All language subtitles for Jerry.Lewis.The.Man.Behind.the.Clown.2016.WEBRip.x264-ION10

- There are three
things that are real.

God, human folly, and laughter.

Since the first two are
beyond our comprehension,

we must do the best
we can with the third.

Here is our star.

- Who?

♪ Ye ye ye ye

♪ Ya ya ya ya

- Jerry Lewis.

- He's cute.

He's fast.

He's nuts.

- He's scared.

- He's dear.

- He's sweet.

- He's what?

- He's sweet!

- But the question
still remains.

Who?

- Who is Jerry Lewis?

- Ay-yi-yi.

- Wow, I,

I wish I could tackle a
less complicated question.

- Is he the poor, neurotic
kid from Newark, New Jersey

who can't face the public?

Is he the accomplished
super star?

Is he this gifted film director?

Who is the real Jerry Lewis?

- Hold it!

Hold it!

♪ Lover when I'm near you

- I was the class clown.

- Ha, ha, ha, ha!

- Ha, ha, ha ha!

Our teachers had gone all crazy.

♪ Lover when I'm near you

- I was a troublemaker.

I'd make people laugh,
I'd do anything.

♪ Softly in my ear

♪ You breathe a flame

- It was fun.

♪ Lover when we're dancing

- Mr. Lewis, you
are a complete nut.

♪ Ye ye ye ye

♪ Yeah yeah yeah yeah

♪ Ye ye ye ye

♪ Yeah yeah yeah yeah

- Well, roll it, go on.

♪ Yeah yeah yeah yeah

♪ Ye ye ye ye

♪ Yeah yeah yeah yeah

- I was five.

That's never changed,
I've always been five.

It's the best age for a kid.

I was born in 1926,
Newark, New Jersey.

- Is Jerry
Lewis your real name?

- It is now!

It wasn't when I was born,
I was born Joseph Levitch.

L, E, V, I, T, C, H.

And I have some other
bits of information

that will choke you up.

I'm sure you're not
about to come back with,

why did you change it?

♪ When chandeliers
start falling ♪

♪ On the heads of
the whole ploy ♪

- My father.

♪ Although you may think
it's an earthquake. ♪

- Good-looking man.

♪ I know that's my boy

- Wonderful
singer, great entertainer.

And funny man, funny.

- His father was a singer
and a comic who was very much

influenced by Al Jolson.

And his mother played piano
and would often accompany

Danny Lewis on his tours.

His parents came
from Eastern Europe,

fleeing the kind of
persecutions, they were Jewish.

And they were both show
business people as well.

So, in some ways, with
Jerry, show business

was in the blood.

One unfortunate
consequence of his parents

being entertainers was that
they were away from home

quite a lot.

So, he grew up kind of like
the only child with a family

but a very lonely child
as well without siblings

or without parental
contact all the time.

- One time, when his
father was performing,

his father motioned
to him to come out.

Come out, Joey, Why don't
you sing for these folks?

Sing, Brother, Can
You Spare a Dime?

Now, Jerry's five years old.

So, he walks out, all
proud and he slips.

Now, his foot hits a
foot lamp, it explodes!

He gets his first laugh.

He knows already
what he wants to be.

Then, you fast forward, and
Jerry's 15 years of age,

devises his own act, he
calls it a record act.

And he would have a record
player playing behind him.

And he would mime to whatever
the record was doing,

whether it be a bit of Caruso,
a female opera singer, etc.

He was hilarious.

♪ Be my love for no one else

♪ Can end this yearning

♪ There's need that
you and you alone ♪

♪ Create

- He was a very anxious
child, but he could overcome

his anxiety by not having
to use his own voice.

So, he could purely focus
on his body and his face,

and the voices were
supplied by others.

♪ Be my love

♪ For no one else can
end this yearning ♪

♪ This need that you
and you alone create ♪

♪ Just fill my arms the way
you've filled my dreams ♪

♪ The dreams that you inspire

♪ With every sweet desire

♪ Be my love

- I went through school
and started as a writer,

and I wrote things
for comedians.

And when they didn't do it
like I wrote it, I did it.

♪ Love

♪ Is almost never ever

♪ The same

- Danny Lewis was almost
resentful to Jerry's career.

Jerry's career progressed more
in one year than Danny's did

in 25, 30 years.

Jerry Lewis was a
household name in 1946.

Now, how would
you feel as a dad?

- Here
he is, Jerry Lewis!

