Original subtitles

Method.To.The.Madness.Of.Jerry.Lewis. 2011.DVDRip.XviD-FRAGMENT English HI SRT Subtitles - UF (v1.01)

(drumroll)

(cheering and applause)

Man: Ladies and gentlemen, Jerry Lewis!

- (playing intro) - (cheering intensifies)

- (music stops) - (cheering continues)

Jerry Lewis: Hum!

Ha!

Ha! Ha-ah!

Oh, I see.

Oh, I see.

Yeah. Oh.

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.

Mah, mah, mah, mah!

(chuckles)

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

better-than-it-was-yesterday mode.

(cheering and applause)

What the hell? Are you nuts?

Man: What a treat!

What a treat?

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

(laughter)

Jerry Seinfeld: I think if you don't get Jerry Lewis,

you don't really understand comedy,

because he is the essence of it.

(orchestra playing jazz)

He is essentially it.

He is the diamond of comedy.

The stuff that looks like it's just slapstick and just happening,

that's 'cause he's a genius and he can make it look like that.

You can't reach as many people

for such a long period of time

unless it's thought out.

All guys, you know, who loved funny,

were touched by him.

(blows raspberry)

Oh!

There's only one Jerry Lewis.

- (snoring) - 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.

## Mam�e, mam�e, mam�e, eu quero ##

## Mam�e, eu quero mamar ##

## Mam�e, eu quero... ##

- (recording slows down) - ## Mamar. ##

He was the most gifted, intuitive person ever.

It's astonishing, you know. He spoke this language

that even probably wildlife would laugh at.

(whistles)

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

and start making faces.

Everyone's like him when they want to try to be funny.

We're all like that. It's just that he was the best,

you know. (chuckles)

(drums playing)

If 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.

And he could do what he wanted.

And he didn't play it safe.

He has been some extraordinary things, amazing things.

(laughs loudly)

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.

(jazz continues playing)

(reporters clamoring)

- Woman: How do you do? - Lewis: How do you do?

- Are you French? - Oui.

Good. Then you belong here.

Can you say in French, "Bonjour, les petits gens"?

Oh, bonjour, bonjour. Bonjour. Fini.

Woody Harrelson: A lot of people, by the time they hit their 70s,

you know, they're pretty much,

"Well, I've done what I needed to do."

He just keeps charging.

I love that about him.

Lewis: I have a message for your editor.

I just got off the plane and I open up the newspaper

and there's this picture of Brad Pitt.

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

And then I want to 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.

Woman: Are you going on the red carpet tonight?

Lewis: Yeah. I'm going to put on a tuxedo.

- It'd better be a good film. - (laughter)

I hope it's dirty.

(laughter)

Jerry Lewis: 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 is going to be

the same amount that we got 15-18 years ago.

Announcer: Monsieur Jerry Lewis est avec nous ce soir.

Lewis: We're excited about our film.

And we came to Cannes because we knew

there were films like "Suck My Blood"...

- (laughter) ..."I Was a Teenage Lesbian,"

"After the Circumcision, Lick lt."

Crowd: Please. Please. Jerry.

Merci beaucoup.

(cheering and applause)

Although my films to this day

make a lot of money all over the world,

I've never received

critical and loving affection

like I do from the French.

(narrating) When I played Paris, I was onstage

and I knew that there were 13,000 to 15,000 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 going to 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...

(woman translating)

...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.

(woman translating)

And I think the old people have a life,

- they have... - (woman translating)

(laughter)

They have no interpreters.

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

He's just too important.

Lewis: I think that I recognized

that I'm strictly a professional entertainer

and my concern is getting them entertained.

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

(Jerry Lewis laughs)

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 and being raised by his grandmother,

the acceptance that he got from people around him

was by making them laugh.

Jerry Lewis: I did a show when I did 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. Do you notice?

That's right. You're telling me. (laughs)

Okay. (mock laugh)

## 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 burlesque shows.

My mom was his conductor.

She was an incredible musician.

He and she would play on a Saturday night,

four hotels in the borscht circuit.

(Danny singing in Yiddish)

So the owner said to my dad,

"If you let the kid go on, we'll give you 10 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?

(chuckles)

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

a little five-year-old going, "Hey, lady!"

They'd be like, "Hey. What's wrong with that child?"

He had to kind of grow into that.

Jerry Lewis: And when my dad taught me the song,

he knew what he was doing.

Now I sang a Depression song.

## Once in khaki boots ##

## Gee, we looked swell ##

## Full of that Yankee deedlee 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? ##

And people went ballistic.

And I take the bow.

My foot slips, breaks the bulb,

explodes and makes this huge noise.

And I jump 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?"

(laughs) A bulb-breaker.

## God bless me... ##

(laughter)

Oh, I'm such a doll.

(snickers) ## When I... ##

I was already telling my dad,

"I know what I want to do in this life,

and that's just perform like you."

## Promise you won't stray... ##

Jerry Lewis: Everything that was on that stage

was for the betterment of his performance.

You're a fancy singer, boy.

Jerry Lewis: I never saw such a selfless man.

He went out there to give them pleasure.

## 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.

- (fast music playing) - (typewriter keys clicking)

Seinfeld: The typewriter... just the way halfway through

he doesn't keep repeating it. He changes it 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.

(music playing)

(typewriter keys resume clicking)

(music finishes)

(cheering and applause)

Carol Burnett: He's a very gifted genius.

