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Long before Eddie Murphy remade The Nutty Professor in the ‘90s, there was Jerry Lewis—the talented writer, director, and actor who managed to transform an awkward chemistry professor into a charming lead, thanks to a little bit of chemistry and a whole lot of comic genius.
In the original 1963 comedy classic, Lewis stars as Julius Kelp, a socially awkward chemistry professor with a history of conducting unsanctioned experiments that tend to go horribly wrong. Bullied by one of his big, tough, football-playing students, Professor Kelp decides to do something about it. But after six months of working out at the gym fail to produce the desired results, he tries to take care of the problem his way—using chemistry.
Professor Kelp’s magical concoction turns him into Buddy Love, a hip cat who’s every bit as loud and obnoxious as his custom suits. Buddy quickly attracts the attention of pretty co-ed Stella Purdy (Stella Stevens)—but a glitch in the formula keeps changing him back to nerdy Julius at the most inconvenient times.
With its exaggerated characters and its swingin’ ‘60s style, The Nutty Professor is a wacky retro comedy, designed to be completely over-the-top and perfectly slapstick-y from beginning to end.
Of course, Lewis has always had a gift for going over-the-top. Both of his characters here are totally overplayed—whether it’s bumbling, cross-eyed Julius or wildly overconfident Buddy. Still, while both characters can be a bit much at times, Lewis makes them work. Julius has his own awkward charm, while Buddy’s exaggerated cool makes him just as strangely appealing to viewers as he is to the kids who hang out at the Purple Pit.
Lewis’s spot-on comic timing, meanwhile, adds to the film’s success. The legendary comic uses dialogue, facial expressions, and even perfectly-timed silences to get his point across—and the result is often absolutely hilarious.
Keep in mind, however, that wild comedies from the ‘60s are nothing like wild comedies today. The Nutty Professor isn’t crude or extreme in any way. In fact, by today’s standards, it’s pretty tame. Instead of zinging endless gags at viewers’ heads, hoping that some of them will stick, Lewis takes his time, developing the characters and their story to give the jokes some context. He even wraps it all up with a message about liking yourself—no matter who you may be.
The Nutty Professor isn’t without its quirks and flaws (for instance, not a single one of Professor Kelp’s students seems young enough to be in college), but if you appreciate classic comedy, it’s a refreshing change of pace from the wackiness of today’s over-the-top offerings.
Blu-ray Review:
If you’re a fan of Jerry Lewis, you won’t want to miss the film’s 50th Anniversary Blu-ray release. In addition to DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film—complete with loads of special features—this massive box set also includes DVDs of two other Lewis comedies, Cinderfella and The Errand Boy, and a CD of some of Lewis’s own prank phone calls. The set also features plenty of printed materials, including storyboards, the cutting script (complete with Lewis’s notes), and a copy of the book Being a Person, which Lewis wrote and had illustrated while filming The Nutty Professor.
Whether you’re an old fan or a new one, this extensive collection is sure to keep you entertained for hours on end.