- Thank you very much, good
evening, how are you all?

- His father had an
agent, Irving Kaye,

who encouraged Jerry
to become a performer.

And Danny was so
upset, he fired Irving.

At that point, Jerry hired
Irving, and Irving became

Jerry's manager for the
next several decades.

- I didn't hear you ma'am.

Where's your father?

- My father went up the
river with a sack of cats.

What I would like to say...

I'm only kidding, you like
the way the lady yells out

all of a sudden?

We have a two-act, it's
a road company now.

♪ See it in your smile
I hear it in your sigh ♪

♪ That we have found a
feeling higher than high ♪

♪ My own

- And then, I met him.

♪ My only

- What a
good day that was.

♪ For you're my Mary

- I was at a bar in Las
Vegas, and there was a drunk

at the bar.

He was giving me problems.

And Dean walked over and
punched him in the mouth.

- You alright, kid?

- Yeah.

- You sure?

- He never touched me.

♪ Well the wheels

♪ Were rolling down
the trail one day ♪

♪ With my doggie at my side

♪ Got my six-gun
and my big hat ♪

♪ And

- Jerry was an only child.

Dean was the brother
he never had.

He got to be cheeky. He
got to look up to somebody.

Who's this incredible,
handsome man?

That's the guy I need.

♪ I dare sing a anthem

♪ I don't need it

♪ In writing

- Two and a half
hours, unrehearsed.

That audience went nuts.

That was the birth
of Dean and Jerry.

- The Dean
Martin & Jerry Lewis Show!

The Colgate Comedy Hour!

- Come here!

♪ Everybody knows you love me

- You were mean to me, you
abused me and continued

to slap me and just how long
do you think I can stand it?

- The concept of the Martin &
Lewis performance is basically

a handsome man and his monkey,
or the playboy and the putz.

It was about two guys who
were very, very different,

who come together.

Martin represented sex, Jerry
Lewis represented slapstick.

- And we're gonna
be pals, right?

- I would think so, Dad!

- And Lewis was basically
the architect of the act.

He never wrote any
of the scripts,

but on a kind of sandwich
bag, he'd just scribble

a few notes about, OK, we have
these two guys doing this,

and they do that.

So, you have a basic structure

which he describes
as blueprints.

♪ I'm singing

♪ Singing in the rain

♪ I'm sing in the rain

- I think Jerry saw in
Dean everything he wasn't

and vice versa.

Dean saw in himself everything
he wasn't through Jerry,

and they fulfilled
something in each other.

- You gonna sing the same song!

- Ah!

- Stay right there!

- I don't wanna!

- Yes, you're gonna, you're
going to if I can make it!

♪ I'm singing

Oh, not again!

- Jerry made Dean
cackle and laugh so hard

through his physical comedy,
but then Dean was such a wit.

That made Jerry laugh, and I
think that's what bonds anybody

in any partnership.

- He made my life.

I was hoping to be a success,
and he made sure I was.

We had so much fun, we
had such a good time.

And we'd say to one another,

and they're paying us for that?

We want to thank you!

- We now want to
invite you to swim!

- You've been wonderful!

♪ Brush your teeth
with hello hello ♪

- They were rock and roll.

They were rock and roll
before rock and roll.

They were sexy, they
were the missing link

between Frank Sinatra
and The Beatles.

♪ We need each other
we need each other ♪

♪ We need each other

♪ Brother

♪ Without each other
we would be lost ♪

♪ Well as long as
we're together pal ♪

♪ All things will weather pal

♪ We'll find when
sunshine turns to broad ♪

♪ When the sun on your lips

♪ With your mugger and quips

♪ We'll both get married like

- I want to see
the projectionist!

Turn off the film,
stop the music!

- During the war, men had
actually spent a lot of time

in one another's company.

They'd been away from women,
they relied upon on one another

for emotional sustenance,
for friendship, for safety.

And I think Martin & Lewis
became a way of carrying over

into the post-war period the
male bonding that had been

so intense during the
World War II years.

- Excuse me, little lady.
How about a little drink?

- Please!

♪ Everybody

♪ Needs to care

♪ For somebody

♪ All your dreams
weren't meant to share ♪

♪ With somebody

- Dean and Jerry broke up.

They broke up because other
outside influences got involved

that shouldn't have.

It was none of their business.

In the likes of, oh, Dean,
you don't need that kid,

Oh, Jerry, you're
better off without him.