(laughs)

The typewriter... whew.

I could have that on a loop and just watch it all the time.

It's just brilliant.

Someone get the stool for me, eh?

The stool up... the individual...

(laughter and applause)

Thank you.

I went on the road at 16.

I went to Buffalo,

played the Buffalo Palace Burlesque Theater

that my dad had played 20 years before.

They put me on in front of the front curtain

after a sketch messed up the stage.

They had to get the stage clear for the stripper.

Of course I didn't need music.

I did a dumb act.

- (tenor singing) - Put the recording on

and I mouthed my lips and I made my salary.

I did "The Barber of 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.

(doorbell rings)

Billy Crystal: He's a crossover from vaudeville and burlesque.

It's like when silent films ended, there was this long reach

till talkie comics really hit.

And he feels like he's straddling that.

Close them together.

Close? Oh, all right.

Crystal: There's classic clowning in him

and there's this insanity.

(sighs)

They scooted...

Jerry Lewis: 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 or 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 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.

Mm-hmm.

Now tonight I meet the king of comedy

- Jerry Lewis. - (cheering and applause)

Jerry Lewis: Thank you. Thank you.

Elvis is not dead.

And neither am I.

Ha-ha!

Wow, you know, people ask him things

because he's been around for 500 years.

So it's like, you know, "Moses, when you...

you know, that 27th year in the desert

when you built the thing..."

"Oh, yeah, the matzo factory. Well..."

You know, it's like... he's like... he's this biblical character.

Hi.

I would shake hands with you, but I see you're busy.

- You got it, kid. - (laughter)

It was wonderful, just one right after another.

I had a dream about you, about...

- (microphone thuds) - (laughter)

Jerry is 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 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.

(laughter)

What about 6'2", 320-pound,

I mean, huge men with blond hair?

I'm only attracted to men

with thick, dark, black hair like you.

Have you been to South Africa?

(laughter)

It's side-splittingly, crazy funny.

And it's just him.

It's just him being Jerry. What's better than that?

Jerry Lewis: They know that it's coming off the top of my head.

Now I do 30 minutes of that.

It's totally spontaneous.

It's unscripted. It's unrehearsed.

It really brings out, I think, the genius of his comedy,

because not everybody can do that.

I have a gentleman over there. Yes, sir.

Jerry, I worship you.

I think you're the greatest. But I needed to say...

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

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

(laughter)

...because of you, Jerry.

(cheering and applause)

Bravo.

(man laughs) Thank you.

I prayed my whole life for stardom

and two things that comes with it.

You walk in every kitchen of every hotel in America...

that's stardom... if you want to get to your dressing room.

And the other one is

YouTube... half of my act is on it.

- Man: Which half? - The one I did with my partner.

So here he is, my good partner...

## Dean Martin. ##

(fanfare)

Jerry Lewis: 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.

(breathes deeply)

Lewis and Martin: ## What would I do without you? ##

## What would I do, boy? ##

## What would I do without you? What would I do? ##

Martin: ## I need a partner, you're the one ##

Lewis: ## I'll be right there when the show goes on ##

- ## I'm for you ## - ## I'm for you ##

Together: ## 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? ##

Jerry Lewis: 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."

## We' Marie... ##

(plays piano chords)

(laughter)

Carl Reiner: 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 lib thing.

They had no act. And that's what made it brilliant.

- (continues playing chords) - (audience laughter)

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.

(laughing)

Come here!

It was mayhem, but hysterical mayhem.

People were on the floor.

That went all right, crazy?

I've 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' Marie ##

## We love you all. ##

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

I knew that Dean had the goddamnedest sense

of instinct that I had ever seen in anyone.

(British accent) Oh, Judy, Judy, Judy, you can't take a baby

out of a man's life and expect him to go home...

(applause)

Well, it's not right and it's not fair. Right now...

(normal voice) I mean, right now, Jerry's impression

of the ex-prime minister of England.

Ladies and gentlemen, Winston Churchill.

(Great Britain's anthem playing)

(high nasal voice) Thanks very much.

Jerry Lewis: My partner said to Winston Churchill,

"Do you have to smoke that much?"

I thought I'd have a heart attack.

It was his humor.

What did he say?

And Churchill looked at him and he 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!

Jerry Lewis: My instinct topping his...

it was an incredible combination.

What's all this noise?

(audience laughter)

Jerry Lewis: 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 kind of look similar.

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

It's too good. And "Sonny Boy"... I used to do it with you.

- No, we'll do it together again. - Can you hold it down, Danny?

You see what you're starting, Dad? You're starting a whole argument.

Dean, listen, don't worry about nothing.

So I think there was also

a paternal transference there too.

H-hello. I-I'm Jerry Lewis, the new busboy.

I'm Dean Martin, the old waiter.

Oh. It's a small world, ain't it?

It's a little too small. Let's get out of here.

All right.

Jerry Lewis: I think people were frightened

over homosexual probabilities.

They didn't want to recognize that this was two people that loved one another,

like a man and a woman, a wife and a daughter, a son or husband.

- Why don't you take your clothes off? - Here, I don't even know you.

Richard Belzer: They came along at a time right after World War II.

No one was ever that anarchic...

- What's the matter? - Flood.

...and that physically attractive, that young, that dangerous.

- Get off the stage! - Look, I don't mind in a room

with the whips and the chains, but not in front of the audience.

Get off the stage.

