Customer Reviews

The Errand Boy

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A knowing and multi-faceted critique of big-studio filmmaking, 'The Errand Boy' is one of Lewis's very best films (it is his third; his fifth, 'The Patsy', can be considered as a sort of sequel). Morty S. Tashman is hired as a spy by the moguls of a major studio because they want to learn how their money is spent. He proves to be a destructive force: just as the prologue had exposed the trickeries and illusions on which Hollywood films thrive, the following 80 minutes show Morty disrupting a few shootings, a voice-recording session, the work of script-girls, and more. He stands as the innocence the producers have lost in trying to make money and please everybody; it is quite easy to read him as 'Lewis the artist'. By the end of the film, Morty has become a Jerry Lewis-like star, proudly saluting his new fans behind dark glasses; he thus seems to have made a place for himself in a world he had previously reduced to pieces. This dichotomy is similar to the one of 'The Bellboy', Lewis's first film as a director: in that movie, the timid, free and inventive bellboy was contrasted with the swagger, aggressiveness and confinement of Lewis playing himself. The brilliant and cyclical final sequence offers an interesting alternative: by having Morty meet a clumsy boy resembling his 'pre-star' self, Lewis assures us that even if some can't escape the studio's mercantile traps, there will always be innocence to be spread in these calculations and falsities. Intelligent, and very funny.

A typical Jerry Lewis movie. As with most of his, if you don't like Lewis you won't like the movie, but also as with most of his films, it's packed with funny comedy that's mostly timeless and often imitated.
The cast includes Brian Donlevy (Cowboy, The Quatermass Experiment, Beau Geste, etc.), Howard McNear (Floyd the barber on The Andy Griffith Show), and Joe Besser (The Three Stooges, The Abbott & Costello Show).
The plot's not; just a flimsy frame for Jerry's shenanigans, of which there's enough to fill 90 minutes with laughs, plus a couple cute scenes with puppets. Jerry's hired ostensibly as an errand boy for a movie studio, but actually to spy for the upper management. He get's into plenty of slapstick trouble on the job but never accomplishes any spying.
But the comedy is not all slapstick by any means; much of it is poking fun at movie directors and supervisors, and other screwball comedy. One of my favorite bits is when three kids are ordering candy where Jerry's filling in at the studio cafeteria, and they send him up the same high ladder 3 times for different orders from the same giant glass jar of jelly beans. There's also a great basketball scene with the Dover Basketeers. But wait, there's more, including a cameo appearance by the Cartwrights of Bonanza, Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Pernell Roberts, and Dan Blocker.
My favorite Jerry Lewis movies are "The Delicate Delinquent," "Way... Way Out," (which doesn't seem to be available anywhere) and of course "The Nutty Professor" (nothing against Eddy Murphy, but he's no Jerry Lewis). I think The Errand Boy is almost as good as these.

Flawed but generally successful combination of pathos and 1930s slapstick: the most insecure guy on the planet is put in charge of internal security for a (wanna-be) major motion picture company. Jerry provides some of the funniest moments ever captured on film, as he stumbles from one department to the next, first an as an "extra", then as a mailroom delivery person. His attempts to find a quiet spot for lunch are worth the price of admission. But perhaps the best scene is the quietest: he finds himself in the prop department with a miniature clown who "comes to life" - it's a beautifully acted and effectively lit scene. However, there are are numerous elaborate sequences which prove fruitless, and the movie is overlong by about 15 minutes. And the character's ultimate "discovery" by the creative powers-that-be is bizarre in light of the fact that his presence has been unintentionally recorded on celluloid from day one. Despite the lost opportunities, TEB remains on a level with "The Nutty Professor" - a very entertaining and thoughtful effort.

I had never seen this particular Jerry Lewis film until it recently came to DVD and wasn't sure what to expect. What I saw was nearly 90 minutes of the most biting satire I have ever seen propogated against Hollywood and I love it! It is incredible to think that this motion picture was made in 1961, it is more relevant now in many aspects than it was then.

Not only does this film have some of Jerry's best comedy--some of it coming from other actors--but it also features some rather touching dramatic moments.

