempo.

Without a tempo,
you have no joke.

Without a tempo,
you have no visual.

And you lose
the spirit of comedy.

The typewriter.

Just the way,
halfway through

he doesn't keep repeating,
and he changes it,

it's like a musical variation.

But his instinct telling him,

"Time to change it."

You know, and makes
the second half of the bit

just as funny.

He's a very gifted genius.

The typewriter...

I could have that on a loop

and just watch it
all the time.

He's... it's just brilliant.

Someone get the stool
for me, eh?

Stool up.

The individ...

Thank you.

I went on the road at 16.

I went to Buffalo.

Played the Buffalo Palace
Burlesque Theater.

My dad had played
20 years before.

They put me on in front
of the front curtain

after the sketch
messed up the stage.

They had to get the stage
clear for the stripper.

'Cause I didn't need music,

I did a dumb act.

Put the recording on,

and I mouthed my lips

and I made my salary.

I did Barbra Seville,

with a Grey fright wig.

I did Frank Sinatra,

All or Nothing At All.

Yeah, mime.

Mimic.

They didn't hear
me say a word.

You learned a lot doing
five shows a day every day.

Vaudeville was a great
stepping stone.

He's a crossover
from vaudeville, burlesque.

It's like when
silent films ended,

there was this long reach till
talkie comics really hit,

and it feels like
he's straddling that.

Close them together.

Close... oh, all right.

There's classic clowning
in him,

and there's this insanity.

They...

They scooted...

If you look at a scene
I did in "The Patsy",

I rehearsed catching
the vases for three weeks.

And I think we went through
300 to 400 of them.

I just kept getting prop
department to make some more.

I worked my heart out
to get it to work right.

People really like to get a shot

at finding out what
you think about things.

And it's amazing
at what comes up

during the course
of a Q&A session.

So let's try it.

In 1972 I was
in Memphis, Tennessee.

And I met
the King of Rock'n'roll.

Elvis Presley.

Now tonight I meet
the king of comedy!

Jerry Lewis!

Thank you.

Thank you.

Elvis is not dead.

And neither am I!

Haha!

Wow, you know,
people ask him things

because he's been
around for 500 years,

so it's like,
"Moses, when you, uh...

you know, that 27th year
in the desert,

when you built the thing..."

"Oh yeah,
the Mazda factory, well..."

You know it's like...
he's like...

he's this biblical character.

Hi!

Uh back...
I would shake hands with you,

but I see you're busy.

You got it!

It was one...
just one right after another.

I had a dream about you.

Jerry's sexy.

Very charming,

I find him
very nice looking

when he's not doing,
"Hey lady", you know.

But I've always thought
Jerry was sexy.

So I can understand
why people would...

do they throw
underwear at him?

I wanted to ask you if
you think I have a problem

because I'm only
attracted to men

with thick, black dark hair
because of you.

What about 6'2, 320 pound,

I mean huge men,

with blonde hair?

I'm only attracted to men

with thick, dark,
black hair like you.

Have you been
to South Africa?

It's side-splittingly,
crazy, funny.

And it's just him.

You know,
it's just him being Jerry.

What's better than that?

They know that it's coming
off the top of my head

and I do 30 minutes of it.

It's totally spontaneous,

it's unscripted,

It's unrehearsed.

It really brings out the...

I think the genius
of his comedy

because not everybody
can do that.

I have a gentleman
over there, yes sir?

Jerry it's uh...
I worship you,

I think you're the greatest,

but I needed to say, uh,

I wanted to ask you if
you think I have a problem.

I am only attracted to men
with thick, dark, black hair.

Because of you Jerry.

Bravo.

I trade my whole life
for stardom!

And two things
comes with it.

You walk in every kitchen
of every hotel in America,

that's stardom.

If you wanna get
to your dressing room,

and the other one is YouTube.

Half of my act is on it.

Which half?

The one I did
with my partner.

So here he is,
my good partner.

♪ Dean Martin

That was July of '46.

You don't often lay back
and think back that far.

I do on occasion,
but it's a long, long time.

♪ What would I do without you,
what would I do boy. ♪

♪ What would I do without you,
what would I do? ♪

♪ Need a partner,
you're the one ♪

♪ I'll be right there
when the show goes on ♪

♪ I'm for you

♪ I'm for you

♪ From California
to Kalamazoo ♪

♪ What would I do without you
when you're gone ♪

♪ When you're gone

♪ When you're gone

♪ Oh what would I do without
you, what would I do ♪

Standing up on that stage,

I knew it instantly,

we were on our way
to the galaxies.

Dean didn't really recognize
what I was feeling,

till the second night.

Then he came to me
and he said,

"I think I know what
you're talking about."

I said, "How?"

He said, "Well I feel like
I'm walking more upright."

I said, "You got it,
you got it."

My first recollection
of Jerry

is very, very clear.

It was 1947, Boston.

I hate to use the word
"blown away", but I was.

And I never use
that word until today.

"Blown away"
is a terrible phrase.

I was so impressed.

First of all, it was
a totally ad-libbed thing,

they had no act.

And that's what
made it brilliant.

It was this guy interrupting
his friend from singing,

that's the whole thing.

His friend started to sing

and he just kept
interrupting him.

Why are you waiting?

I forgot what song
we were singing.

It was mayhem,

but hysterical mayhem.

People were on the floor.

Are you all right?

I have never seen anything
as funny in my life

as that particular act.

Never forgot it,

and of course,
the rest is history.

Everybody felt the same way
about Jerry and Dean.

It was a revelatory act.

Everybody who
saw it became fans.

There was no doubt
they were gonna make it.

There was no doubt.

♪ We love you all...

We had a deep respect
for one another's ability.

I knew that Dean
had the god damndest

the sense of instinct that
I'd ever seen in anyone.

Oh Judy, Judy, Judy,

you can't take a baby
out of a man's life

and expect him to...

It's not right
and it's not fair.

Right now... I mean
right now Jerry's impression

of the ex-Prime Minister
of England,

ladies and gentlemen,

Winston Churchill.

Thanks very much.

My partner said
to Winston Churchill,

"Do you have to smoke that?"

I thought I'd have
a heart attack.

That was his humor.

What'd he say?

Churchill looked
at him and said,

"I really enjoy it."

And I ran out of there.

He had this
incredible sense of...

now's the time to do it.

You and me, you and me,
ventriloquists.

- You and me.
- Oh no, no!

We sing and we dance,
we're a team.

He wants a ventriloquist.

That's a guy and he uses...
Oh no!

My instinct topping his,

it was an incredible
combination.

Not gonna do...

What's all this noise?

I needing a father figure

because I was
out on the road,

and him needing
a friend figure.

He needed that
more than anything.

It was a love affair,

it was the big brother...

and Dean and Jerry's dad

kinda looked similar.

Wait, I don't like the way you
two guys are working together,

it's too good,
you knew Sonny Boy,

I used to do it with you.

- No we'll do it together.
- Can you just hold it down a little...

See what you're
starting there?

- I'm trying.
- You're starting a whole argument.

Dean listen,
don't worry about nothing.

So I think there
was also a paternal

transference there too.

Hello, I'm Jerry Lewis,
the new busboy.

I'm Dean Martin,
the old waiter.

It's a small world ain't it?

It's a little too small,

let's get out of here.

All right.

I think people
were frightened

of a homosexual probability.

They didn't want to recognize

that this is two people
that love one another,

like a man and a woman,

a wife and a daughter,

a son or a husband.

Why don't you take
your clothes off?

Hey, I don't even know you!

They came along at a time

right after World War II,

no one was ever
that anarchist.

What's the matter?

That physically attractive,

that young, that dangerous.

Get off of the stage!