It was the '50s. It'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.

(laughter)

So Martin and Lewis are, I believe, part of that same movement,

because they created a real sense of anarchy.

- You're all mine! (laughing) - You're overactive, Jerry.

The secret was, of course, 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's pretty astounding stuff.

Jerry Lewis: 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 of the money there is in the world."

And we're reading in every paper and seeing on ever television program

and hearing people talking 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.

(playing intro)

## Just remember... ##

Crystal: When Jerry was onstage with Dean,

something really special happened.

They were amazing together.

And it just looked like fun.

Straight men are very rare. The great ones...

you can think of Carl Reiner 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.

Hey! Hey, lady! Lady!

(grunts, screams)

Richard Lewis: It's like you were born and all of a 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.

Crystal: 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.

- Good night. God bless you all. - Good night. Goodbye.

Jerry Lewis: 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 10%.

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,

you saw 4000 people exit the theater.

And they did that three or four times in a day,

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

- (crowd screaming) - And it was mass chaos

all through Times 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."

Eddie Murphy: 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 Year's Eve,

you know, and it's just that 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.

Burnett: 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.

Richard Lewis: You can't get bigger than this

and for all the right reasons.

He ripped people's brains out. He ripped them to shreds.

You want to come up for coffee?

(crowd screaming)

We ain't got any!

Jerry Lewis: 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."

(laughter)

- 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?

(blows air)

Jerry Lewis: I used to tease him over the years..."Upright."

If I saw him getting down or depressed..."Upright."

"Oh, yeah, okay." It worked.

Chevy Chase: But I always wondered what happened after that breakup.

Obviously Dean went on 'cause he had that great hair

and was very, very funny and a, you know, great talent.

July 25th... I think a lot.

That was the night we teamed up...

July 25th, 1946.

And we split July 25th, 1956...

10 years to the day.

There's no way to explain what I felt.

And I said goodbye, and he said goodbye.

Then the work goes on and on and on.

Alec Baldwin: 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.

Deana Martin: They had their thing together. They had their time.

And I'm kind of 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.

Seinfeld: 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 and 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. - (applause)

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 is peeking and listening

and knowing how much I care and how much I miss him.

(Jerry Lewis narrating) 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.

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

All right, that's fine with me. You'll never have an ar...

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. - All right.

We sure created something.

And we made it work

and had a ball for 10 years,

never to be duplicated

by any couple of anything, ever.

(plays a chord) Try this.

(plays a chord) Try this.

## Ah. ##

(off-key) ## Ah. ##

- ## Oh. ## - ## Oh. ##

- ## E-e-e. ## - ## E-e-e. ##

- ## Ha-ha. ## - ## Ha-ha. ##

- Argh! - Argh!

## E-e-e-e ##

## Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ##

## E-e-e-e... ##

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

## I lost my heart ##

## In a drive-in... ##

- (car horn honks) - ## Movie. ##

I think Paula would probably have rooted for him.

And Randy may have thought that he was slightly pitchy.

## Yeah, yeah ##

## Right in the movie ##

## In my car. ##

- (car horn honks) - (cheering and applause)

Oh, he sings great. Jerry sings great.

(orchestra playing jazz)

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?

Jerry Lewis: I did a record. All it did was 7 million copies

at the last accounting. It could be much more now.

It's a good feeling too.

(orchestra stops)

You gotta go until I sing.

Stay with it. Don't be afraid.

- Oh, just stay with the theme? - Stay there.

I got you. Okay. One more time, please.

Dean you're not, but you will do.

(laughter)

- (orchestra playing) - From a film that I'm very proud of,

circa 1963,

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

- (cheering and applause) - 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 elevators ##

## Start this ride ##

## Down and down I go ##

## Round and round I go ##

## In a leaf caught in the tide ##

## I should stay away... ##

## But what can I do? ##

## I hear your name ##

## And I'm aflame ##

## Aflame 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, that's the kind of performer he is.

(recording playing) ## Be my life ##

## For no one else can end ##

## This yearning... ##

Crystal: A lot of comics were doing record lip-syncing,

but his was different.

He wasn't just lip-syncing "Mule Train" or one of those things.

He was interpreting music.

## There'll be no one but you ##

## For me ##

## Eternally... ##

It was as special a 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 life. ##

I did a record act all my career. (chuckles)

## Here's what you'll be saying ##

## When you are far from home... ##

Chris Lewis: My dad's got Al Jolson's original charts

that he gave him, on his shelf in his office in vegas.

It's 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... ##

(both humming a tune)

Right there, that's a...

That's it. You got it.

And then the answers will be in that new, slower... uh!

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

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

- (orchestra playing) - ## Weep no more ##

## My lady ##

## Sing that song for me ##

## So don't be low, uh-huh ##

## Why does it go ##

## You have me on your knees ##

## A million baby kisses ##

## I'll deliver ##

## If you will only sing that ##

## "Swanee River" ##

## Rock-a-bye ##

## Your rock-a-bye baby ##

## With a Dixie ##

## Melody. ##

(cheering and applause)

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 a drink after take-off.

She approached the rabbi first.

"Rabbi, may I get you a drink after take-off?"

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 take-off?"

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."

(laughter)

Let me have that bag.

We'll give them a little thrill.

(reporters cheering)

I walked in the airport with that.

(narrating) I take my Academy Award wherever I go.

And it's home now on this small pedestal.

And the Academy Award sits on it.