Dean, you could make more
money without this kid.

After awhile, that
starts to become

your own thought
process, almost.

They did their
last film in 1956.

They didn't even
speak on the set

throughout that
whole production.

I don't think the audience,
even today, ever got over that.

That was the worst divorce
in showbiz history.

- After the split, Jerry
appeared in a series

of formula comedies.

They were formulas
like they had been

in the Martin & Lewis days,
pretty much putting him

in a situation and just
letting him run riot.

- One of the most important
relationships that develops

in this period is the
relationship he has

with film director,
Frank Tashlin.

By the time he's actually
a solo performer,

he wants to know more and
more about how to make movies,

and Tashlin is a great mentor.

He sees Tashlin as a
great metteur en scène,

but also as a great
director of comedy.

And he learns a lot
from Tashlin, and
Tashlin takes the time

to tell Jerry how to do it.

- The day I walked
on a motion picture set,

the first day, I knew I
wanted to learn everything.

And when they wanted
me for a scene,

I was in the wardrobe
department, or the
camera department,

or the make-up department,
the technical department,

the miniature department.

They could never get me on
the set, I was learning.

I was all over the yard.

And I knew that's what I
wanted to do for the rest

of my life.

I was 34 when I
directed my first film.

- The Bellboy!

- On January the 28th,
I began writing a screenplay

which I completed
eight days later.

170-page screenplay.

I sent for a crew of 150
people from Hollywood,

and I was shooting The
Bellboy in under two weeks

in the time that I told
them I'd give them product.

I closed there after
28 days of shooting,

I opened in Las Vegas, cut
the picture in Las Vegas

during the day, and
the picture made

over seven million dollars.

- If you think you're
gettin' a tip, you're crazy.

I'm using my case money
to buy a ticket to see

a bellboy, 'cause
I hear it's funny.

And it's got a series
of silly sequences,

and I like silly sequences.

And Jerry Lewis
is starring in it!

That's right, big J.L. himself!

The tall nut!

Now, get outta here.

You, too!

- I think one of the
reasons why he chooses

to make this particular film
is he wants to demonstrate

where his allegiances lie.

He's honoring his heroes,
Chaplin, Keaton, Stan Laurel,

but also trying to kind of
move away from the kind of

formulaic comedies he
made with Dean Martin.

This is pure comedy.

- Jerry really wanted Stan
Laurel to be in a film with him.

That was his dream.

And Stan agreed to
be in this movie.

And just before they
went into production,

he felt quite ill
and pulled out.

So, if you watch the film
today, there's a Stan Laurel

impersonator in the movie
doing all the scenes

that Stan should have done.

They became very close.

He almost mentored Jerry
in Jerry's earlier career.

♪ One and all in the
hall at the ball ♪

- He used to
say something to me,

when you go out in
front of an audience,

tell them you're gonna
do something, then do it,

then tell them it's been done.

He was the genius
behind Laurel & Hardy.

They had a real love-in,
they loved one another.

They were great friends,
just like Dean and I were.

♪ One and all In the
hall at the ball ♪

♪ That's all

♪ Some ball

♪ Commence to dancing

- I lived with Charlie
in Switzerland for two weeks

at his home.

Incredible!

For two weeks, we were
arguing about what was funny

and what was not funny.

- Chaplin was the one
that was embraced,

and any comedian
who came afterwards,

who wrote and directed
his own films,

suffered by comparison.

So, when Jerry came along,
Jerry Lewis, of all people,

the loud, crazy kid from
the Martin & Lewis films,

decided he wanted to
be a filmmaker, well,

I think that's a lot of the
backlash, because they thought,

who does this guy
think he is, Chaplin?

- No autographs, please.

- He also makes a guest
appearance in the film

as Jerry Lewis, the
famous movie star.

This is one of the first
of many films in which

Jerry Lewis is
self-reflexively dealing with

the phenomenon of being
Jerry Lewis in the films.

- Stop with the brushing!

Let me have another
cigarette please.

I'll smoke it dry,
I'll smoke it dry.

- Yes, sir, Mr. Lewis,
we're all quite excited

about your appearance
at the Fontainebleau.

- Lewis, once he actually
starts directing films,

wants his name on the movies.

Very important that his
films say, written, produced,

directed by Jerry Lewis,
his stamp in the film

with his own marker,
with his own signature.

- In the credits, he credits
the character Jerry Lewis

to Joseph Levitch.

