Jerry Lewis was at the height of his popularity when he took his first directing credit, on The Bellboy, which turned out to be a huge hit and one of his funniest movies. But it wasn't business as usual: The Bellboy has no storyline, and the central character (a bellhop at the fantastically ornate Fountainebleau Hotel in Miami) executes his role essentially without speaking. Some of the gags are duds or dated, but the good ones are great: Jerry's anxious stroll across a cavernous, empty ballroom, and a small masterpiece involving four telephones at a reception desk. There's also a hilarious sequence in which the movie star "Jerry Lewis" comes to the hotel, which gives Lewis a chance to speak ("Stop with the brushing!"). The Bellboy is very short at 71 minutes, but contains essential proof of Lewis's gifts as comedian and director. --Robert Horton
2.
Unfortunately for the guests at the Fontainbleu Hotel, one of the bellboys is Stanley, an endearing, but accident-prone nitwit. With Stanley around, zany hotel hijinks abound, for the rubber-faced bellhop creates klutzy, comedic havoc wherever he goes. Lewis' first directorial effort, which he also produced, wrote, and, of course, starred in. Cameos by Milton Berle and Walter Winchell keep the atmosphere festive and the laughs aplenty.
3.
Jerry Lewis made his acclaimed directorial debut in this rollicking comedy hit. Starring as a non-speaking bumbling bellhop at the ritzy Fontainebleau Hotel in Florida's Miami Beach, Lewis encounters (and creates) all sorts of catastrophes, including confrontations with hard-to-please guests, misplaced room keys, misdirected telephone calls, and run-ins with Milton Berle and...entertainer Jerry Lewis!
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
<>
Movie Database
In Theaters