Look I don't mind
in the room

with the whips
and the chains

but not in front
of the audience.

Get off the stage.

It was the 50s,

that's a very, you know,

after the war, it's a very...

conservative time.

But what came about
was this kind of anarchy.

You know,
you had rock'n'roll.

You're laughing, you forgot
to take your watch off.

So Martin and Lewis are par...

I believe part
of that same movement

because they created
a real sense of anarchy.

You're all mine!

Ha Ha Ha Ha!

The secret was, of course,

is that the audience
was in on it.

They were being naughty too.

They redefined the nature
of show business,

which is pretty
amazing when you...

you know, it was pretty
astounding stuff.

Very unbelievable,

the things
that happened to us.

In a matter of six months

we went from making 450 a week,

we were getting 20,000 a week.

People in our business,

their heads were
turning all the time,

"What? How much? What?"

What did they do?

I don't know.

But they're hotter
than we will ever be,

and they're getting
all the money

there is in the world.

And we're reading
in every paper

and seeing on every
television program

and hearing people
talking to you about

what we were doing,
and carrying on.

We were very excited
and very proud.

I don't think we knew exactly

what was happening to us,

but it was fun.

When Jerry was
on stage with Dean,

something really
special happened.

They were amazing together,

and it just looked like fun.

Straight men are very rare,

great ones you can think of:

Carl Reiner and...
with Mel,

and Dean.

He was different.

He was charming,
he was funny, he could act.

He could seriously act.

He was unselfish,

he sang great,

and they made
each other great.

Stand up, take a bow,
don't be shy.

It's like you were born,

then all of the sudden

you're watching
a Martin and Lewis film.

And it's like I figured

he was just part
of the Earth.

You know, one of the essential
things to know about.

They were the biggest stars
in the world

as a comedy team,
when does that happen?

That a team like this
could sell out

five, six shows a day

was unheard of.

We love you all
and we hope we can see you

at the Paramount July 4th
for two weeks.

Goodnight.
Goodbye!

God bless you all.
Goodbye!

We did two weeks,
eight shows a day,

56 shows a week,

we made 600,000.

'Cause we got 90%
of the tickets,

and the theater got ten.

In order for me to get them
out of the audience

so that we could fill up
the theater again,

I would say
if you come backstage,

we're gonna have
pictures for you!

And as we left the stage,

I saw 4,000 people
exit the theater.

And they did that three
or four times in a day

so you wind up with like 16
or 20,000 people out there.

And it was mass chaos.

All through Time Square,

right down to 9th Avenue.

The mayor of the city came up

to ask us to do something.

So I said to him, "Well,
we could just close tonight.

We could go away."

He said, "No, no, no, no, no.

No, it's good for the city."

When they blew up it was
very much like the Beatles

or like Sinatra and Elvis,

thousands of people
in the street,

looks like it's new years eve,
you know,

and it's just they're
playing a gig in town.

They're the first
big rock star,

there was no rock star
back then when they came out,

but they had
rock star popularity.

I was just starting
high school

when Jerry and Dean
came along.

It was explosive

and I'd be the first in line

to see one of their movies
when it opened.

You can't get
bigger than this.

And for all
the right reasons.

He ripped people's brain out,

he ripped them to shreds.

Wanna come up for coffee?

We ain't got any!

The pandemonium
that it caused

was exactly what happened
with the Beatles later on.

It was incredible.

Every once in a while,

I look on the stage
to see where he would be.

He's not there anymore.

So I think about
the great times we had.

He would walk in front
of an audience

and before he sang a note,

he would say to them,

"I want all of you
people here tonight

that do not drink,

I want you to know
that tomorrow when you get up,

that's as good as
you're gonna feel all day."

Can I ask you a question?
Yes.

Are you looking at me?
Yes.

I'm over here.

Oh hello there Jerry.

You wouldn't mind
breathing out that way

once or twice, would you?

I used to tease him
over the years.

Upright if I saw him
getting down or depressed.

Upright!

Oh yeah, okay.

It worked.

I always wondered
what happened

after that break up.

Obviously Dean went on,

'cause he had that great hair.

Uh, and was very, very funny

and a, you know, a great talent.

July 25th I think a lot.

That was the night
we teamed up.

July 25th, 1946

and we split July 25th 1956.

Ten years to the day.

There's no way to explain
what I felt.

I said goodbye,
and he said goodbye.

Then the work goes on
and on and on.

I guess it was just destiny

that it wasn't gonna
last very long

and that Lewis had to go off

and do his own thing.

Not that he didn't need Martin,

But there was just a whole
other thing he needed to do.

They had their
thing together.

They had their time.

And I'm kinda glad
they didn't try

to do something again,

because it was just
perfect the way it was.

And then we can
just admire them

for who they became.

Jerry and Dean
deciding to end

when they were still legends,

as opposed to when
it was starting to fray,

I wanted that too
for my TV series.

I wanted to make sure
that I just went out before.

A moment before.

Not the moment after.

Do you still think
about Dean at night?

There isn't a day in my life

that I don't think
of my partner.

Not a day.

Never.

I don't have any qualms

about proclaiming

the love I had for my partner.

Every time I walk on a stage,

I know it's because of him.

And what he did to get me there.

It's a constant appreciation

and a gratitude to a man

that I can't communicate with,

but I just hope
he's peeking and listening

and knowing how much I care

and how much I miss him.

When you understand
what it was

that people saw and felt,

they saw a love affair
between two men,

and they were coming out
to make money doing it.

And they were having
a wonderful time.

And audiences couldn't believe
the fun they were having.

That was the mystery of it.

Let's do an old thing
we used to do in an old act.

All right,
that's fine with me.

You'll never have ano...

You... never with me.

An argument?

At no time.

Never?
Never.

Promise?
Word.

Let's have lunch someday.

Give me a ring,
I'm in the book.

All right.

We sure created something.

We made it work

and had a ball for ten years.

Never to be duplicated

by any couple of anything.

Ever.

Try this.

Ahhhhh.

Ahhhh?

Ooooh.

Ooooh?

Eeeeee.

Eeeee.

Hahaaaa.

Hahaaaa!

♪ Ya ya ya ya

I don't think he'd fare
very well with Simon Cowell.

♪ I lost my heart

♪ in the drive-in

♪ movies

I think Paula would probably
have rooted for him

and Randy may have thought
he was slightly pitchy.

♪ Yeah, yeah

♪ right in the movies

In my car!

Oh, he sings great!

Jerry sings great.

Talent, he's just
got it in his pores.

All kinds of talent.

Then I could do a number.

My hit record.

Would anyone like to see that?

I did a record.

All it did was
seven million copies

the last counting,

it could be much more now.

It's a good feeling too.

You gotta go until I sing.

Stay with it,
don't be afraid.

Oh, just stay with the...
with the...

Stay there.

I gotcha.

Okay, one more time please.

Dean you're not,
but you will do.

From the film
that I'm very proud of,

circa 1963,

we do the hit song from
"The Nutty Professor".

Yeah, what?

♪ That old black magic
has me in its spell ♪

♪ That old black magic
that you weave so well ♪

♪ Those icy fingers
up and down my spine ♪

♪ The same old witchcraft
when your eyes meet mine ♪

♪ The same old tingle
that I feel inside ♪

♪ And then the elevator
starts its ride ♪

♪ Down and down I go

♪ Round and round I go

♪ In a leaf caught in a tide

♪ I should stay away

♪ But what can I do?

♪ I hear your name

♪ And I'm a flame

♪ A flame with such

♪ A burning desire

♪ That only your kiss

♪ Can put out the fire

He gives everything he's got

like it's the last time
he's ever gonna sing

you know, he's one of the...

that's the kind
of performer he is.