So, we're working on
a few levels here.

Jerry Lewis is not
actually a person.

Jerry Lewis is an act.

He's a performance by
whoever Joseph Levitch is.

- The
mighty director.

Ssh swine, can't you
see I'm creating!

Oh, it's you, Mr. Bird, it
pleasure to have you on the set.

- Any director that
I've ever dealt with

and those that asked me about
my direction of the film,

I think we all concur that
you have to have a direction

as the director, who is the key
factor in the film creation.

You have to have a direction.

Now, in the beginning, you're
given the opportunity to start

in creating the comic
sequences without a form,

without a pattern or
direction because people want

to see where you go.

But once they've established
the fact with you

that they are satisfied,
that you're capable,

they now want to see growth.

And they want to see a formula
and a pattern established

or they won't accept it.

Because without pattern and
without form in filmmaking,

then you could always be
referred to as a novice.

And people will resent that.

I'm going to work, kids.

Alright, places please!

Alright, let's hear it

for the movie star!

- Hey, stupid!

- Hey!

- Hollywood's
biggest, most elaborate,

most expensive studio stage
set of all time is constructed

before your eyes, and
only one thing is missing

to complete it
all, the SuperNut!

And here he is!

- Ah!

- He's got an incredible
kind of mise-en-scène

in this movie.

He's constructed this
huge dollhouse set,

and the camera cranes up
and down around the set

and constructs the film
through this very artificial

use of high-resource
kind of technology,

if you like.

And the Wellenmellon house
where the film is set

becomes a metaphor for the
artifices of Hollywood.

And although he's not
actually influenced

by the French critics like
Godard, Truffaut at this time,

he's doing something
very, very similar.

He wants to use film as a
way of shaping a perspective

on the world.

And at the same time, his
films have been marketed

to juveniles, they're
children's films.

So, when he makes a film
like The Ladies Man,

which is basically an art film,

critics in America are
confounded, my God,

what's he doing here, why
isn't he just being funny?

- You felt
you had to have a crane?

You had to have
practically everything

that Hollywood could give you?

- And more.

- And more,
and you feel that you need

everything there is?

- Absolutely, I don't
think anyone is good enough

to work within four walls,

and to work with
antiquated equipment.

Our business is technology.

- You've even
invented a system of shooting.

- Yeah well, in order for me
to direct and be in two places,

I had to devise an electronic
concept alongside my cameras,

so that I could see what I
was doing and see the actors

on monitors, on
television monitors.

There wasn't anyone out there
I would trust to say that

it was OK, etc.

It's my ball and
bat, that's all.

- And you're
also able to judge yourself.

I mean, where you've
gone wrong yourself.

- Absolutely, I've seen
many, many situations where

I wasn't happy with the
comedian, and I had to get them

to do it again.

And if you think it's easy
talking to me, you're crazy.

- Jerry Lewis was certainly
a rebel, but he was sometimes

a rebel in spite of his
own maybe desire to be.

I think it has a lot
to do with class, too.

People don't often
talk about that.

You know, poor boy who
becomes a rich boy,

and how you're supposed
to behave in relationship

to all of that.

In one of his
autobiographical books,

he talks about soon after
he made it big in Hollywood,

driving down in his convertible
down Hollywood Boulevard

or something, just blasting
his horn as loud as possible

just to show how
important he was.

It's like, you know,
something that you could say

is offensive, but it's
exactly what somebody,

who is powerless and has no
money and then becomes rich,

is tempted to do.

- He's more a
painter maybe than a director.

- Hi, honey.

- Uh!

- He's
working with space.

- He's not tracking like those
so-called modern movie-makers

and making fancy
with their camera.

He's just interested
in framing it.

He's a very good framer,
like great painters.

He has a lot of
sense of geometry.

To be a comic of, to be
very capable in geometry.

- It's difficult to
make a good picture.

And he knows, and I think
he should be supported,

and I am one of his supporters.

- But most people don't
go to movies to see

framing and technical.

They want to laugh or
be entertained or--

- Yeah, but they receive
pictures through that.

- Boy, what an
imagination can do for ya!

- Do you
also find him funny?

- Very, very.

If not, no, I think
it's very funny.

Even when it's not
funny, it's more funny,

because it's not funny.

- Robert
Benayoun, good friend.

The French want everyone to
think that they discovered me.

And that's OK, they
don't do that in Italy.

They don't do that in Germany,
anywhere in the world.