The third movie of Lewis as film director, also written ( in collaboration with Bill Richmond ) and performed by Lewis himself, follows the same scheme he invented for " The bellboy "; this is a comic film with the structure of a long cartoon and an almost inexistent but necessary plot ( Morty, an anonymous worker from Paramutual Pictures is hired by the major studio's moguls as spy to watch closely how the company's money is spent ), the basic support that allows Lewis to tack a collection of depurated and satirical sight-gags focused in an only stage: this time, in a very particular hell named Hollywood( the name of the movie studio where action takes place, Paramutual, is, of course, a deliberated sarcastic distorsion of Paramount Pictures ). " The errand boy " is a subversive ( still today )comic glance to movie industry where Lewis dismounts many secrets and lies of movie business. The film is plenty of delightful comic scenes like that one in which Morty ( Jerry Lewis ), sat in front of the table where the big boss manages the movie studio, develops a mocking caricature of the " big fishs " of film industry only with mimicry and the support of Count Basie's music.


Widescreen edition.

When this movie came out in 1961, Jerry Lewis deliver a humorous look into what really happens in Hollywood. 44 years later it is still relevent today as it was then. Lots of surprises in this movie including the music of Count Basie in the classic boardroom scene with Lewis mouthing off to the music. I enjoyed Lewis' work in this movie!!

This is one of his most daring and creative ventures along with The Bellboy. Not much dialogue, just over the top sight gags and general hilarity. What do you people expect? This is Jerry Lewis in top form and it just doesn't get any better.

The only thing funnier than his movies are the ridiculous criticisms of his films. Hello people...this is Jerry Lewis OK! It's too bad that his egocentric persona alienated several generations that didn't grow up looking forward to his next project. The Errand Boy stands alone as one of the most innovative comedies of all time and anyone that can muster some objectivity will appreciate his work for what it is. I personally think this is one of the funniest movies of all time and I rank it as Jerry's best work, although the Academy may disagree. 4 toothpicks

I rank this #3 in my choice of favorites from him. The Count Basie music in his conference room bit is worth it alone. I see familiar faces in the movie including the guy who sold tribbels in Star Trek. Buy it. You won't regret it. It's a good spoof on how movies are made and some good b/w footage of early hollywood.

I've been watching these Lewis films (from the 10-DVD box) and, sequentially, I'm seeing Lewis mull over certain ideas in various formats and contexts. As it should be. They say Eddie Van Halen played the same solo throughout nine albums and I'm not complaining, it's fascinating to see something so interesting get repeatedly perfected. After The Ladies Man, I couldn't help wonder if The Errand Boy wasn't a move backward. It has a particular vibe of The Bellboy, only this time Paramount is the Fontainebleau, with an expansion of the Ladies Man' examination of television's artificiality. Lewis is usually about contrasting what is projected with what "really is" and, considering his position as actor, singer, writer, producer and director, it's no surprise he keeps finding to new ways to test his own credulity. Similar gags are enlarged and deepened ("conducting the orchestra," for example), yet there continues to be a spontaneous verve in what Lewis observes. One moment, he pays tribute to Chaplin (the first puppet scene), the next (the second puppet scene) he returns to his uniquely Lewisian preoccupations. Finetuning his modern message. Getting ready for the next step. And, along the way, a lot of honestly-earned laughs. How he gets so much out of so little is really where his genius resides. I consider this one a transitional film and that's nothing but praise.

Although I'm not known as a Jerry Lewis fan, this movie grabbed me from the first time I saw it -- to the point where I finally had to buy it. The scene that I love the most and that I think has become quite famous, is the one where he sits at the bosses' desk and mimes to a Count Bassie number. He is pure genius in that bit and you get to see snippets of who Jerry Lewis is -- not just a bumbler, silly guy but has flashes of sexiness, command, and sophistication. I just love that bit for seeing all these many faces.

The movie has a lot of really funny stuff in it too... you can see the punch lines coming in so many cases but that makes it all the funnier. The DVD is extra good because there's commentary you can add that enhances the watching and brings back the old days even you if you aren't old enough to remember the old days ;-)