♪ Be my love...

♪ For no one else can end

♪ this yearning

A lot of comics were
doing record lip syncing.

His was different.

He wasn't just lip synching
Mule Train

or one of those things,

he was interpreting music.

♪ They'll be no one but you...

♪ for me

♪ Eternally...

It was a special kind of skill

in its own way,

as Chaplin bouncing the ball

in "The Great Dictator".

It's playing with something

and giving it a different life.

♪ Be my love...

I did a record that
dulled my career.

♪ Here's what you'll be saying

♪ When you are far from home

My dad's got Al Jolson's
original charts

that he gave him on his shelf
in his office in Vegas.

Jolson's music,
and he gave it to my dad

'cause he knew
my dad idolized him.

♪ The sun shines east

♪ The sun shines west

♪ I Just learned
where the sun shines best ♪

Right there that's...

Da da do do Ba Ba om.

That's it, you got it.

And then the answers
will be in that new slower...

Yeah, but then
it's in that... uh!

It's in the new tempo.
Uh! Uh!

♪ Sing that song for me

I have to go to the toilet.

So the Rabbi and the Priest
are seated together

on the plane.

And the flight attendant
is checking to see

if people would like
to drink after takeoff.

She approached the Rabbi first.

"Rabbi, may I get you
a drink after takeoff?"

He said, "I'd like a tall
scotch and soda with a twist."

She said, "fine."

Then she approached
the Priest, Father.

"May I give you a drink
after takeoff?"

He said, "Young lady,
before I would allow alcohol

to pass through these lips,

I would rather commit adultery."

The Rabbi said, "hold my order,
I didn't know we had a choice."

Let me have that bag.

We'll give them
a little thrill.

I walked in the airport
with that.

I take my Academy Award
wherever I go.

And it's home now
on this small pedestal.

The Academy Award sits on it

and I watch it all night.

People are watching
television,

I'm watching my Academy Award.

Why not?

See, I have an infinite
love of my industry.

Film is part of my blood.

Dean's and my first film,

I had to just ask questions.

I didn't stop,

they couldn't find me
on the lot.

I was either in miniatures,

camera department,

wardrobe,

editing,

the scoring stage,

I was like horse shit,
I was everywhere.

Oh, you're scared also?

And I was getting
an education.

There's nothing about
our industry

that I didn't make up my mind

I was gonna learn.

And I didn't know
at the time

why I needed to learn it.

Never realizing that I was
gonna turn it into pay dirt.

I turned down Metro, 20th,

Universal, Sam Goldwyn,

and went with Paramount.

Well I don't care really
about the hours or money.

Good! You're hired.

When you're that guy,

and you have that
kind of career,

everybody wants
to work with you.

It'll be lots of extras!

Yeah.

When they're sending
you all the scripts

and you got all the directors
wanna work with you,

and all the studios wanna
throw money at you.

All the beautiful dames
you'll be with!

Shop cars!

Lewis is that
perfect intersection

in some great movie career

where you've got the goods

and audiences love what you do

and you know,
you just strike gold.

We pay all expenses.

Oh!

Every time I created a film,

I generated revenue

that they couldn't
really believe was there.

They had hoped for it,

and it was there every time.

I stayed with Paramount
for 800 million dollars

in ticket rentals.

That's when the movies
were 25 cents a piece.

People who are
not historians

don't realize how powerful
he was at such a young age.

He was directing, starring,

and writing his own movies

and he was the biggest star
in the world

for... for years.

He brought families together,

the four year old
would laugh,

the 40 year old
would laugh,

the grandfather would laugh.

It's hard to do that.

It's hard to do that.

He did that.

Adolph Zukor used
to call from New York

to the west coast office
at Paramount

and say, "I'm just calling
to tell you to keep him warm!"

Keep him warm!

Someone asked Barney Balaban

how he gets along
with Jerry Lewis.

He said, "Great, if he wants
to burn down the studio

I'll give him the match."

I used to get up
in the morning and say,

"Dad gave me the studio.

You know, I drive in
and start playing around."

He didn't abuse the right
to have the keys to the studio.

He made real,
cutting-edge comedies.

Jerry was, truly,
an artist.

Let me introduce myself,
I'm DOA Bird,

Producer of Fine Films.

That's right.

And if I may,
I would like very much

for some of you folk out there

to meet some of the people
that are to blame...

I'm sorry, I mean
that are responsible

for this film.

Someone gave me a hat
with four beaks.

This one was the director,...

Shhh, schwein,

can't you see I'm creating?

Oh... It's you, Mr. Bird.

It's a pleasure
to have you on the set.

Oh, I broke both my...

...producer,...

Oh, they're all... strange.

...writer,...

H-Hello, Mr. Bird.

Hi.

I love you, great producer.

...actor.

They wanted to talk to me,

they'd switch the hat around.

Here is our star.

The man who will
deliver us from TV.

And once again
having the theaters

bursting with laughter.

Jerry Lewis.

It always
really is exciting

when a performer
feels compelled

to move into filmmaking

and go even further
with their art.

My impression of your
every day, run of the mill,

basic, ordinary, simple drunk.

Same drunk in an earthquake.

What a stupid way
to make a fortune.

Paramount Studios announces

an unprecedented ten million
dollar pact with Jerry Lewis.

Such excitement over
a piece of paper

has not been experienced
by the world

since the League
of Nations covenant

was rejected by the congress

of the United States
of America.

My dad did make
a deal with Paramount,

he signed a ten million dollar
deal with Paramount in '59

and at that time,
they made a deal where

after 30 years,

all of the rights
would revert back to him,

because they wanted
him so badly.

Here came this big noise.

What was that?

He had a different magnetism,

and a different energy

than anyone on screen
had at that time.

Taylor!

"Cinderfella"
was made for family

and I built the entire
marketing campaign on that

because the film
that I was doing

was so special.

I went to Rockwell and asked
him if he would do it.

I wanted the best.

I have the only Rockwell
ever commissioned

to be the advertisement
of a motion picture.

Hey mister!

You got that all wrong!

How?

You forgot the most
important letter!

The "F".

Whoa!

His comedies, you know,

he was very specific about
when they came out.

You know, a summer picture,

and then a Christmas picture.

And I wouldn't let the studio
release the picture

until it was holiday time.

Just leave "Cinderfella" alone!

I want it as
a Christmas release.

But chief.

But nothing.

You sell them
and I'll make 'em.

Now with a Christmas campaign

I'm gonna make
a real kid's picture

with big names.

Okay chief.

When you talk to New York,

you tell them I said,

"I'll do anything they say."

And Paramount
was at a point

where if they didn't have a
Jerry Lewis movie in the summer

they're blowing
a lot of money.

So I said to Barney Balaban

I'll give you
a Jerry Lewis movie.

I go to Florida and I wrote

165 page screenplay
in nine days

and I was shooting
on the 14th day.

Jerry, can we play you
that "Bellboy" theme?

I'm waiting to hear it.

A one, two, three, four.

Jerry wrote the theme
for "The Bellboy"

It's the Star Spangled Banner

with the funny note at the top.

That's what...

That's...

When I left New York

to open at the Fontainebleau.

I had a short amount of time.

I had a clock by my typewriter

that was noisy.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

And every tick I heard

was getting me closer to,
"Jesus Christ, you big mouth!

How did you get
yourself into this?"

And I'm reviewing
what I'm writing,

it'll be okay.

I'll write some more.

I finished the script before
I finished my engagement.

I was only there
for two weeks.

The motion picture
you're about to see

isn't the run
of the mill film fare

that has been presented to
the movie going public of late.

There is no story,

and no plot.

It is the visual diary
of a few weeks

in the life of a real nut.