And I watch it all night. People are watching television...

I'm watching my Academy Award. (chuckles)

Why not?

See, I have an infinite love of my industry.

Film is part of my blood.

(narrating) 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 horseshit. I was everywhere.

Oh, you're scared also?

(narrating) And I was getting an education.

There was 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.

They said that... what?

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. - Oh.

When you're that guy

and you have that kind of career, everybody wants to work with you.

- There'll be lots of extras... - Yeah.

They're sending you all the scripts

and you've got all the directors want to work with you

and all the studios want to throw money at you.

All the beautiful dames you'll be with...

Oh, mwah.

- Sharp cars... - (mimics engine)

Well, Lewis is that perfect intersection of 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!

Jerry Lewis: 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

in ticket rentals.

That's when the movies were 25 cents apiece.

Crystal: People who are not historians don't realize

how powerful he was at such a young age.

Well, he was directing and starring and writing his own movies.

And he was the biggest star in the world for years.

Richard Lewis: 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.

Jerry Lewis: Adolph Zukor used to call from New York

to the West Coast office of 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 this studio."

- (honks horn) - You know, I'd 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.

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 for...

I'm sorry, I mean, that are responsible for this film.

Someone gave me a hat with four beaks.

This one was the director...

Shh, swine, can't you see I'm creating?

Oh, it's you, Mr. Bird.

It's a pleasure to have you on the set. (clicks heels)

Oh, I broke both my...

- Producer... - Oh, they're all strange.

- Writer... - Hel... hello, Mr. Bird.

Hel... l...

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. (snickers)

Quentin Tarantino: It always really is exciting

when a performer feels compelled to move into filmmaking

and go even further with their art.

Jerry Lewis: My impression of your everyday,

run-of-the-mill, basic, ordinary, simple drunk.

(scattered laughter)

The same drunk in an earthquake.

(laughter and applause)

What a stupid way to make a fortune.

(cheering and applause)

Announcer: Paramount Studios announces an unprecedented

$10 million 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.

Chris Lewis: My dad did make a deal with Paramount.

He signed a $10 million 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.

Crystal: Here came this big noise. What was that?

He had a different magnetism and a different energy

than anyone onscreen had at that time.

Jerry Lewis: "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. Whoa.

His comedies, you know... he was very specific about when they came out...

you know, a summer picture and then a Christmas picture.

Jerry Lewis: And I wouldn't let the studio release the picture

- until it was holiday time. - (crowd gasps)

"Just leave 'Cinderfella' alone.

I want it as a Christmas release."

- Man: But, chief... - But nothing.

You sell 'em and I'll make 'em.

Now for the Christmas campaign I'm gonna make

a real kids' picture with big names.

- Okay, chief. - And when you talk to New York,

you tell them I said... I'll do anything they say.

Jerry Lewis: 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

a 165-page screenplay in nine days.

And I was shooting on the 14th day.

Jerry, can we play that "Bellboy" theme?

- I'm waiting to hear it. - A-one, two, three, four...

(playing "Bellboy" theme)

Jerry wrote the theme from the "Bellboy."

It's "The Star-Spangled Banner"

with the funny note at the top. (hums theme)

- That's what... that's... - (laughter)

Jerry Lewis: When I left New York to open at the Fontainebleau,

I had this short amount of time.

I had a clock by my typewriter

that was noisy. (imitates clock ticking)

And every tick I heard was getting me closer to,

"Jesus Christ, you big mouth,

how did you get yourself into this?" (laughs)

And I'm reviewing what I'm writing...

"Oh, 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 moviegoing public of late.

There is no story and no plot.

It is a visual diary of a few weeks

in the life of a real nut.

Jerry Lewis: I went to Billy Wilder and I said, "Read this."

And he read "The Bellboy" and he came back to me and he said,

"Goddamn wonderful. It's wonderful.

(imitates accent) 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. Are 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,

then 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, at the Sands, and delivered it to Paramount...

- Hold it. ...in less than 20 weeks.

- Who are all these people? - They all work for you, chief.

Mm-hmm, and who's the guy with the straw hat?

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

Jerry Lewis: I'd 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've never seen you laugh so hard.

I've got Stanley on theater seating duty.

Alone? How long has he been in there?

I just sent him in. He'll be in here for two, three days at least.

- Let's go and watch. - Okay.

(door rattles)

(whistling "Bellboy" theme)

He's fast.

Jerry Lewis: The night that I finished the first shoot day,

I called my dad. He said, "How did 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..."

(phone ringing)

"...and I will produce the film."

(phone stops ringing)

"But it will be my negative." "Great." They were thrilled.

- (whistling tune) - (phone ringing)

(phone continues ringing)

(phone stops ringing)

Jerry Lewis: $975,000 later...

- (phone rings) ...I cut negative.

(phone ringing)

- (phone stops ringing) - To date, it's brought me and my family

almost $300 million.

(phone ringing)

- (phone stops ringing) - And they were not participating.

Belzer: 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.

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

Nowadays if they hear the word "Bellboy,"

they puke right in the hall, on the rug..."Bleh!"

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.

A woman goes to the doctor for an exam.

A 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 says, "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 did he say about your 45-year-old ass?"

(laughter and applause)

She said, "Your name never came up."

(laughter and applause)

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.

Crystal: Directing yourself in your own movie

that you've written and you've crafted a character for yourself is so hard.

Man: 51-2.

