The surprising thing about Jerry Lewis’ The Nutty Professor isn’t that Lewis is silly. That much is to be expected. What’s surprising is how Lewis’ version of a James Dean rebel is so uncool. Come to think of it, that’s really not a surprise either. Nobody ever accused Lewis of being a fine dramatic actor. Nobody has really accused him of anything but being an expert at silly, face-contorting physical comedy.
In The Nutty Professor, Lewis plays a goofy version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Jekyll equivalent is Professor Julius Kelp, a nerdy, bumbling, tongue-tied accident-prone young chemistry professor. He’s got buckteeth, a bad haircut, a goofy voice, and is incredibly shy. The Hyde equivalent is Buddy Love, Kelp’s alter ego, who appears on the scene when Kelp consumes a potion that he’s been developing in his lab as a result of getting bullied by big guys once too often. Buddy is a handsome, smart-alecky, cool dude who can sing and handles women with an off-hand – and somewhat rude – ease. He’s also a heartthrob who nobody suspects is connected to Kelp, and he has no trouble winning the heart of blonde bombshell Stella Purdy (Stella Stevens) – one of Kelp’s students – at the Purple Pit campus nightclub. It’s no surprise that Kelp likes being under the influence of the potion, but he gets worried when its effects start wearing off at all the wrong moments.
Buddy isn’t as different from Kelp as Lewis probably intended, still making goofy faces when he sings, and not exactly coming across as cool as he was intended. When Buddy makes his first appearance at the Purple Pit, everything stops, everyone turns, and he’s the centre of attention. This seems a bit laughable, as Lewis doesn’t pull off cool as well as he thinks. But the point is made – the nerd is hopeless but sweet; the cool cat is talented but obnoxious; the two are simply opposite sides of the same fellow.
This early ‘60s production shows its era clearly. Everything is neat and tidy, with bright colours and wholesome humour all the way – wholesome if you don’t object to the stereotypes of women as either nags or beauties to be won. University life is the pre-Hippies version of innocent shenanigans and respect for faculty and other older folks. You won’t find drugs, sex or sit-ins here, and the students all appear to be 30 years old. So we can innocently enjoy Dr. Warfield’s (Del Moore) pants dropping as he stands on his desk imagining himself to be a big-time music star.
The Nutty Professor is, well… nutty – at least by 1963 standards. The bad jokes and silly physical humour are virtually endless –they’re what the movies is all about. Lewis, who stars, directed and co-wrote the script, is onscreen for all but a few minutes of the production. And if the Lewis style of humour is your cup of tea (if you’re French, for example), then there’s plenty to recommend it.