I went to Billy Wilder
and I said,

"Read this."

And he read "The Bellboy"

and he came back to me
and he said,

"God damn wonderful!
It's wonderful!

I can't wait to see it
on the screen!

It's terrific!"

I said, "Well I want
you to direct it."

He said, "Are you crazy?

I wouldn't direct you,
you nuts?

You do it, it's your baby,
you wrote it, direct it.

You'll get what
you want that way."

I said, "Okay."

I hadn't thought about that.

But then I closed
at the Fontainebleau

and I got it done
in 48 days.

I go and I open
at the Sands in Vegas.

Another commitment
that I had to honor.

So I was cutting
the picture

down in the musicians room,
in the basement.

The Sands.

And delivered
it to Paramount.

Hold it!

Less than 20 weeks.

Who are all these people?

They all work for you chief.

Mmm-hmmm, and who's the guy
with the straw hat?

He's the guy that
tells you who we are.

Oh.

I never had
such a good time.

I was getting stronger
in my convictions

of what I was printing,

I was getting stronger
about my ability.

I never seen
you laugh so hard.

I got Stanley
on theater seating duty.

Alone?

How long has
he been in there?

Hah, I just sent him in.

He'll be in there for two
or three days at least.

Let's go and watch.

Okay.

He's fast.

The night that I finished
the first shoot day,

I called my dad, he said,

"How'd it go?"

And I said, "Dad, I can't
believe I did the things

I didn't know I knew
and it worked."

He said, "Stay there."

That was his answer,
"Stay there."

Okay.

It was an
extraordinary time.

It's like that one time
in your lifetime

that something like
that's gonna work

or that you're gonna
even attempt it.

There you are Stanley,

get everything
out of the trunk.

And Paramount
turned chicken

when they read
the screenplay

and they thought I was
doing a silent movie.

I said, "It's not
a silent movie.

A lot of noise
in this movie,

the kid just doesn't talk."

I said, "You don't have
to go with me.

"Stay out of it...

"and I will
produce the film."

But it'll be my negative.

Great, they were thrilled.

975 thousand dollars later...

I cut negatives.

To date, it's brought
me and my family

almost 300 million dollars...

and they were
not participating.

He wrote "The Bellboy"

and paid for it himself,

and shot this masterpiece

where he doesn't speak until
the last minute of the movie.

How is it we never
heard you talk before?

Because no one ever asked me.

Nobody believed I could
pull it off in the first place.

Now-a-days, if they
hear the word "Bellboy"

they puke right in the hall.

On the rug... blah!

Because there's no telling

what it's gonna
continue to make

for years on end.

When you got a good negative,
it's forever.

Woman goes to
the doctor for an exam.

She comes home.

She's flitting around the house

from room to room

with an energy level
unlike anything

the husband had ever seen.

He finally stops her, he say,

"Honey, would you be
kind enough to tell me

what the hell
you're so happy about?"

She said, "Sweetheart,

you know what the doctor
said to me today?

He said I had the breasts
of an 18 year old."

He said, "Really?

What'd he say about
your 45 year old ass?"

She said,
"Your name never came up."

Oh!

Oh!

Listen to the women!

No!

Jerry refers to himself
in different ways,

he calls himself Jerry
or the kid or the idiot

because he has to know
which Jerry he's playing

in different scenes.

And I had a similar thing
on my show

where I had...
was Jerry and TV Jerry.

Directing yourself in your
own movie that you've written

and you've crafted
a character for yourself

is so hard.

51-two.

If you have a vision
for something,

and he knows who he is,

and sometimes it's hard
for someone else

to get that out of you.

So you trust nobody
but yourself.

Well just don't do
something, sit there.

That is uh...

class dismissed!

It wasn't just,

"Let me do it 'cause I'm tired
of listening to that hack."

"Well if that guy could do it,
I could do it."

He didn't come
from that place.

He wanted his films
to be terrific.

And he wanted to be considered
a serious director

who did comedy.

He's much closer
to Buster Keaton

than a Charlie Chaplin

in so far as actually
taking the film medium

and trying to get laughs
by the way you shot stuff.

By the art form itself.

Not just the pratfalls,

not just filming my comedy

but the comedy is also part of
the filmmaking process itself.

He was a restless filmmaker,

you know,
he was always searching.

I think looking around for
a new way of telling a story.

You know, he was trying
to I think almost

redefine the art
of the narrative.

The Marx Brothers,

when they had the right writer

and the right director,

and all the pieces
were in place,

they made great movies.

90, take four.

Yes?

But Jerry made them himself.

He did it all himself.

So that's a very
different thing.

I have always
been so intrigued

with what we are capable
of doing technically.

Jerry's a genius.

Invented unbelievable
things as a director

that people use to this day.

Every time a director
takes a shot

and then runs over
and looks at it,

it's Jerry.

I had nightmares

thinking how much I've learned

in the picture industry.

And what do I do if
I wanna direct Jerry?

I don't know then.

What do I do,
ask an editor?

Do I ask a camera operator?

Fuse his sense of humor

to the way it must be
to print or dump?

What do I do?

I decided

that if I was
gonna direct Jerry,

the only time
I would ever print

would be if I saw what he did.

In the picture business,
we have wires that usually hold.

But unfortunately this
goddamn thing broke. Cut.

He is the performer.

Jerry's not only writing,
producing, directing,

God knows,
painting the sets,

whatever the hell he's doing.

You understand why
he created video assist,

because he's the performer.

What about if you had
a video camera

alongside your BNC?

You keep your monitor
where you can see it

'cause there
wasn't tape then.

Video playback changed
all of filmmaking.

This guy said,
"Hey wait a minute,

let me see right on the set
what we just shot."

I don't know one person
that doesn't go back

and look at the monitor

and go, "Can I get another one?

Can we do one more?"

I go to Tokyo

and I sat with Mr. Morita

the chairman of the board
of the Sony corporation.

With these research people

and they're all
drawing me sketches.

Ship everything back
from Tokyo with me.

And I called the crew
and we set up everything.

It was magic.

The video assist
was invented by Jerry

because nobody had any idea
what they were getting

until the operator
bluffed it.

Or until the operator
critiqued it.

So it became a great tool
for my wardrobe,

makeup, grips,
electricians,

the camera operator
loved seeing

what he had just
finished setting up.

The camera operator
was in collaboration

for the first time
with the filmmaker,

with the director himself.

And now the operator
and the director

could figure out how
to tweak the shot,

make it better.

That's genius.

But it also, I'm sure,
helped his comedy.

Ah!

'Cause he could
see it right there.

I directed Jerry Lewis
in "Mr. Saturday Night."

He came on the set,

he saw the video assist,

he told me,
"I invented that."

I said, "But you didn't
have playback.

You just could watch."

And he went,
"Details, details."

And then a year later,

I get videotape.

There should be a sign,
you know,

saying, "Jerry Lewis
invented this."

I learned from Joe Mankiewicz

you will be a great director

the day you understand

you have to create
an atmosphere of fun.

You will get people skipping
to work in the morning.

♪ I love you,
I love you ♪

♪ Don't you pretend I'm gay ♪

One picture of the family,
hold on.

Every set that I did anything
on was open to the public.

Signs on the huge doors was,

"This is NOT a closed set,
please come in!"

The fact that is says open

shows how fearless,
how gracious.

This is what I do,
come and look at it,

I'm proud of it.

I'm going to work.

All right,
places please.

Let's hear it
for the movie star!

Hey stupid!

My name is on the screen.

I get the credit for all.

But everyone on my crew
was a teacher

in one way or another.

I worked very hard
to let them always remember

that I couldn't do any of
the stuff I did without them.

He was a guest
on my show.

He knew everybody's name
on our crew.