Crystal: If you have a vision for something and he knows who he is,

and it sometimes is hard for someone else to get that out of you,

so you trust nobody but yourself.

Well, just don't do something. Sit there.

Uh, that is... class dismissed!

Tarantino: And it wasn't just, "Let me do it

because I'm tired of listening to that hack," all right,

or, "Well, if that guy can do it, I can do it."

You know, 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 is much closer to Buster Keaton than Charlie Chaplin,

insofar as actually taking the film medium

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

by the art form itself...

- (whistling a tune) ...not just the pratfalls,

not just "filming my comedy," but the comedy is also

part of the filmmaking process itself.

(camera shutter clicks)

(birds chirping)

Steven Spielberg: He was a restless filmmaker, you know.

He was always searching. He was, 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.

Man: 490, take 4.

(knocks)

- Yes? - (laughs)

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.

Richard Lewis: Jerry is a genius.

He 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.

Oh!

Jerry Lewis: I had nightmares

thinking how much I've learned in the picture industry,

and what do I do if I want to direct Jerry?

(mumbles) I don't know that.

Jerry Lewis: What do I do? Ask an editor?

Do I ask a camera operator?

Suffuse his sense of humor to the way that 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.

- (woman giggling) - 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 know.

You understand why he created video assist...

because he's the performer.

What about if you had

a video camera alongside your B and C

and you keep your monitor where you can see it?

Because there wasn't tape then.

Murphy: 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?"

Jerry Lewis: I go to Tokyo and I sat with Mr. Morita...

the chairman of the board of the Sony Corporation,

with his research people. And they're all drawing me sketches.

Shipped everything back from Tokyo with me

and I called the crew and we set up everything.

It was magic.

Spielberg: The video assist was invented by Jerry

because nobody had any idea what they were getting

until the operator blessed it

or until the operator critiqued it.

Jerry Lewis: So it became a great tool for my wardrobe,

makeup, grips, electricians.

The camera operator loved seeing

what he had just finished setting up.

Spielberg: 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...

Argh!

...'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."

Jerry Lewis: And then a year later I get video tape.

Spielberg: There should be a sign, you know, saying...

(laughing) "Jerry Lewis invented this."

Jerry Lewis: 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. ## - (laughing)

## You're Jewish and I'm gay. ##

(crew laughing)

One picture of the family. Hold it.

- (laughing louder) - Cut!

Jerry Lewis: Every set that I did anything on

was open to the public.

The sign on the huge doors was,

"This is not a closed set. Please come in."

Belzer: The fact that it says "Open"

shows how fearless, how gracious...

"This is what I do. Come and look at it. I'm proud of it."

- Jerry Lewis: I'm going to work. - Man: All right, places, please.

Jerry Lewis: All right, let's hear it for the movie star.

- Jerry Lewis: Hey, stupid! - Crew: Hey!

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've worked very hard to let them always remember

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

Burnett: He was a guest star 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. Habanaffen.

May I help you? A lot of people have difficulty with that.

- It's Wo... - Wo...

...ben... ...ben...

...lot... ...lot...

...ny. ...ny.

- Wobenlotny. - Babanotten.

John Landis: I did a series of commercials for Coca-Cola

with Jerry Lewis in the early '90s.

He shows up, 8:00 in the morning,

and he was introduced to every single individual there.

Had to be 70 people.

And then we shot.

At the end of the day he wanted everyone's attention.

And everyone looks and he says, "Listen, I'd like to say

good night, Bob, good night, Larry,

good night, Gloria, good night, Shirley, good night..."

Every single person's name... he knew their names.

And so he 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.

- (plays a chord) - (sings off-key, laughing)

Then they had fun watching me as the comic.

(laughing) Cut.

They'd see me run into myself.

- (laughing) - 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.

Woody Harrelson: The camaraderie 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...

he'd come up with just the most...

(truck horn blows)

Argh!

You have to feel safe to be able to do that.

(crew laughing)

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.

Man: 310-2.

And one day I read in the paper

that a motion picture advertiser needed help.

(sighs)

- Do you have to go to the toilet? - (crew snickering)

- No. - No?

- I'm just fine. - (laughter)

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 says, "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."

(laughter and applause)

This is just another thing of his amazing eye.

(explosion)

Man: Get the door!

(door squeaks)

Seinfeld: 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. It's so simple.

When I first started watching it, I just know,

"This guy is 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? - Man: I am.

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

(laughing)

The thrill of getting an idea

and then sketching it and then sitting behind a camera,

and you're looking and you see it's exact, let's shoot it...

it's a rush. You want to do it some more.

(jazz orchestra playing)

I wanted to see the kid

- in a boardinghouse. - (knocks)

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.

- Man: Let's try to get a microphone... - One, two, three, four...

Jerry Lewis: I had three mixers on the set

to cover the 42 rooms.

Spielberg: Those humongous sets on "Ladies' Man,"

in a sense, 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.

And 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.

Jerry Lewis: 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 Film-Maker."

Jerry Lewis: Marty Scorsese

never went on the set without the book.

I would argue with him about something, he said, "Hold on a second."

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

Spielberg: And he loved those kids.

I mentor now to this day.

Jerry Lewis taught me the importance of mentoring.

Harrelson: The main reason I'm a performer

is because of Jerry.

He speaks to the common man.

All I wanted to do is apologize to you, see?

Will you get out of here? If you don't, I'm gonna...