But the French, Jerry is mine.

I am happy to see you!

- The key champion of Jerry
Lewis in France, of course,

is Robert Benayoun, who is
fascinated by comedy in general,

by American comedy, The
Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields.

He was somebody who saw
artistry in this form of comedy

that could transcend reality.

- In the world, we have
10,000 men who can do Hamlet,

"O, what a rogue and
peasant slave am I!"

But we only have
these men who can go

Not only because it is difficult

but because it carries
a heavy responsibility.

And the 10,000 actors
that do Hamlet don't have

to check in with Shakespeare.

But we have to check with them!

They are our responsibility.

Shakespeare didn't
even show up today.

Where he is, I don't know.

I used brush!

- When you see someone
having an epileptic fit,

a little part of your
person is somehow,

sees that as a mirror,
a mirror of something

hidden far inside.

And I think that the
French spectators

are more comfortable
with pathology.

It's true that in the 1900s,
deformity was the thing

that made the public
laugh the most.

I won't translate that because
I was telling that you are

a terribly good director
and a fantastic technician.

- The French, in a sense,
gave us American cinema.

The post-war critics in
France, they hadn't seen

any American films during
the German Occupation,

and then all those films
flooded to the country at once,

and their appreciation
of the films allowed us

to see our pictures
in a different way.

But in Jerry Lewis's case,
the idea that the French

revered him became a joke in
and of itself, and nowadays,

the people who are keeping
the joke alive know really

nothing about Jerry Lewis
and particularly his films.

And, of course, there's
also the fact that he's,

in terms of our culture,
considered a mere comedian.

- American society is, by
you, examined very deeply,

I don't know if you are aware
of it, how deeply it is,

and you also question it
as you would in any society

in which you live.

- I try to knock down

people who have

no longer allowed themselves
to be just people.

You cannot make fun of
throwing a snowball at a man

in a felt hat,

but you can make fun
of when you throw

the snowball at a black top hat.

The why of it is because
the black top hat

is the man at the
bank, a diplomat,

a politician,

or the man who owns
the funeral parlor.

- Both The Errand Boy and The
Patsy are similar in the sense

that they're Jerry's
response to his lack

of critical acceptance
and, to a degree,

the way he was treated
by the Hollywood bigwigs,

meaning that they just didn't
understand why he wasn't

content to turn up
the same product

or why he wasn't
falling in line,

why he had to be an individual.

- Ah!
- Ah!

- Ah!

- Marty!

- I know, I know.

- There are questions
that don't get answered there.

But it gives the audience
time to think about it,

which is good.

If you get your
audience thinking,

you got half of the job done.

- Oh OK, let me
start over again.

They just didn't understand
why he wasn't content

to turn up the same product
or why he wasn't falling

in line, why he had
to be an individual.

And tellingly, he did
not change his path.

- Ah!

- Do you realize that
that screw loose,

imitation of a human
being has disrupted

this studio beyond control?

- In a way, it's like a
planned culture in America.

But it's a culture that's
planned by the studios,

not by critics, not
by the government.

In fact, you could
almost say the studios

are the government.

- You have to remember
that in the United States,

in the 1950s and 60s, the
model of the male model,

Jimmy Stewart, of
course, comes to mind,

but Jerry Lewis's
character somehow evokes

for that audience, the same
audience, evokes a problematic

male figure to say the least.

A male figure that is totally
unpredictable, for one thing,

can go off on an irrational
tangent, is not in control.

He's a dangerous figure
for the American ideal

of the proper way to behave.

- Are there any requests?

- Yeah, get off!

- I, thank you!

- As a child, you have no
filter, and you don't know

the rules of life
or to be human,

so you are much more
open to exploring,

and as you grow older, you
become self-aware and want

to fit in and you're taught
not to be as extroverted.

That's not as accepted.

But then when you're in society,
and you go, wait a minute,

I loved being a kid,
and I loved doing that.

And you don't lose that?

I think Jerry's never lost that.

And I think it's important
for any performer,

to never lose that kind of
freedom to just kind of say,

you know, F you, I'm
gonna be out and open

and a ball of energy.

And if anybody has a problem
with it, it's your problem.

It's not mine.

- How old are you?

- Six years.

- Me, too!

- One of the things
that seems to me,

that is the most profound
thing that happened in his life

was that his parents failed
to turn up for his bar mitzvah

when he was 13.