Once he was introduced
to everybody,

he never forgot it.

Hello, Morty.

Hello, Mr. Hobinofin...

May I help you, a lot of people
have difficulty with that.

It's Wa...

Wa...

- ...ben...
- ...ben...

- ...lot...
- ...lot...

- ...knee.
- ...knee.

Wabenlotknee.

Bobinaten.

I did a series
of commercials

for Coca-Cola
with Jerry Lewis

in the early 90s.

He shows up eight
in the morning,

and he was introduced to every
single individual there.

Had to be 70 people.

And then we shot.

The end of the day,

he wanted
everyone's attention.

And everyone looks
and he says,

"Listen I'd like to say...

goodnight Bob,
goodnight Larry,

goodnight Gloria,
goodnight Shirley, goodnight..."

Every single person's name.

He knew their names.

And so it went out
in this blaze of glory

and everybody
was like, "WOW!"

I got two sets
of bleachers on my set

where visitors could
sit and watch.

My crew loved it.

They were as big
a ham as I am.

They had fun watching
me as the director.

Then they had fun
watching me as the comic.

Cut!

Then seeing me
run into myself.

Cut!

It's a challenge when
you're feeling all of this power

that you have to have,

and delegate to
the right people,

to keep yourself calm

to give a performance.

Comradery had to be
important for him

just to be able
to feel like

he could just let go

and do some of that wild
insanity that he would do,

he would come up
with just the most...

Ah!

You have to feel safe

to be able to do that.

Son of a bitch.

Will you leave me alone?

It just seemed like the most
fun you could have.

In the 60s, at Paramount,

doing his thing.

310, two.

Then one day I read
in the paper

that a motion picture
advertiser needed help.

Do you have to go
to the toilet?

No.

No.

I'm just fine.

All right, cut.

I have to tell you this because

I can't keep it
to myself any longer.

I was in New York
three weeks ago,

couldn't get a cab,
it was raining,

so I go downstairs
to the subway

and I get on the train.

I'm sitting there
and it makes one stop

and this guy gets on

wearing leather pants,

leather jacket,

leather shirt,

leather tie, leather boots.

And he had rings on his ears,

on his nose, on his lip.

And he had his hair swiped up.

Yellow, red, green, purple.

And he sits down
right opposite me.

And I'm staring at him.

He said,
"What's the matter old man,

didn't you ever see anything
strange before?"

I said,
"Yeah about 20 years ago

I had sex with a parrot,

I thought you were my son."

This is just another thing
of his amazing eye.

Get in the door!

When he gets called
into the Dean's office,

as Professor Kelp
after the explosion,

and he sits down
in that chair,

and sinks into it.

To have the eye to know

this will look funny.

He's not doing anything,

he's just sinking in a chair.

It's brilliant.

It's so funny, so simple.

When I first started
watching it,

I just know this
guy's making me laugh

every time I see him,

and now having done
a few things myself,

I understand a lot more.

And I appreciate
the incredible

richness of his
skills even more.

Look at the headline
of the column.

Are you in focus?

Good.

'Cause I like this kind
of stuff to be in focus.

The thrill of getting an idea

and then sketching it

and then sitting
behind the camera

and you're looking
and you're seeing

it's exact.

Let's shoot it.

It's a rush.

Wanna do it some more.

I wanted to see the kid
in a boarding house.

Well when you start
with an idea like this

it just blooms.

So I built this set

and it cost me almost a half
a million to build it.

We're talking about 1960.

All my sound, everything
was in the ceilings.

We're trying to get
a microphone.

One, two, three, four, five.

I had three mixers
on the set

to cover the 42 rooms.

Those humungous sets
on "Ladies Man".

The set's rivaling
"The Diary of Anne Frank" set

and the "Rear Window"
Hitchcock set.

You know, where
it was all there.

It was all there
for a filmmaker

to make choices.

Just pull back, you had
it all right before your lens.

They asked me if I would
want to teach a class

at USC.

And I thought that
sounded terrific.

And I went for it.

And I had eight
magnificent years

teaching post-grad students.

He believed in young people

and he believed in a whole
new generation of filmmakers

coming up.

He had a class
for young filmmakers.

And I had made
"Amblin", my short film

and he invited me to show
the film to the class

and to speak
about my process.

In my case,
being a fan of Jerry's,

almost feeling
like pinching myself,

I can't believe
I'm in the same room

and Jerry Lewis is actually
having a conversation with me.

Spielberg was
in that class.

Bogdanovich.

Bogdanovich
was in the class.

Randy Kleiser.

He was warm,
he was embracing,

he was funny,
he was serious.

When he taught at USC,

and we were in his class,

he recorded those classes

which ultimately
became the book

The Total Filmmaker.

Marty Scorsese never went
on the set without the book.

I would argue with him
about something,

he's say, "Hold it a second."

He'd lean over and he'd
turn pages in my book.

And he loved those kids.

I mentor now to this day.

Jerry Lewis taught me
the importance of mentoring.

The main reason
I'm a performer

is because of Jerry.

He speaks to the common man.

All I wanted to do was
apologize to you, see.

Will you get out of here,

- if you don't...
- All right, well wait...

Wait, my foot.

My foot is stuck.

Get out of here!

You love him,
you root for him,

the "Oh no, not getting
into more trouble! No!"

Here let me cover you up.

I dug the 60s comic books
when I was a kid,

I thought they were great.

His comic books rock!

His comics were made
better than Bob Hope.

Now I just gotta say that,

I know it's controversial.

But Jerry did the better
comic than Bob Hope.

Oh geeze, he just spit
on the American flag!

Why I even remember
one of Truffaut's quotes

Jerry Lewis is almost like a
whole year's worth of cartoons

in one performance.

Jerry's comedy existed

in a world where
cartoons already existed.

Jerry Lewis is kinda
like a cartoon figure.

He was a kid,

I mean I loved
the cartoon gags.

Whoa!

There's real Tex Avery
stuff going on.

My god, that's just what
I did all the time as a kid,

you know, making faces...

There was nobody better
at it than him.

Jerry went back
to the silent era

and he brought visual
sight gags back

to American movie theaters.

They weren't doing that
for a long time.

Long before
the Zuckers did "Airplane",

which I think owes a lot
to Jerry Lewis movies,

and before those
great visual comedies,

you know like all
the Leslie Nielsen,

you know, comedies.

You have to look at Jerry,

he's kind of the father
of that style of gags.

Oh!

I've always thought
that there was

a connection between Jerry Lewis
and Bugs Bunny a little bit,

but one of the biggest
connections

is when Bugs Bunny would
get dressed up as a woman,

that's pretty much like
when Jerry Lewis

got dressed up
as Carmen Miranda.

And one of the weird
things about it,

is they actually
go for sex appeal.

He looks like a girl!

Looney Tunes would constantly
break the fourth wall.

And talk to somebody
in the theater,

"Hey you in the third row,
shut up!"

Here boy.

Over here, let's not fool
with a child star.

At the end of "Patsy"
when he falls...

Whoa!
Stanley!

It's a perfect example
of a Looney Tunes

break the fourth wall,

this is what we're watching,

and why are you watching it?

Stanley!

Aren't you over reacting
a little bit Miss Bowlin?

Balin, it's a movie,
see I'm fine.

The people in the theater
know I ain't gonna die.

Here it's a movie stage.

Here look at this, see?

There's wires and lights

and I'm gonna make more movies

so I couldn't die.

It's like a make believe...

it's a dumb city.

That's still kind of
a bizarre joke today.

It's... it's out there.

You are a complete nut.

Which reminds me,

I'm having nuts
and whipped cream for lunch.

Would you join me please?

Crew, that's lunch,
one hour for the actors,

and seven days
for the technicians.