- Argh! - Oh, wait, my foot.

- My foot is stuck. - Get out of here.

Harrelson: You love him. You root for him...

the, "Oh, no, not getting into more trouble, no."

- (kid screams) - (woman screams)

Here, let me cover you up. (babbling)

(woman screaming) Get me out of here!

(orchestra playing jazz)

- (orchestra stops) - (laughter)

I dug the '60s comic books when I was a kid. I thought they were great.

His comic books rocked.

His comic books were made better than Bob Hope's.

I just gotta say that. I know it's controversial.

(laughter)

But Jerry did the better comic than Bob Hope.

Jerry Lewis: Oh, Jesus. - (Tarantino laughing)

He just spit on the American flag.

Tarantino: Well, I 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 the world where cartoons already existed.

Jerry Lewis is kind of like a cartoon figure.

(laughter and applause)

(cheering)

He was a kid. I mean, I loved the cartoon gags.

Whoa!

There's real Tex Avery stuff going on.

(groans)

(roars)

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.

(giggling)

(cheering and applause)

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 comedies.

You have to look at Jerry. He's kind of the father of that style

of gags.

Oh!

(cheering and applause)

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,

well, that's pretty much like when Jerry Lewis

got dressed up as Carmen Miranda, all right?

(laughing) And one of the weird things about it

is they actually go for sex appeal.

He looks like a girl.

Tarantino: "Looney Tunes" would constantly break the fourth wall

and talk to somebody in the theater...

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

Over here. Let's not fool with the child star.

Tarantino: The end of "Patsy" when he falls...

- Whoa! - Stanley!

Tarantino: It's a perfect example of a "Looney Tunes,"

break the fourth wall... this is what we're watching,

in fact, and why are you watching it? (laughs)

Stanley.

Aren't you overacting a little bit, Miss Balin? 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.

Tarantino: That's still kind of a bizarre joke today. 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...

(wheezing, mutters)

Jerry Lewis: There's a lot of resilience in a director.

He can take a lot of crap.

It's too heavy. You'd better cut it, Lenny.

(crew laughing)

Jerry Lewis: 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 flew in from New York

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

- Now get down there and get it. - (tires screech)

Jerry Lewis: 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?

(engine roaring)

The fact that it was on the cut:

"He what?" Bang!

He's up there at 7,000 feet.

I recut it 13 times,

always coming back to the original thought...

chick-choo, chick-choo, chick-choo.

You take a beat between "chick"...

you can't do that.

Man: Would you say something into the microphone for me?

- Jerry Lewis: Now? - Okay.

(loudly) How's it going?

Geronimo!

Jerry Lewis: The creative mind needs sound and picture.

Argh!

I have to have the sound

as vitally important as the picture.

(footsteps squeaking)

(footsteps squeaking)

(school bell rings)

Jerry Lewis: He comes in.

We see that he's just blotto.

It's the hangover of the century.

I used the slam of a safe door.

(loud bong)

Oh.

Jerry Lewis: And I went to the Bank of America to shoot it.

And we recorded the...

bo-o-ong!

And I had the mike on the inner door,

so you really heard what nobody ever heard.

(booms)

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

(squeaking)

Jerry Lewis: Chalk on the board...

it bothered me watching it.

Oh.

(chewing loudly)

(sneezes) The sneeze.

(loud noise)

Jerry Lewis: I used a grizzly bear's growl for that.

(loud hisses)

(drops echoing)

I had about 26 sounds.

A book.

(loud thud)

Nobody realizes how loud a book can be.

Now you enlarge that sound.

No, it's better with a hardcover.

It's better with a hardcover.

(piano intro plays)

(horn blows)

(laughter and cheering)

Is someone giving birth back there?

Name it after me.

These are the glasses

that we are seriously contemplating 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.

(man laughs)

This is the makeup

with a little more red.

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

because you have whatever your baggage is

when you show up, and 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. Ha-ha-ha! A little pun.

Chase: 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 that hadn't occurred to Jerry

a few years earlier. (laughs)

Battle stations!

(ringing bells)

Murphy: Peter Sellers gets credited

with doing stuff like that.

Jerry's doing it before everybody's doing

multiple character stuff.

Chase: This guy... me, Fletch,

using multiple funny costumes that I wore...

if it in any way rang of Jerry Lewis, I'm proud of it.

- Man: Your name, sir. - Uh, Bugs Peyton.

What is it again?

I said Bugs Peyton. My name... Bugs Peyton.

Mugs Peyton?

Hey, schmuck, Bugs, not Mugs.

What's this there? A television?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- What business are you in? - I'm a priest.

(crew laughing)

Man: You're a priest?

Yeah, free rites at the Mormon Tabernacle Temple in Idaho.

Man: You look Jewish to me.

- Doesn't everybody? - (laughter)

I really think

Jerry should get a Kennedy Center honor.

Jerry Lewis: Jack came out of the service

when Dean and I were playing the Chez Paree 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 in to me every once in a while

and 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.

I did his last birthday appearance.

It was the night of his birthday at the Armory

and I was teasing Jack.

(onstage) Could you put the light on so I can see if he's here?

Mr. Pres... would you just wave so I know?

Is he 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 you.

(narrating) I'll never forget it, as long as I live.

Seinfeld: There is no real low-brow in comedy.

(tires screech)

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.

(humming a tune)

(Seinfeld chuckling) That is not easy.

(woman over speaker) Fella!

