DVD Review HTF REVIEW: The Nutty Professor - Special Collector's Edition (Recommended) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Columbia needs to release The Big Mouth

...and who has Three on a Couch?

 

[Randy A Salas]

My Q&A with Chris Lewis can be found on this page:

http://www.startribune.com/tv

If there are problems accessing it, I'll post a plain-text copy on my web site, but this one has all the formatting.

Also, for those who don't know, there is a screening Tuesday night of "The Nutty Professor" at the Paramount Theater in Los Angeles. Jerry and Chris are supposed to be there, as are such celebs as Steve Martin, Tom Hanks and Martin Short.

 

[Peter Kline]

Ummm. I think the Paramount Theater is no more. It's a parking lot.

 

[Steve...O]

Great interview Randy! Thank you for sharing.

To be honest, I was not too excited about these films because, even though I used to be a Lewis fan, his growing arrogance and egotism over the last decade (or two) have turned me off.

His son, by contrast, seems like a level headed gentleman who really knows the business well. Hopefully he will be able to succeed in getting the Martin/Lewis films (which can be side splittingly funny) released sooner rather than later.

I had to chuckle about the part about Peter Bogdanovich being too busy to do a commentary. I thought "busy doing what"? It seems as if all this guy does anymore is commentaries/analysis plus the occasional Sopranos cameo. Bogdanovich does have a new book out that features an interview with Lewis in one of the chapters. Definitely not for the kiddies to read.

Steve

 

[Randy A Salas]

I love the quote where Chris says that he knew his dad's health was improving when he started complaining about everything.

Jerry's legacy is in very good hands with Chris watching out for it. His idea to exchange his father's 1,500-plus reels of behind-the-scenes footage to the UCLA Archive in return for transferring it all is a good one--and something that we all might benefit from.

Also, for what it's worth, the interview I posted is the complete thing, and it was largely done for the members of HTF. What's running in the paper is only one-fifth of what I had the editors put online. Please excuse any typos, because I had to edit it rather quickly and it didn't go through the normal proofreading process that our printed articles receive.

 

[Jeffrey]

Kudos from me too, Randy; superb interview....

As for the Martin-Lewis releases, I get a feeling they may be timed to coincide with Jerry's long awaited memoir of his days with Dean which is said to be coming out sometime next year...

Jeffrey

 

[Peter Kline]

Yeah, it must be the theatre on the lot!

 

[Randy A Salas]

Ron, I had a followup conversation with Chris Lewis, so I took the liberty of asking him about these titles for you. He said they are both owned by Columbia (Sony), but the news is not good.

"Actually, the Columbia titles are quite a challenge because nobody knows who owns what over there," he said, making a comparison with the Paramount films that have just come out. "I do plan on making noise with them [Columbia] again soon."

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Randy,

Thanks for asking about those titles. They
are two very important titles and I can only hope
the studio recognizes the importance of releasing them.

As far as the current Jerry Lewis DVDs are concerned....

I have watched my two favorite films and
noticed the running lines on The Errand Boy
and the subdued color on Cinderfella. Still,
these films look pretty darn good. The extras are
also quite good.

I would love to see all of Jerry's home movies that
he took on the various sets during the 50s and 60s.
Hope those make it out to Home Video at some point.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I was glad to see Chris Lewis mention "Who's Minding the Store". That's probably my favorite of the solo Jerry Lewis Paramount films that didn't make it out in this wave.

Regards,

 

[John KB]

Just so you guys are aware, I was watching The Patsy and discovered that even though the commentary is a 'select scene' commentary, it does run though out the movie. They just don't have much to say.
Same with the other releases that are only select scene.
They do vary though. The Patsy has more to listening to, then say The Errand Boy.

 

[TonyD]

randy that link to the full lewis interview doesnt go to the interview.

do you still have this available?

 

[Nick F]

I'm a big fan, but the commentary tracks I've heard so far are a huge letdown. What a great opputunity to hear a comic master in his twilight years wax eloquent about working at his peak. Alas, what we get is Steve Lawrence moderating a session marked by huge gaps of silence and very little insight. Casting Mr. Lawrence in this role was a huge miscalculation, in my book. Someone was needed who had more than a fan's appreciation of these films and could ask Mr. Lewis some intelligent questions. Sigh.
The archival stuff is great though and much appreciated.

