The Patsy (1964) starring Jerry Lewis, Ina Balin, Everett Sloane, Phil Harris, Keenan Wynn, Peter Lorre, John Carradine
In The Patsy, after a star comedian dies his handlers are resolved to find a replacement to take the deceased star’s place. They decide to hire a total unknown and find the ultimate Patsy in hotel bellboy Stanley Belt. After realizing that Stanley can’t do anything right, the team begins to think they’ve made a mistake. But the television show’s air date approaches and it’s too late to hire someone else.
Review
In short, The Patsy is neither Jerry Lewis’ best or worst movie. It’s biggest problem is probably pacing. The good news is, there’s lots of room for Jerry to do his zany slapstick in a world that’s slightly off-kilter. And, most of them are legitimately funny. The bad news is that these scenes tend to go on too long, and distract from the larger story.
And, the larger story is actually interesting. A famous comedian has died tragically. He has five people whom he’s trained, and are essential to his success. What do they do now? Do they break up the team? Peter Lorre’s character then makes a brilliant observation: had any of them died instead of the comedian, what would have happened? He’d replace, and train, a new person to take that role. And that’s what they need to do. Find, and train, someone to fill in the comedian’s shoes. And that’s when Jerry Lewis’ character from The Bellboy walks in the door …
Cast of characters
- Jerry Lewis (3 Ring Circus, Way … Way Out) as Stanley Belt.
- Everett Sloane (Citizen Kane) as Caryl Fergusson, Producer.
- Phil Harris (The Jungle Book) as Chic Wymore, Writer.
- Keenan Wynn (Neptune’s Daughter) as Harry Silver, Public Relations man.
- Peter Lorre (The Raven 1963) as Morgan Heywood, Director.
- John Carradine (The Mummy’s Ghost) as Bruce Alden, attire and appearance.
- Ina Balin as Ellen Betz, personal secretary.
- Hans Conried – the singing instructor who tries to teach Stanley to sing.
Editorial review of The Patsy courtesy of Amazon.com
A famous comedian perishes in a plane crash. Members of his management team, worried that they will be jobless, decide to find someone to take his place as their “meal ticket”. Stanley Belt (Jerry Lewis) is a bellboy at their hotel and they decide he will become their next star.
Stanley has no obvious talent, but his new managers use their power to open doors for him, including an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. It quickly appears that Stanley will never develop any talent and the managers fire him just before he goes on stage. However, one of them, Ellen (Ina Balin), has fallen in love with Stanley and stays by his side.
Stanley becomes a hit on the show. The others from the management team come begging for their jobs back, and Stanley magnanimously agrees.
Trivia
- This was Peter Lorre’s final film before his death on March 23, 1964. He died before the film was released.
- When Ellen is trying to enter he phone booth, there’s a poster of Jerry Lewis’s movie “Who’s Minding The Store“, on the ally wall.
- In the ending, Jerry Lewis’ character supposedly falls from the terrace of a tall building. Then, as Ina Balin’s character is bewailing his death, Lewis strolls past the edge of the terrace revealing that the whole thing is a movie set. They then walk off the set. In an interview, Jerry Lewis said that he couldn’t think of a good ending so he decided to go this way.