Yes, Stepmother.

Stepmother: Where's my car?

Seinfeld: 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, Stepmother. I fixed the car

perfectly mechanically beautifully.

(wheezes)

Seinfeld: This is not lowbrow to me.

This is the highest brow.

Jerry Lewis, Noel Coward... you know, right there.

(car creaking)

- My name is Bettina Bailey. - What is it?

- Bettina. - Bettina?

- Bettina, yes. - That's so nice.

Um, I want to let you know

my lifelong dream, if you wouldn't mind,

to hug you, please.

Here?

(laughter)

Now?

Or if you got a room back there, you know, either way.

(laughter)

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

that it'll end there.

Woman: On Myspace, they asked,

"Who would you most like to meet?"

Well, my number one was God,

- but my number two was you. - (crowd exclaims)

So maybe we can make it a threesome with Bettina

- and let me come back, get a hug? - (laughter and cheering)

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

Is the drug store open?

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

- Oh, Jesus. - (cheering and applause)

One, two, three, four...

What I do when I dance is fake.

(laughs)

I am one of the faking fools.

The dancing became

a part of the writing process.

(swing music playing)

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.

(swing music continues)

I know nothing about dancing

other than time, rhythm.

I stood in the wings watching my dad

at the ripe age... 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.

(fanfare)

(percussion intro plays)

(jazz orchestra playing)

Jerry Lewis: 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 was in shock

because I shot that whole sequence in four hours.

I went up the stairs in eight seconds.

- (clock chimes) - I think I'll have to get along.

I'll never forget you.

Jerry Lewis: 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.

The insurance company didn't want to 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. (chuckles)

While 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?"

My baby.

I'm lying here, hoping I'm gonna survive,

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

It was a perfect Jewish question.

Oh, my child.

(laughter)

Seinfeld: 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.

(playing fanfare intro)

Maybe it could be just a touch faster.

Okay? Same thing. Thanks.

If you waved your arms faster, it would have been faster.

(musicians laughing)

They played exactly what you were doing.

Belzer: I watched JL rehearse a 36-piece orchestra

and know every instrument.

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

(orchestra stops playing)

Train wreck.

(laughter)

- Rick, where did that happen? - We've got it covered.

(laughing)

Jerry Lewis: 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... (imitates sped-up music)

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 an audience for eight minutes...

that's almost a reel.

(music slows down)

Without the music it would have been a whole, long eight minutes.

The music moved it.

It gave it that thing

that an audience sitting in the theater needs to be told.

- (music vamping) - Pull the tracks out of there

and look at it, and it almost works without it.

But it will never work with wrong music.

When you talk of comedy as the art form,

it demands what music gives it.

The trombone will play D-flat,

you play E, and you play E-sharp, okay?

Listen to this, folks.

(dissonant chord plays)

Man: That is the shit.

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

but if it was out of there, it'd be perfect.

(laughter)

- Thanks, Jerry. - Okay.

Good night, ladies and gentlemen.

- Do we have a gentleman? - No.

Good. Screw them.

Cough.

When you have a guy in the band

who's better than everybody else at his instrument,

you gotta hear a solo.

(humming a tune)

And the same with Jerry... you know, you want to see Jerry

in a funny movie, and then you want to see him just do a solo,

'cause he's that good.

(orchestra playing jazz)

(trombone solo playing)

(trumpet solo playing)

(music finishes)

I did take one... print it.

See what happened

September the 4th, 1976,

that created the most talk

in the world of television.

(studio applause)

I have a friend who loves what you do every year.

Arthur Forrest: This is quite a story that almost nobody knows.

It was 1976.

And the phone rang. It's 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 would react marvelously."

And they hadn't really reconciled yet.

Forrest: 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.

They 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." They said, "What is it?"

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

Sinatra: Just tell him out there to come in.

(cheering and applause)

Jerry Lewis: 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...

Chris Lewis: That scream that came out of that audience of 750 people...

I mean, it sounded like 750,000 people.

It was just amazing.

Jerry Lewis: People love to know that love prevails.

So how have you been?

(laughter)

Jerry Lewis: And they went their separate ways.

They didn't see one another. And then they got back.

And when they kissed and hugged at that last moment,

it was worth all of that.

We haven't seen each other for 20 years.

(laughs) Yeah.

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.

So you're working?

(laughter and applause)

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.

(laughs)

As a filmmaker, I've been inspired by Jerry.

And one of my favorite movies of all time

growing up was "The Nutty Professor."

When I got the chance to do that again,

that was like, "This has to be incredible."

Because of my love for this man, this artist,

it was like, "There's no way we'll 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 whole stuff.

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

John Landis: I thought Eddie was extraordinary.

I thought his character as Sherman Klump

was an absolutely extraordinary character, and sweet.

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

mixing sweet and funny.

You don't see that until Jerry Lewis.

You see funny

and you see madcap and you see slapstick,

but a character really sweet and funny... that's Jerry.

You can't do comedy unless you know drama.

I mean, comedy is...

is the 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.

(laughter)

Burnett: He was amazing... amazing to work with.

Really?

Yes. My father suggested plastic surgery.

Oh, yeah? When are you gonna have it?

(laughs)

I had it already.

They did a very unusual job.

Burnett: 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.

(crowd clamoring) Jerry! Jerry!

Jerry Lewis: I am fortunate I crossed over

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

If you are equipped to do physical, wild craziness

as I have and do...

