The Nutty Professor

1963 comedy

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A socially-awkward science professor concocts a concoction that transforms him into a swingin' and more-than-obnoxious Buddy Love, a character he uses to attract the attention of one of his students.

Because if blowing up your classroom doesn't get in you fired (I've definitely heard "People just don't like teachers blowing up their kids" before), banging one of your students probably won't either. With this sort of barely-more-risque-than-Disney comedy, you've got to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the gags and performances. Lewis, who also directed, reminds me a little of Jim Carey in this, but I don't mean that as a bad thing. There's also some nods to silent comedy gags--a door gag, a sinking chair gag, an elongated arm gag--and there's some interesting pacing at times. Lewis definitely isn't afraid of a little dead air, and that really gives the humor some space to breathe. I really like the look of this movie, too. There are all kinds of great colors with the Edith Head wardrobe, the dancing chemicals in the titular professor's lab, the purples and pinks of that night club. I also like the transformation scenes, borrowing from past werewolves perhaps, where there's more great uses of color and terrific music. And a revolving camera during a dance scene in the club where Buddy Love and the lovely Stella Purdy dance is really cool. Man, that Stella Stevens. A guy could fall in love with those legs and eyes. Add to all that the cool jazzy score from Walter Scharf and Les Brown and His Band of Renown during the prom scenes and hip renditions of "I'm in the Mood for Love" and "That Old Black Magic," two standards I've always loved from listening to Spike Jones and the City Slickers so much as a teenager. Buddy Love handles the vocals on those, and Lewis is as impressive as an actor playing two drastically different parts as he is with the direction. The transformation's so skilled, especially when the streams cross during "I'm in the Mood for Love." There's also a great hangover scene with some ridiculous sound effects and a great dance sequence at the prom.

Which reminds me--this was supposed to take place at a college, right? Did colleges have proms? If not, how is anybody getting away with Jerry Lewis playing a high school teacher who wants to date a student?

Anyway, this is a hip little comedy that only squares are really going to like. I'm going to be watching a bunch of Jerry Lewis movies in the next few weeks actually because somebody told me that Bob Dylan was into them. If it's good enough for Dylan, it's good enough for me.