It's a movie set breaking,
once and for all.

There's a lot of resilience
in a director,

he can take a lot of crap.

You better cut it Lenny.

But what he has to exude
for the actors

is solid confidence

that he knows the way
you're gonna cut it.

And the director
is gonna tell you.

When you make a set up,

know where it's coming
from to there,

and where that's
going to there.

The captain
of the National Airlines Jet

just few in from New York

and he left his briefcase
in the cockpit of the plane,

now get down there and get it.

In "The Bellboy",

when I had him drive
to the airport,

go into the airport,

walk up the steps,

he's looking for
the captain's briefcase.

Didn't have to say anything,

didn't have to do anything,

music wasn't even important.

Oh Stanley,
yes he works for me.

He what?

The fact that
it was on the cut,

"He what?",
bam!

He's up there 7,000 feet.

I re-cut it 13 times.

Always coming back
to the original thought.

Chi chew.

Chi chew.

Chi chew.

You take a beat between chi...

can't do that.

Will you say something
into the microphone for me?

Now?

Okay.

How's it going?

Geronimo!

The creative mind needs
sound and picture.

I have to have the sound

as vitally important
as the picture.

He comes in, you see
that he's just blato,

it's the hangover
of the century.

I used the slam
of a safe door.

And I went to the
Bank of America to shoot it.

We recorded the "Booooom",

and I had the mic
on the inner door

so you really heard
what nobody ever heard.

No one's ever been in there
when they did that.

Chalk on the board.

It bothered me watching it.

A sneeze.

I used a grizzly bear's
growl for that.

I had about 26 sounds.

Book.

Nobody realizes
how loud a book can be,

now you enlarge that sound.

No, it's better
with a hardcover.

Better with a hardcover.

Someone giving birth back there?

Name him after me!

These are the uh, glasses
that we are seriously

contemplating on using

for some of the sequences.

Let me try the other ones now.

Oh god, that pinches!

Profile smile to see
that the teeth are correct.

Uh, this is the makeup
with a little more red.

I do get to stretch more
when I put stuff on,

because you have whatever
your baggage is,

when you show up in your...

little stuff that
people expect of you,

when you're somebody else

they don't know what to expect.

You get to do a lot
of different things.

And Jerry did that, you know,

before anybody as well.

Hello Los Angeles tower,

this is Eddie's Airways,

the airline for the birds.

Little pun.

I think of him
put in a situation

the way you put Peter Sellers
into a situation

and he turns and he's got
this stuff on his nose.

Don't tell me that
hadn't occurred to Jerry

50 years earlier.

Battle Stations!

Peter Sellers gets credited
with doing stuff like that.

Jerry's doing it
before everybody's

doing alternate
character stuff.

There was a guy, me, Fletch,

using multiple funny
costumes that I wore.

If it in any way,
rang of Jerry Lewis,

I'm proud of it.

Your name, sir?

Uh, Bugs Payton.

What is it again?

I said Bugs Payton.

My name's Bugs Payton.

Mugs Payton?

Hey, schmuck, Bugs, not Mugs,

can't you understand?

What's this, a television?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

What business are you in?

I'm a priest.

You're a priest?

Yeah, three months
at the Mormon tabernacle

temple in Idaho.

You look Jewish to me...

Doesn't everybody?

I really think Jerry should

get a Kennedy Center honor.

Jack came out of the service

when Dean and I were playing

the Shea Pari in Chicago.

And we lived at
the Ambassador East.

I had a suite
on the north side,

and Jack's suite
was on the south side.

And he would come into me
every once in a while

and they asked me what
I thought of this paragraph,

and he reads it,

and about the third time
he came in with something

I said, "Are you doing a speech?

Are you appearing somewhere?"

He said, "No this
is something else.

I'm calling it
Profiles In Courage."

I said, "Really?"

The book that became my bible.

I'd give my soul
if I could have dinner

with Jack Kennedy again.

He never ever
spent time with me,

that I didn't hear something

I never wanted to forget.

One day we were
in Hyannis Port

and we're on the golf course

and the one thing that
Jack Kennedy told me for sure:

don't get into
anything political.

You're gonna lose
half your audience!

Whenever I came
to see Jack Kennedy,

he made sure I came up through
the bowels of the White House,

up through the staircase,

and into the Oval Office

so that the press didn't
ever know I was with him.

I had 19 visits
and no one ever knew it.

When I did his
last birthday appearance,

it was the night
of his birthday at the Armory

and I was teasing Jack.

Can you put the light on
so I can see if he's here?

Mr. President, would you
just wave so I know...

that you're here,

because if you got me here all
the way for nothing...

is that you?

Mr. President,
it's me, Jerry!

Remember the nut?

I voted for ya.

I'll never forget it
as long as I live.

There is no real
low brow in comedy.

It's even harder to do that

than some other forms of comedy

where you have
dialogue and character.

Just get in a car
and make me laugh.

That is not easy.

Phillip!

Yes step-mother!

Where's my car?

To drive a Rolls Royce

and to make the car funny.

To drive funny.

No one else
has ever done this.

This is brilliant.

This is sophisticated.

You gotta be a genius
to figure out

how to make a car drive funny.

So that you watch the car
and you laugh at the car.

Enjoy your ride step-mother,

I fixed the car perfectly,

mechanically, beautifully.

This is not low brow.

I mean this is
the highest brow.

Jerry Lewis, Noel Coward,

you know, right there.

My name is Betina Baylee,

What is it?

Betina.

Betina?

Betina.
That's so nice.

Um, I want to let you know,

my lifelong dream,
if you wouldn't mind,

to hug you please?

Here?

Now?

Or if you got
a room back there,

you know, either way.

It's so nice of you.

I'll tell you what.

After the show,
if you come backstage,

I will let security
know to let you in,

I will give you a hug,

but I cannot promise you
it will end there.

On Myspace they asked,

"Who would you most
like to meet?"

Well my number one was God,

but my number two was you.

So maybe we can make it
a threesome with Betina,

and let me come back
and get a hug?

I'm gonna be busy, ain't I?

Is the drugstore open?

You don't need it,
I've gone through menopause.

Oh Jesus!

One, two, three, four.

I do, when I dance is fake.

I am one of the faking fools.

The dancing became part
of the writing process.

What I love about Jerry is,

He's never had a dance
lesson in his life,

he told me he fakes it.

Well goodness me,
he fakes better than I dance.

I know nothing about dancing

other than time, rhythm.

I stood in the wings
watching my dad

at the ripe age of five,
six, seven, eight.

I mean I watched some of
the best dancers in the world.

He was trying to experiment
with comedy in a weird way

that Gene Kelly
was trying to experiment

with what you could do
with dance in movies.

I gave the crew the setup,

I had tracks,

music was ready,

and I had to be ready.

When I was ready I went.

That was my own choreography.

I did that in take one.

Two setups,
I did the whole dance.

The front office is in shock

because I shot that whole
sequence in four hours.

I went up the stairs
in eight seconds.

I think I'll have
to get along.

I'll never forget you!

66 steps in eight seconds.

But at the top of the steps,

I had a heart failure.

I was in Mount Sinai Hospital

30 minutes later.

Insurance company
didn't wanna pay us.

They didn't believe
I made it in eight seconds

and they kept looking
at the film.

I said the film don't lie.

66 steps in eight seconds.

Oh I'm in the oxygen tent.

My father opens the flap,
looks in and says,

"Do you know what you're
doing to your mother?"

What...

I'm laying here hoping
I'm going to survive

and he's asking me if I know
what I'm doing to my mother.

It was perfect Jewish question.

Oh my child.

He's a brilliant
musician of comedy.

Comedy is math and music.