I love... argh!

Oh, l...

...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,

the same guests, the same questions...

I'm just not enjoying it anymore.

I got more critical acclaim from that film

that I did for any of the work that I did in my whole life.

Critics acclaiming, acclaiming, "Oh, he was this,"

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.

Crystal: 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.

Oh, he was great in it. And he embraced who he was.

And he... 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 mixing these

so that we could try 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 straightforward, good-looking leading man.

Lewis could have done that.

- (applause) - You're very wise.

(laughter)

Now if you'll just hold it a second, I'll thrill you some more.

Seinfeld: 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.

(kisses) Have some, baby?

Seinfeld: And 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.

Seinfeld: 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 you.

Buddy Love is loveable, as much as he wanted him not to be.

Harrelson: 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.

(sighs)

You 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.

Scott Lewis: In 1995, when he did "Damn Yankees,"

it was just about the most exciting thing

I can ever remember my dad doing in his career.

Chris Lewis: 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, "Your 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 onstage,

it becomes a family. And that's his ideal situation.

That's perpetual motion for him. It will keep him going,

you know, with fuel forever and ever and ever.

Crystal: 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 this cane thing.

It has nothing to do with "Damn Yankees."

"Throw me a cane.

A cane for..." And the canes are flying.

And suddenly you're in... it's burlesque

and you might as well be seeing Chaplin.

Sit there and enjoy 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...

- very glad to see you. - "Paris Match" three...

(Jerry Lewis narrating) "Time" Magazine ran

"The Most Popular People In the World By Appearance,"

and one was the president, two was Muhammad Ali...

Jerry Lewis: How are you? Where do you want me? Let's go.

(narrating) ...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.

(man laughs)

You gotta go here. Yeah.

Man: Yeah, that's perfect. You should act like that.

Oh, you like that? Here, grab that. How's that?

(mumbles)

Are you finished? I'm through.

(laughing)

Man: Can I have a little bit more?

Man: We're lost in translation now.

Hello.

(screams)

(trombone playing)

"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."

Jerry Lewis: Marvin Hamlisch and Rupert Holmes

have written 12 numbers already.

I'm gonna be the Jewish George Abbott.

He directed his last show when he was 99.

- (camera shutters clicking) - Jerry Lewis: It's very interesting,

because of all of the work and all of the silliness

that made children laugh

that 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."

Harrelson: 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 you.

- Now just open there. - Look, I don't need this.

- Oh, there. - You missed. You missed.

- No, you missed now, Herbert. - You missed.

Jerry Lewis: People want to make contact with someone

that advanced 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 is rediscovering, rediscovering him.

When they see him, they become the 10-year-old

that they were the first time they saw him.

Jerry Lewis: 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 want to see Jerry.

(laughter and applause)

Tarantino: As far as like his fan base, that required children

to be renewed and get involved in Jerry Lewis movies.

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

Richard Lewis: Worldwide, children,

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...

Burnett: 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...

he's just funny.

Harrelson: What's cool to me is, I was getting ready to go to bed

and my daughter says, "You want to watch a movie, Daddy?"

"I guess I could watch something.

What do you want to watch?"

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

Hey!

"Can we watch Jerry Lewis?"

I was like, "You bet we can."

(blows air)

There's not one film that Jerry Lewis has

that a grandkid cannot watch. He 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.

Crystal: If you look at those homo sapiens things...

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

if it was comedy,

it would be circus clowns

and then it would be the court jesters.

And then it starts to...

there's this guy walking, and it's Charlie Chaplin.

Then it's Harold Lloyd. Then it's Keaton.

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

He's just one of the great comedy directors,

you know, not only of his era but of all time.

Murphy: You can see his influence

on a couple of different generations of people, you know,

and not just as a comic but as a filmmaker.

You see his impact all over the place.

(jazz orchestra playing)

Alec Baldwin: Everybody that's made comedy

for the last 30 years or so...

they have a debt to Lewis

and what he did.

(French accent) Are you the father of Jim Carrey?

I banged his mother many years ago.

Landis: And he's got this legacy...

his films and 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.

Murphy: Who's done that, an 80-year run?

Has anyone done that? That has to be some kind of record.

Chase: 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.

Baldwin: He really is the Marlon Brando of comedy films.

He's the Marlon Brando.

Where everyone apes Brando,

everybody apes Jerry.

- What? - Lady!

- Herman. - Hey, lady!

- Herman. - Hey, lady.

- He-hey! - Classic, classic.

Seinfeld: It's hard to be silly

in a way that makes people laugh.

Being silly is like...

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.

Do you think I should do the whole body?

Belzer: 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.

Oh-hh!

I'm infinitely grateful

and I plan to live another 16 years

- so I beat Burns. - (laughter)

I gotta beat Burns.

I just put my daughter in college,

so I have to wait four years for that to work.

But 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 aisle with her.

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

- (laughter) - 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's legacy

will simply be the familiarity,

the household familiarity of the name Jerry Lewis.

I think that says it all and will always say it all...

Jerry Lewis.

Jerry Lewis: Audiences will look at me

and I will say, "I'm blessed.

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."

- Man: Should we start the intro? - Yeah.

(narrating) "Get them to laugh. That's your job... sweat."

See ya, kids.

Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen,

Jerry Lewis!

- (cheering and applause) - (orchestra playing jazz)

- (cheering and applause) - (orchestra playing jazz)