Customer Reviews

Nutty Professor (Widescreen)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Classic, great piece of early sixties comedy with Jerry Lewis at his apex. Sure their are a few hokey moments, but it plays freshly entertaining from beginning to end. Stella Stevens was hot. Some of the most original comedy I've ever seen in a film along with great one liners and yes, thought provoking statements. Since I was a child this movie has always been up front as a special comedy for me. Only creative comedic genius could produce this film. Buddy Love is a gas. No need to outline the plot, just sit back and experience a different era of filmaking that holds strong today. Great toe tapping tunes, actually. Turn the music up on a serious home theatre system. You dig.

How anyone could rate this classic Jerry Lewis comedy less than 5 stars is beyond me, but we all see things differently when it comes to movies. When you talk about a comedy legend and pure comic genius, Jerry Lewis has to be in the top ten of all time. In the 1970's they used to have movie theme week on Channel 7 out of Detroit and as a 10 year old I would race home after school to watch them.

Jerry Lewis as Professor Julius F. Kelp tries to concoct a potion to help him gain physical stamina and great looks to impress one of his students named Stella played by (Stella Stevens). To Kelp's surprise the concoction actually works and he is transformed into the dashing and handsome nightclub singer Buddy Love. Once kelp's alter ego Buddy Love takes over the real fun begins. Who will win out in the end, Professor Kelp or Buddy Love?

Paramount Studios has done a great job with this DVD release, the picture is clear and crisp and the audio in 5.1 surround sound is fantastic. This DVD version is better than any TV or VHS version I've ever seen. The comedic genius of Jerry Lewis and his brand of hilarity add a whole new dimension to this classic Jekyll & Hyde tale. If you're looking for a movie that's not offensive and can entertain the whole family, than the original "Nutty Professor" is the one for you.

Jerry Lewis isn't getting any younger, so my only complaint is that there should have been a commentary or interview as a special feature included while he's still around to do it. I sure hope an ultimate Jerry Lewis collection is in the works, filled with tons of extras. Viva la Jerry Lewis!

DVD Features Include:
- "Paramount in the '50s" retrospective featurette
- Widescreen version enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs
- Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround; French Mono
- English subtitles
- Interactive menus
- Scene selection

This is one of Lewis's richest films, one in which technical perfection meets considerable thematic depth. Professor Kelp is a soul whose few contacts with the sensible world lead to complications; people mock him because of his inability to accomplish concrete actions. Suddenly troubled by sensible beauty (S. Stevens), Kelp feels the need to have a body that will enable him to satisfy his desire. This body (Buddy Love), in direct contrast to Kelp, is comfortable only when pursuing entirely material endeavors; Love is especially at ease at the Purple Pit, an echo of Plato's cave in the way it manufactures illusions and crude dreams. Kelp's embodiment is not complete, as soul and body soon start to interact (when Buddy speaks like Kelp and vice-versa). The merging of both is foreshadowed by three clues: a) Buddy avenges Kelp by humiliating the head of the University; b) as the prom night begins, Kelp uncharacteristically starts to dance, led by instinct alone; c) Buddy's more decent behavior when he performs for the students, a bit later. A performance which is interrupted by the ultimate transformation and Kelp's ensuing confession. The film's conclusion is far from a happy ending: despite Kelp's vow to accept himself as he is, he now moulds his appearance and demeanor after Buddy Love's and has been corrupted by Buddy's fascination with artificiality. The fact that Kelp would return two years later in 'The Family Jewels' as a photographer - i.e. as a reproducer of the sensible world - is revealing. A major work from an underrated artist.

THE NUTTY PROFESSOR is about an eccentric chemistry professor who discovers a liquid concoction which can transform him into a suave character in the style and manner of Dean Martin. For a Jerry Lewis film the antics are somewhat tame. Lewis plays the professor and Stella Stevens is his adoring student. The supporting cast includes Del Moore, Kathleen Freeman and Howard Morris.

The movie is saved by the acting and outstanding good looks of Miss Stevens. The Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde theme makes a decent story and the film also benfits from Jerry Lewis behaving almost as if he is under control.

i'm a 19 year old woman, and I have to say that I like this original Nutty Professor better then the remake one with "Eddie Murphy" Jerry Lewis does a wonderful job has the Professor, this movie has a very good story and great acting, it is so amazing how many good movies there were back then, anyone who hasn't see it yet should =-)

i saw this movie when i was a kid and i still think one of the funniest scenes in movie history is the barbell scene. what a gut wrencher. a true comedy classic by one of the greatest comedians of the 20th century.

O.K I'm only 17 but i've seen enough films to know that this is my favourite of all time. I love Jerry Lewis, he's a comic genius and I never get bored of wathching this film in particular. The original Nutty Professor totally overshadows Eddie Murphy's version in my opinion. While the modern adaptation was stuffed with crass, in your face jokes, Lewis' creation has a gentle and innocent humour and you care about what happens to Kelp's character.
The music scenes in particular are brilliant and the scene where the truth comes out is surprisingly touching.
I always had a thing for men in glasses anyway.....

UP AT DAWN SLEEPY AND YAWININ-STILL THE TASTE OF WINE-THEN I REMEMBER YOUR MINE AND I'VE GOT A WORLD THATS FINE.

WHATS BEFORE ME?ROUTINES THAT BORE ME PUNCH THE CLOCK AT EIGHT-
THEN I REMEMBER YOUR MINE AND I'VE GOT A WORLD THATS GREAT.