It seems to me this
explains an awful lot about

Jerry Lewis's character because
when you're that neglected,

you could never get
enough attention.

No matter how much attention
you get later in life,

it'll never be enough.

- Jerry Lewis has said
that an audience is like

a thousand mommas and poppas
patting you on the head

and saying, good boy.

So, that validation
and endorsement,

that maybe was absent because
the parents were absent,

is provided by an audience
and maybe that accounts

for the hunger and
the need to perform.

- Hey!

- I think there's
something with Jerry Lewis

that might explain his
international profile.

He's somebody who plays a
little guy who's hard done-by,

who has to win through by
virtues of the heart and also

through his efforts to greater
acclaim and acceptance.

I don't think he
necessarily represents

the American Dream, although
he's a very successful figure.

I think he exposes problems
within the American Dream

and problems within
American social values

in many of his films.

- I think in a very profound
way, Jerry Lewis is America.

That's what's so
fascinating about him.

And Americans don't
like to see themselves

in the mirror when they
look like Jerry Lewis.

So, the real
interesting phenomena

is not
Americans-hate-Jerry-Lewis,

but that they love Jerry Lewis
and don't want to admit it.

- I'm just a human being
with all of the foibles

and all of the traps.

The show, the pressure, the
groupies, the autograph hounds,

the crew, the incompetence.

those behind-the-scenes
you think are your friends,

but you're not too sure if
they're gonna be there tomorrow

because of their incompetence.

There're wonderful pressures
that make everyday a glowing,

radiant day in your life.

It's terrific, OK.

If all of that means nothing?

If I'm wrong in spite of
all that, then I apologize.

I'm sorry.

- In 1983, there is a
very interesting turn

in Lewis's career.

He appears in a Martin Scorsese
film, The King of Comedy,

playing a role that's very
unlike the Jerry of old.

He's a talk show host.

He's very sober, very stern,
very joyless in this film.

It's a very astonishing
performance,

but critics responded to this
film as if they've never seen

Jerry Lewis act before.

So, it's almost like the
critics don't really have

a framebook for valuing,
for understanding

comic performance at all.

It's only when Lewis
becomes a serious actor

that somehow he's
seen to be credible.

- Oh, Jerry, I love this guy!

Always coming up with
these great lines!

I love him, I love him!

- I know he's a great
actor., I worked with him

on The King of Comedy.

He played it pretty
straight, strong.

After a point, too, he'll look
at me at one point and say,

I can't do anymore of this take.

It doesn't matter, you got it,
six, seven times, whatever.

I think you can see this
though in a lot of pictures

with Dean Martin, The
Stooge maybe, The Bellboy,

The Ladies Man,
which is visually

one of the greatest, I think.

But you can obviously,
it's so obvious

in The Nutty Professor.

I mean the Julius Kelp
character is grotesque.

It's like a gargoyle
that's come to life.

It's frightening and funny,
but the change to Buddy Love

is the real scare.

That's where you see
the acting, that tilt-up

when you see who it is, from
the shoes to the silk suit,

and he's Buddy Love.

And this is a great performance.

- Professor?

Professor!

- Since I
was probably five,

I thought about, one
day, I'm going to perform

in a great classic,
and then I found it.

Jekyll & Hyde.

Hey, that was terrific!

Hey, did ya hear that, folks,
A regular George Bernard Shaw.

Good boy!

And he did it all by himself,
you did all by yourself,

and nobody helped you.

That's terrific and with
your very own big mouth!

Now, if you don't want this
cocktail shaker to be a part

of your gums, mix the
drink, shut your mouth

and pay attention,
is that clear?

Repeat after me, I'll.

- I'll

- I'll pay.
- I'll pay.

- I'll pay attention.
- I'll pay attention.

- Alright, let's continue!

- I don't think it's
a matter of proving

your skills in drama.

Maybe that's true of comic
actors, but that's not Jerry,

I think, I think
he's a visual artist,

a visual artist like
Chaplin and Keaton.

And he's got his own physical
instrument as an actor,

would call it as a key element
in the creation of his art.

So in a sense, he was
virtually alone in his time.

- I don't know how many
years of articles there

has to be written of sad clowns.

I mean, every person who's
in the comedy business

has a very serious side,
and I love it when people

are shocked to learn that.

It's like how many stories
do you have to read

before you realize, yeah,
comedy comes from pain.

Any comedy comes from pain.

And so that pain is real, and
the pain is also another side

to be explored as an artist.