It's very precise
and mathematical,

but it has to have a musical,
kind of flow to it.

Maybe it could be
just a touch faster.

Same thing, thanks.

If you waved
your arms faster,

it would have been faster.

They played exactly
what you were doing.

I've watched JL rehearse
a 36 piece orchestra

and know every instrument.

I mean this is a musical
genius in the true sense.

Train wreck!

Rick, where did that happen?

We've got it covered.

When you get music
in your soul,

and you are then becoming
a creative artist,

I could never just
put music over there.

It was always imbued
in my being.

If you look
at a scene I did,

in "The Patsy",
I do the kid

that has tickets
for the premiere

but he's not dressed for it.

I chewed that scene
for four days

till I got it exactly
the way I wanted it,

and then when I scored it,

I still didn't
get it perfect.

And then I took one
of the pieces of music

that we had recorded,

and I Mickey Moused
it to go

And it was one spot
where it needed it.

And it made it happen.

Really, really good.

I was very proud
of the work.

You know, you put
a comic on the screen

for the audience
for eight minutes,

that's almost a reel.

Without the music
it would have been

a whole long eight minutes.

Music moved it.

It gave it that thing that...

and audience sitting
in a theater

needs to be told.

Pull the tracks
out of there,

and look at it,

and it almost
works without it.

But it'll never work
with wrong music.

When you talk of comedy
as an art form,

it demands what
music gives it.

Trombone will play D-flat,

you play E,

and you play E-sharp.

Okay?

Listen to this folks.

That is the shit.

There's always one
that don't belong there,

but if it was outta there
it'd be perfect.

Thanks Jerry.

Okay.

Bye ladies and gentlemen.

Do we have a gentleman?
No.

Good, screw them!

Call.

When you have a guy
in the band,

who's better than everybody else

at his instrument,

you gotta hear a solo.

And the same with Jerry,
you know,

you wanna see Jerry
in a funny movie,

and then you wanna see him
just do a solo.

'Cause he's that good.

I did take one, print it.

See what happened
September the 4th, 1976

that created the most talk

in the world of television.

I have a...
I have a friend who

loves what you do every year.

This is quite a story
that almost nobody knows.

It was 1976,

and the phone rang,
it was Frank Sinatra.

He said, "if I was
to bring Dean on the show,

how do you think he'd react?"

and I said, "I think
he'd react marvelously."

And they hadn't
really reconciled yet.

And he says,
"I've arranged it.

He wants to do the show."

We didn't tell anybody,

because we knew
if it leaked out,

I would be a dead man.

He said he'd come up in a limo

with seven or eight people,

and Dean would be one of them

with a raincoat
and a hat and glasses.

I said, "When Frank comes out,

make sure all the stations
down the line

record his appearance.

Get all the PR people
you can in the audience,

it's gonna be a big story."

He said, "Well, what is it?"

I said, "I can't tell you,
but just trust me."

Will you send him out here.

We would meet for
the first time in 20 years

only because of the stupidity
of when people get

highly emotional.

And we both felt
badly about that.

And I'm looking and I went...

"Oh my gosh,
that's dad walking out!"

'Cause I could tell his walk.

And then when I saw his face,

and I saw Jerry's face,

and they hugged.

That scream that came out
of that audience of 750 people,

I mean it sounded like
750 thousand people.

It was just amazing.

People love to know
that love prevails.

So how you been?

And they went
their separate ways,

and they didn't
see one another,

then they got back

and when they kissed
and hugged that last moment,

it was worth the all lof that.

We haven't seen each other
for 20 years.

Well you know there
was all those rumors

about our breaking up,

and then when I started
the show and you weren't here,

I believed it.

Everybody was just
dumbfounded.

There wasn't a dry eye
in the house.

Uh, so you working?

I love your movies,

you're like the only thing
my parents and I can agree on,

what did you think
of the Eddie Murphy movie,

"The Nutty Professor" movie?

I produced it,

what do you think
I thought of it?

After you cashed the check,

what did you think of it?

It was my financial pleasure.

I guarantee you.

As a filmmaker
I've been inspired by Jerry,

and I did... I do...
one of my...

one of my favorite movies
of all time

growing up was
"Nutty Professor".

When I got the chance
to do that again,

that was like, you know,
we have to...

this has to be incredible

because my love for
this man as an artist,

it was like, there's
no way we'd do this movie

and not, you know, crush it.

He was able to look
at "Jekyll and Hyde"

and see that, hey that's funny

that you could be
this double life

and all that old stuff.

That's what's really brilliant
about "Nutty Professor".

I thought Eddie
was extraordinary.

I thought his character
as Sherman Clump

was an absolutely
extraordinary character.

Sweet.

That's another thing
that's pioneered by Jerry.

Mixing sweet and funny.

You don't see that
till Jerry Lewis.

You see funny,
and you see madcap

and you see slapstick,

but the characters are really
sweet and funny,

that's Jerry.

You can't do comedy
unless you know drama.

I mean comedy is...

is a satire of reality.

And you can't be funny

unless you know what
the reality is.

He mastered that very early.

You may not believe this,

but I was a very homely child.

He was amazing,
amazing to work with.

Really?

My father suggested
plastic surgery.

Oh yeah, when are
you gonna have it?

I had it already.

They did a very unusual job.

A lot of clowns
can do straight stuff,

I loved him in
"King of Comedy".

You go that far out, it's
easier to bring it back in.

I am fortunate
I crossed over.

As strongly as you can
in "King of Comedy".

If you're equipped
to do physical,

wild, craziness,

as I have and do...

I love you... ahhh!

Oh...!

With it comes
an authoritative figure

that comes from down deep

that can now play it as
dramatically as you please.

The pressure, the ratings.

Same guests, same questions.

Just not enjoying it anymore.

I got more critical
acclaim from that film

than I did for any of the work

that I did in my whole life.

Critics acclaiming,
or claiming, "he was..."

and I'm thinking to myself,

"You schmuck.
Do you realize I showed up

and I just read the words
and went home?"

I mean I didn't have
to do anything.

I had to be me.

Maybe the best
performance he gave,

was "King of Comedy".

You know, as a serious actor.

That was harnessing him
in a different way.

That was another side of Jerry.

But it was pretty...
he was great in it.

And he embraced who he was.

And he um, you know it wasn't

the Jerry that we knew,

he was a different guy.

You listen to my stuff
for 15 minutes,

that's all,
is that asking too much?

Yes it is, I have a life, okay?

Well I have a life too.

That's not my responsibility.

Well it is when
you tell me to call you,

and then you don't...

I told you to call
to get rid of you!

In the Scorsese film,

he's more of a leading man

than he ever was in any film.

And he was older.

This is a leading man?

Well actually I was just uh,
mixing these

so that we could trying
using it on the skin.

You wonder what kind
of career would Lewis have had

if he decided he wanted to play

really kind
of straight forward,

good looking, leading men.

Lewis could have done that.

You're very wise.

Now if you'll just
hold it a second,

I'll thrill you some more.

He came up with the character
of Buddy Love.

He wanted to take the worst
qualities of the worst people

he had ever met

and make them into this
very unsympathetic character.

You rude,
discourteous, egomaniac.

You're crazy about me, right?

And I can understand it.

Only this morning, looking
in the mirror before shaving,

I enjoyed seeing
what I saw so much

I couldn't tear myself away.

Have some baby?

He was shocked to find
that a lot of young people

loved Buddy Love.

Thank you kiddies,

you're all very, very nice
little boys and girls.

Jerry is incapable

of not putting love
into everything he does.

Buddy Love, as mean
as he tried to play him...

That's good for ya.

Buddy Love is lovable.

As much as he wanted
him not to be.

