Product Details

• Actors: Nike Arrighi, John Barrard, Michael Bates, Pippa Benedict, John Bluthal
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: July 8, 2003
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00009MEKK
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #71,409 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The opening sequence of Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River has a bowler-hatted Jerry Lewis mischievously striding (in his oddly graceful, loose-hipped way) along the streets of London. The spontaneous business he creates is, alas, the last bit of freshness in the movie, which quickly reverts to a painfully labored plot. Jerry is in Swinging London (wrap your mind around that), an entrepreneur who spends the entire film trying to make up to his estranged British wife for turning her family estate into a Chinese restaurant-discotheque. The story also involves Arab oil barons, Portuguese automobiles, and a philandering dentist. Lewis didn't direct himself in this one, which accounts for the off pacing and total lack of good visual gags. It was 1968, and his rapid decline from creative excellence (see The Ladies Man and The Nutty Professor) and box-office potency was already into its skid. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Very Disappointing Jerry Lewis Film, May 29, 2005

By	M. Hart "Sci-Fi Fan" (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In 1967, Jerry Lewis starred in what arguably may be his worst film ever: a little gem entitled "Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River". Directed by Jerry Paris (1925-1986) and based upon a novel of the same name by author Max Wilk, the film begins in London where Jerry Lewis plays an American entrepreneur named George Lester. He marries Pamela (Jacqueline Pearce) and whisks her away to various exotic locations for several years while trying to build a business of his own with the supposed financial assistance from a crooked British businessman named H. William Homer (Terry-Thomas, 1911-1990). Tired of living away from London, Pamela leaves George, who also returns to London. Without money and wanting to give Pamela a more permanent home, George comes up with an unusual business idea: he turns Pamela's inherited home into a Chinese restaurant/discothèque. Seeing what he's done to her house, Pamela threatens to have George thrown in jail and moves into a hotel. She then begins to have an affair with a wealthy British oilman named Dudley Heath (Nicholas Parsons), who has the plans for a revolutionary new oil drill. Thrown into this unusual story is a male flight attendant/auto-mechanic named Fred Davies (Bernard Cribbins) whom George had talked into selling Portuguese-made sports cars that nobody wants. Also thrown into the story is the leader of a British girl scouts troop named Lucille Beatty (Patricia Routledge, who may be best known for her title role as Hyacinth Bucket in the British TV sitcom "Keeping Up Appearances" that ran between 1990-1995).

Aside from a few funny scenes, such as Fred serving people on board the cheap airlines that he works for and scenes involving Lucille, the film staggers along and fails to sufficiently engage the audience or be truly funny. Overall, I cannot rate this film with a rating higher than 2 out of 5 stars and cannot recommend it. Had the film had better direction, it may have been far more entertaining and successful. Unfortunately, it was neither.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars One of Jerry's Worst, September 2, 2008

By	Scott Rivers (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Jerry Lewis traveled to England for this lame 1968 farce, which cannot be salvaged by the presence of Terry-Thomas. Some viewers may appreciate a restrained Jerry, but the results are deadly dull. Even the King of Crazy admitted he did this one solely for the money. Produced by Walter Shenson in a sad comedown from the glory days of "A Hard Day's Night" and "The Mouse That Roared."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A jolly bad show, November 18, 2005

By	yaremar (Pilsen, USA) - See all my reviews

With all the good Jerry Lewis comedies awaiting DVD release (and, yes, there are good ones), who greenlighted this loser? Hey, Columbia, why did you ignore the very funny THE BIG MOUTH and release this turkey instead? I don't get it (and in terms of a DVD purchase, I didn't). Even Jerry disowns this staggeringly unfunny farce about a wacky American loose in England, whose get-rich-quick schemes get him involved with a host of unsavory characters. No matter what side of the Atlantic you're on, this is a jolly bad show. I love Jerry, but this is the pits.