- When I look at
Jerry Lewis, him,

I know him, I know
what he can do.

I, therefore, try to
steer his characters

and his personalities
in the areas where he

is most comfortable, for
he is a strange, unique,

neurotic strange,
unique, neurotic.

- As soon as I
find out what are travel--

- You see, most people
look at that and think that

that is total make-up.

I'll tell you something
that I've never told anyone.

This is make-up, that's clean.

'Cause if you look at that,
he won't hurt anybody.

And he is who I think
of all the time.

No more make-up.

No more ghastly one-nighters.

No more squealing brats!

- He raises the enigma
of identity to an
interesting level.

We can watch Jerry Lewis
exploring who Jerry Lewis is

across from film
to film and across

various different
media articulations.

I think he remains an enigma.

Just when you think you've
identified who Jerry Lewis is,

he does something else that
challenges that presupposition.

♪ When you walk
through a storm ♪

♪ Keep your chin up high

♪ And don't be
afraid of the dark ♪

- By the 1970s, Jerry became
less active in filmmaking.

A good part of that reason
was because he became

more involved with the
annual MDA Telethon

which was taking up more of
his time and his attention,

but also the fact that he was
experiencing health problems,

and they precluded such a
physically demanding process

as directing movies.

♪ Of the long

- His fundraising actually began

in the Martin & Lewis days.

The very first MDA Telethon
was hosted by Jerry and Dean.

And it just blossomed
from there because Jerry

has always been interested
in humanitarian causes,

the muscular dystrophy cause
being the closest to his heart.

♪ Though your dreams be taut.

- So this is something that
Lewis has devoted himself,

body and soul, to for
a very, very long time.

In fact, it was very hard to
disentangle muscular dystrophy

from Jerry Lewis.

He became such a
personification of the cause,

and although that's actually
now over, still in America,

most people knew
Lewis, as I suspect,

for his humanitarian work
rather than for his films.

♪ You'll never walk alone

♪ Walk on walk on

♪ With hope in your heart

♪ And you'll never walk alone

♪ You'll never alone

Thank you and goodnight.

When I went to the circus
when I was five or six,

I met a lot of the clowns.

And I met them throughout
the years every time

I went to the circus.

Same clowns, older but smart,

very smart.

I was putting on my clown
make-up, and I had 24 of them

around my table
watching me make up.

And in the mirror, you see 24
different clowns watching me.

It was beautiful.

Oh my God.

This was my first
professional picture.

I was 16.

The King!

The King.

Fou.

This was the greatest love
of my life, right there.

With her.

Great love affair.

All of my crew would
go home after a day,

and I'd take it home with me.

From the time I was a
kid, I always wrote about

what I see in the world.

I'm always looking
and seeing the world.

And I see it as it is,

but I can tweak it
and make it funny.

He was closer to me than
a brother, than a father,

than a mother.

He was closer to me than
anyone else in my life ever.

And I miss him today like I
missed him the day he died.

Doesn't change, everyday,
I think about him.

There's my hero.

Nutty, Nutty!

Marty Scorsese.

The American critics
are full of shit.

They have no idea
what I'm doing.

They never have.

See, they wrote great
critiques on The King of Comedy

because it wasn't low-brow,
it wasn't taking falls.

It wasn't, ah!

None of that.

And they liked that, Jerry's
now working for them.

You don't worry about them,
you don't think about them.

Or you're screwing your life.

If you start to do what
they say, you'd be finished!

You'd be a critic in a small
paper in Rochester, New York.

My writing was to give pleasure.

Every script I've written
was for the audience

to have a good time.

I'm nostalgic about everything.

Not in any one thing,
but many things.

I've been very lucky,
look at all that!

That's a lifetime of
wonderful moments.

I'm very lucky, I'm blessed.

I've been given some wonderful
abilities that helped me

get through to the public.

And that's the bottom line
of all of that, it's love.

If you give love
to your audience,

they're gonna give it back.

You can't explain fame.

So, I said it's like a big
balloon and a bunch of children

around it with long pins.

And if they buy a ticket,
they got the right to do that.

♪ Go marching in ha

♪ Oh when the saints

♪ Go marching ah

♪ Oh ah ha ha ha

♪ Ah

♪ Marching in

- Aw gee, you don't have
to get excited about it.

After all, I'm only out
here trying to sing a song!

Here we go.

♪ I can smile

♪ Just because I'm young

- Cut.