If you didn't know
it was Jerry Lewis

and you just met
both of those guys,

you wouldn't know that
it was the same person.

So it's amazing how
he created those two

completely
distinct characters.

I don't want to be
something that I'm not.

I didn't like being
someone else.

He's just a guy who truly
understands the material

and he can just go to
the depth that he needs to go

to make it really, you know,

touching and emotional.

Might as well like yourself.

Just think about all the time

you're gonna have
to spend with you.

He probably could have
made a lot of films

that he didn't make.

He's that talented.

In 1995 when he did
"Damn Yankees"

was just about
the most exciting thing

I can ever remember
my dad doing in his career.

I was there for opening
night on Broadway,

and I was in a number
of cities with him

around the country.

It's such a great
experience for him.

People would say to me,

"You're dad is 70 years old

and he's doing eight shows
a week, my God."

I said, "Are you kidding?

He would pay to get eight
standing ovations a week."

With the collaboration
of people on stage,

it becomes a family.

And that's his
ideal situation.

That's perpetual motion for him.

It'll keep him going with fuel
forever and ever and ever.

I saw him in "Damn Yankees".

The devil has a big song called

"Those Were the Good Old Days."

But when Jerry does it,

it becomes 25 minutes long.

Suddenly he's doing
his cane thing,

has nothing to do with
"Damn Yankees".

Throw me a cane...

A cane for the...

And the cane's a flying,

and suddenly it's burlesque

and you might as well
be seeing Chaplin,

sit there and enjoy it
for 20 minutes,

the genius of a guy who,
you know,

is one of the few
who can do this.

So I went backstage
and I just looked at him

and I went, "the canes"

and he just, he said, "I know.

"I know, what can you do?

You have to... I got to."

Paris Match one.

Paris Match two.

Paris Match three,
Paris Match four.

Time Magazine ran the most
popular people in the world

by appearance and one
was the President,

two was Muhammad Ali

Nice to meet you.

Where do you want me,
let's go.

Three was Mao Tse-tung

and four was the Pope
and Jerry Lewis who tied.

The year after that,
I made four by myself.

It was very nice.

This wouldn't get
printed right here.

You gotta go here.

Yeah, that's perfect.

You should act like volka...

You like that?

Here, grab that,
how's that?

Whoa.

Are you finished?

I'm through.

Can I have
a little bit more?

We're lost
in translation though.

"The Nutty Professor" inspired

everything I did afterwards

as far as my career.

"The Nutty Professor"
is his baby.

Jerry is actually going to
be directing it on Broadway.

He said, "I want you
to play that character."

Marvin Hamlisch
and Rupert Holmes

have written
12 numbers already.

I might be the Jewish
George Abbott.

He directed his last show
when he was 99.

It's very interesting

because of all of the work

and all of the silliness

that made children laugh,

they come to me now and say,

"I've grown up with you."

What they're saying is,

"I'm not coming to you as
the adult to proclaim this,

I come to you as the child

that recognizes
the child that did it."

There's something that
came through about him

that made America
and the world

fall in love with him.

And it's just that
he has this incredible

childlike brilliance.

I let you talk me into
this ridiculous chair

because I felt sorry for ya.

Look, I don't need this.

You missed.

You missed.

You missed.

People want to make
contact with someone

that advance their
childhood through humor

and it's a very special thing.

It gives me the kind of energy

to come forward and do more.

Generation after generation

rediscovering,
rediscovering him.

When they see him,
they become the ten year old

that they were
the first time they saw him.

Most of my audience
was six and eight and 11.

When I exploded on the scene.

And now they got children
who have children

who wanna see Jerry.

As far as like his fan base,

that required the children
to be renewed

and get involved
in Jerry Lewis movies

and that happened for
a long, long, long time.

Worldwide children,

in no matter what
language they spoke,

they got him.

You know, you try
to find a comedian

who can you know,
score in Iceland,

and then do a nightclub
date in Brooklyn,

not happening man.

Oh...

They don't even have
to know what he's saying.

It's in his face,

it's in his body,

it's in everything that he...

he's just funny.

What's cool to me is,

I was getting ready
to go to bed

and my daughter says,

"Do you wanna watch
a movie daddy?"

I guess I could
watch something.

What do you wanna watch?

She said, "Can we watch
a Jerry movie?"

Hey!

"Can we watch Jerry Lewis?"

I was like, "You bet we can."

There's not one film
that Jerry Lewis has

a grandkid, can I watch?

You can watch all of his stuff.

Just like you watched it then.

And it's funny just
like it was back then.

It's timeless,

and it's accessible,

family entertainment forever.

Forever and ever.

If you look at those
Homosapien things,

it's a monkey, then
it's a guy walking this way,

if it was comedy,
it would be circus clowns,

then would be the um,
the court jesters,

and then it starts to...

there's this guy walking down,

there's Charlie Chaplin,

then it's Harold Lloyd

then there's Keaton,

then there's Jerry
and he's walking on his ankles.

He's just one of the
great comedy directors

you know of,
not only of his era,

but of all time.

You can see his influence

on a couple of different
generations of people.

And not just as a comic,

as a filmmaker.

You see his impact
all over the place.

Somebody that's made comedy
for the last 30 years or so,

they have a debt to Lewis

and what he did.

Are you the father
of Jim Carrey?

I banged his mother
many years ago.

And he's got this legacy,

his films,
his television shows,

what's incredible
about Jerry Lewis,

is how long he's been
in the public eye.

The only true test is time.

And you know,
people are still watching

Jerry's pictures.

Thank you!

Who's done that,
an 80 year run?

Has anyone done that?

That has to be some
kind of record.

We all know who Jerry Lewis
is in some way.

We know that
he's a serious man.

He's accomplished
a great deal.

I'm not saying he's
the greatest human,

I'm not comparing him to FDR,

Eleanor, maybe.

He really is the Marlon Brando
of comedy films.

He's the Marlon Brando.

Where everyone apes Brando,

everybody apes Jerry.

Light!
Ladies!

Herman.
Hey lady!

Herman.
Hey lady!

Hey!

Classic, classic.

It's hard to be silly

in a way that
makes people laugh.

Being silly is like
being an astrophysicist.

You have to be
incredibly sophisticated

to be silly.

Some people look at Jerry Lewis

and don't understand
that what he's doing

is extremely sophisticated

at its silliest.

There he is.

You think I should
do the whole body?

He's from another planet.

It's very hard
for anyone I think

to totally understand
Jerry Lewis

in the entirety
of who he is as a man,

who he is as an artist,

who he is as an industry,

as a philanthropist,

I mean he's like a mountain.

Some people get caught
in the foothills of him,

but you have to really
scale the peaks

to truly appreciate
the phenomenon of Jerry Lewis.

Whoa!

I'm infinitely grateful

and I plan to live
another 16 years

so I beat Burns.

I gotta beat Burns.

I just put my daughter
in college

so I have to wait four years
for that to work

then I'm gonna have her meet
a very nice young man

and then she's gonna
get married,

I'm gonna walk down
the isle with her,

and then I'm gonna be in
the hospital to see the baby.

So that's my plan
for the next 16 years,

and I hope you'll all join me.

Thank you so much.

I think Jerry Lewis' legacy

will simply be
the familiarity,

the household's familiarity

of the name Jerry Lewis.

I think that says it all

and will always say it all.

Jerry Lewis.

Audiences will look at me

and I'll say I'm blessed

in what I have been able
to do with my life

has been extraordinary.

But until I leave here tonight,

I haven't done it all.

I know what my dad taught me.

Go out to do one thing.

Sweat.

Should we start
the intro?

Yep.

Get them to laugh,
that's your job.

Sweat.

See ya kids.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Jerry Lewis!