ATOM BOMBS CAPE CANIVRAL AND FALSE ALARMS-HALF THE UNIVERSE IS UP IN ARMS-SO I FLIP A LITTLE TOO UNTIL IM HOLDING YOU-
WHATS THAT HASSLE?
I'LL BUY THE CASTLE WE CAN LIVE LIKE KINGS-IF WE'RE TOGTHER FOREVER I'VE GOT A WORLD THAT-YOU'VE GOT A WORLD THAT-WE'VE GOT A WORLD THAT SWINGS.

I'D LIKE TO TAKE YOU THROUGH THIS WILD WONDERFUL VENTURE-FLY LIKE
A KITE THROUGH SPACE-NO STRINGS-I DONT WANT TO LOSE THAT BELL THAT RINGS-IVE GOT A WORLD THAT-YOU'VE GOT A WORLD THAT-WE'VE GOT A WORLD THAT SWINGS.

WE'VE GOT A WORLD THAT SWINGS!

After I watched the tv movie MARTIN&LEWIS I am into things about the real MARTIN&LEWIS and I found The Nutty Proffesser downstairs in my basement and was in total shock that I actually found a Jerry Lewis movie!

The Nutty Professer is about a loser college treacher who is getting bullied by his students and decides to work out but that doesnt work either!

So he decides to make a potion that turns him into cool cat Buddy
Love who seems to be more popluar with the ladies then the professer ever was!

Buddy Love has his eye on a pretty college student(Stella Purdy)
that the professer also has his eye on.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes Jerry Lewis-or someone who wants to see the other movies he made with Dean Martin.

Hollywood legend, Jerry Lewis had great success teaming with Dean Martin in the early years of his career. While partnered with Martin, Lewis's wacky slapstick antics did reach extremes, but he was usually pulled back, before going too far, for too long. After the partnership dissolved, and Lewis began producing and directing his own films, he continued to expand on the same gag based, physical comic style that characterized his earlier work. Like him or not, Jerry is Jerry. The difference now, was that Lewis was primarily responsible for keeping himself from going over the top, and sometimes he did not know when he had gone too far.

The Nutty Professor, one of Jerry's most popular movies, is done in typical Lewis style. Stringing together various comedic episodes, and physical gags, the movie is a comedic variation of the Jekyll and Hyde dual identity story, with Jerry assuming the roles of nerdy, bespectacled college professor "Julius Kelp", and his alter ego, the ultra hip, and cool, mystery man, "Buddy Love".

After being humiliated in class, in an incident with a football player, the mild mannered chemistry professor decides he needs to improve his physical condition. His resolve to do this, is reinforced when his lovely, blue-eyed student Stella Purdy (Stella Stevens), assures him that his slight physical stature really doesn't matter. After trying "normal" means to improve his physical condition by working out at a gym, Kelp turns to chemistry, trying to develop a formula to improve man's physical development. Reaching the crucial testing stage, for the sake of science, and in the quest for knowledge, Kelp tests the formula on himself. Drinking it down, he then undergoes a dramatic and startling transformation into a super slick playboy type, Buddy Love.

Buddy is of course everything that Kelp isn't. Smooth, suave and sophisticated, Love makes his first public splash in an appearance at the "Purple Pit", the local teen hangout, attired in a striking blue suit. There he orders his favorite drink, an "Alaskan polar bear heater", and impresses the teens with his singing ability. Stella, the target of Buddy's attention, is not totally enamored by the narcissistic swinger's charm, but still finds herself strangely drawn to him.

With Lewis more or less under control, the comedic episodes, particularly those with Buddy, are entertaining, and flow together more smoothly and than in most of his other films. Some highlights include a bit where Love gets the head of the college to climb up on top of a table to perform Shakespeare in his underwear, and Kelp's goofy dancing to the song "Leapfrog" (A real "toe-tapper"). Kelp is perplexed by the transformation process, but his scientific objectivity is clouded by the fact when he appears as Buddy Love, he is able to approach his secret heartthrob, not as her teacher, but as a man. Things eventually come to a head, when both Kelp and Love are to appear at the same function, at the same time. Kelp's speech on stage is rather moving,...actually.

Lewis is a filmmaker, much like Clint Eastwood, who enjoys working with those he favors, and has the power to make it happen. This film features Kathleen Freeman, Del Moore, Buddy Lester and Milton Frome. Not the most well known names, but all have worked with Lewis numerous times. Moore is terrific, as Doctor Warfield. Jerry's films sometimes feature some obscure choices as his leading lady, but that is not the case here, as sexy Stella Stevens is perhaps one of the most well known actresses ever to be in one of his solo projects. She more than holds her own, going one on one in verbal jousts with Buddy Love. Stella also makes quite a transformation from pigtailed student, to young lady out on the town.

The Nutty Professor works on most levels. There are excesses to be sure, but the Jekyll and Hyde story at its core, has always had an appeal. Buddy Love, does have a hypnotic attraction, and Professor Kelp is the middle-aged version of the kind of bumbler that Lewis has always played. Released on DVD in 2000, this surprisingly still remains one of the few Jerry Lewis films available on DVD, and the transfer is excellent. Full of vibrant colors, we get a great look at the Edith Head's costumes, and the sets. Orchestra leader, Les Brown and his Band of Renown, make an appearance too. Not much in the way of extras, but if you want to enjoy what many consider one of his finest efforts, The Nutty Professor is classic Jerry Lewis. The high cost is a negative. When will Jerry's other films come to DVD?