99: The Ladies Man

            It’s always a surprise to people when they first hear that Jerry Lewis is beloved as a near god in France.  For some reason, a culture that is often portrayed as snooty and disregarding finds Lewis’ particular brand of goofiness to be the funniest material on the planet.  It’s true.  It’s also true that Lewis, though not exactly a forgotten talent, has never quite been given the credit that he deserves as an artist.  As both a performer and a director Lewis shines in his 1961 film, The Ladies Man, and it was while constructing this picture that Lewis made one of his finest contributions to the industry.  Still a novice behind the camera, Lewis wanted to make sure that he was getting each element of the intricate set in his shots.  Not wanting to wait for dailies to confirm that he had his footage, he attached a video device to run in tandem with his 35mm camera, effectively creating the now common “video assist” relay system. 

            Looking at The Ladies Man it’s easy to see why such a system was necessary.  Its four story “dollhouse style” set and intricate camera moves must have been more than difficult to coordinate.  As the 1001 text points out, this element of coordination is on full display in the film’s best sequence, as Lewis’ heartbroken Herbert H. Heebert finds himself awakening in a boarding house full of young women.  This shot alone is worth a viewing of the film, as it weaves its way through the morning routines of more than 20 girls.  It’s the key visual moment in a plot that is otherwise ridiculous, but what else would you expect from Jerry Lewis?

            H.H. Heebert graduates from the junior college in his small town, ready to take on the world and marry his longtime sweetheart.  But right after the commencement he spots her smooching someone else.  Devastated, he tells his parents (his mother is also played by Lewis) that he’s leaving for the big city.  Once in town and having sworn off women, he searches desperately for a place to live that isn’t owned by a beauty.  Finally he comes across a boarding house run by two older, modest ladies.  He signs on, but the following morning is shocked to find that all of the tenants in the considerably sized building are pretty bachelorettes.

            Guilted into staying he becomes a sort of jack of all trades, fixing the elevator and picking up dry-cleaning.  From this point on the plot devolves into various set-ups for classic Lewis gags, with the entertainment value only moderately staggered.  It’s basically what one would expect from such a film, and it doesn’t try too hard to rise above that standard.  There are a few quirky and inexplicable sequences, but Lewis’ presence holds them together just well enough as he battles a ferocious dachshund and swarms of needy women.  A contrived ending, in which Heebert realizes that he likes being needed as much as the girls like to order him around, is tacked on, and though it misses the mark it doesn’t really seem to matter by that point.

            The Ladies Man is a visually arresting film from a cinematography standpoint, with camera moment and mise-en-scene as intricate as anything this side of Busby Berkley.  It’s difficult to balance this aspect sometimes with the desire to keep your eyes on Lewis, seeming as always to just be acting silly for the sake of it and selling it with all he’s got.  His comedy was never highbrow until Martin Scorsese came along, and it never had to be.  He was just a nutty American guy doing whatever he could to make people laugh.  I think French people like him so much because they see us all like that.

Language: English

Runtime: 95 Minutes

Available @ Youtube.com

Grade: 2.5 Hats Off