 

[Randy A Salas]

It was that or nothing. The tracks were recorded in December while Jerry Lewis was in a treatment facility for his Prednisone addiction. His good friend Steve Lawrence helped him through the commentaries, because he is someone whom Jerry trusted. If not for Lawrence, they wouldn't have been done. It's long work, and Jerry wasn't in the best situation--but he had plenty of time on his hands, which is why they were done then.

Peter Bogdanovich and Francis Ford Coppola were willing to do commentary, which would have been after Jerry was released from treatment, but their schedules couldn't be aligned with Jerry's in time. Read the interview.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Precious few extras are available for the Martin and Lewis films. Jerry didn't begin saving outtakes until 1958, and Paramount saved nothing.

Other than trailers, here's what survives:

MY FRIEND IRMA GOES WEST - newsreel footage of Jerry and the chimp, as well as the premiere in Las Vegas.

THE STOOGE - One minute promo with Dean, Jerry and Hal Wallis. This was filmed especially for the New Year's Eve premiere, and is very funny. Jerry comes out and welcomes the audience. He intros Dean, who intros Hal Wallis. They start saying how happy they were before they met him, but now they've been sued, need lawyers and proceed to push Wallis around. By the end of the clip, he just about falls on the floor as they all break up!

THE CADDY - color home movies on location. There's also the famous radio outtakes but, with the strong language, I doubt they would include them.

MONEY FROM HOME - 30 second promo film on the set with George Marshall for an appearance at the Fox Theater in Detroit.

LIVING IT UP - Newsreel footage of the premiere in Atlantic City with Janet Leigh. "Martin and Lewis Day."

THREE RING CIRCUS - color home movies on the set.

YOU'RE NEVER TOO YOUNG - deleted song "Relax-ay-voo." This exists in both a black and white Colgate Comedy Hour kinescope, and a color 16mm reduction print. This was in the initial first preview at Brown's Hotel, but was cut before general release. It takes place in the opening barber shop sequence. There is also newsreel footage of Jerry at Brown's Hotel for the premiere.

PARDNERS - color home movies on the set. ALso, newsreel footage of the premiere in Atlantic City.

There may be some additional newsreel footage in the Paramount News archive, but that's all that comes to time.

Audio tracks survive on several deleted songs, including "The Hallelujah Train" from LIVING IT UP (a short piece of this cut sequence is at the start of the trailer); "The Test of Time" from PARDNERS; and "It's a Good Day" from THREE RING CIRCUS.

As far as I know, that's all that survives on the Martin and Lewis features. I hope this helps!

Bob

 

[Randy A Salas]

Bob, I wonder if there are more Martin and Lewis extras waiting to be discovered besides what you list? As Chris Lewis notes, there are more than 1,500 reels of Jerry Lewis' personally shot footage in his vaults going back to 1948, and only a third of it has been reviewed. It might not all be on-the-set stuff, but it's highly likely that it includes items that would complement some of the films from the period in which it was shot.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

That's possible Randy, but I saw most of that material when I worked for Mr. Lewis, and I'm pretty sure there are no other home movies taken on the sets. The majority of private footage from those years are the typical family-type home movies.

Of course, maybe Chris can persuade Jerry to release some of his "professional" home movies, such as "Come Back Little Shiksa."

There's lots of footage from his solo films however. Hours and hours of it!

 

[Randy A Salas]

I see. Thanks for the clarification, Bob.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

You're welcome Randy. If you talk with Chris, please say hello for me. I haven't seen him in years. Tell him I still remember those crazy times at the warehouse in Hollywood!

Here's an idea: if Paramount is planning the "ultimate" Martin and Lewis DVD box set, suggest they include a field-sequential version of MONEY FROM HOME in 3-D. I saw the last surviving Polaroid print last year at the big 3-D festival in Hollywood. In the original dual-strip process, the stereoscopic cinematography is fantastic! (This is not the inferior red/blue anaglyph system, but full-color perfect quality Polaroid 3-D.)

Also, SCARED STIFF, THE CADDY and MONEY FROM HOME were originally released in 3-channel stereo sound: a left, center and right track which was on a full-coat 35mm magnetic film interlocked with the picture. They probably don't exist, but Paramount should be encouraged to look for them.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

I forgot to mention that THREE RING CIRCUS, YOU'RE NEVER TOO YOUNG, ARTISTS AND MODELS and PARDNERS were originally released in 3 channel optical Perspecta stereo sound. However, I've heard these tracks and they are not very impressive. 95% of the signal is from the center, with very little use of the left/right channels.

However, if DVD purists want the original 1.85 recommended VistaVision aspect ratio, then the Perspecta sound should also be included. After all, that's how they were originally presented theatrically.