The
Nutty Professor: 50th
Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray + DVD Box Set
(1963/Paramount/Warner
Blu-ray w/DVDs + CD)
Picture:
B+ Sound: C+ Extras: B Films: B-
Jerry
Lewis is not taken seriously. Sure, maybe as a humanitarian from
putting the battle against Muscular Dystrophy on the map, but as an
artist. Though he is respected in France, here, he is just that
funny comic, a misnomer he trashes in Martin Scorsese's underrated
The
King Of Comedy
(1984), but the enduring career speaks for itself. His cinema (even
when he was first paired with Dean Martin at Paramount and they had
their string of hits) was as subversive and wacky as his idol, Stan
Laurel's humor and made them a pair as formidable as Laurel &
Hardy or Abbott & Costello. Going solo, a move that confused
most and seemed like commercial suicide, he immediately proved
himself (as Martin would in movies, music and an insanely successful
hit TV show) as a talent unto himself.
His
cinema is about the absurdity of societal norms, deconstructing them,
asking what happiness really is and in all that, asking us what is
madness, embarrassment and classiness really about. What does it
really mean. Now that we have The
Nutty Professor: 50th
Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray + DVD Box Set
(1963),
we can look at the film two ways, as an outright comedy that may be
the greatest Jekyll & Hyde spoof ever made, but also a personal
statement about us and himself.
Lewis
is timid, not-so-well-spoken science Professor Julius Kelp, insecure,
a little sad and trying to carry on when he starts to find interest
in a beautiful student near his age (a very clever Stella Stevens
looking beautiful, shot in the classic Hollywood style), but how to
get her? His solution is to come up with... a solution! One that
will cancel out his flaws and bring out something stronger and more
aggressive in him. It turns him into a monster... of a different
kind, an angry, successful, but arrogant lounge singer and powerful
personality ironically named Buddy Love. It was always said he was
bashing Dean Martin and he has denied it over the decades. I agree
it was never about Martin (or Frank Sinatra, who they were best
friends with and has some mannerisms Love has), but most people
missed the point... it is the reason why Lewis ended his Martin
partnership. Being this is the monster, I believe it was always
about his fear that they would become monsters by becoming a spoof of
themselves and maybe worse, though it is also a bold critique of the
entertainment industry most could not get away with and Lewis did.
The
character also plays on the fear of media and the major success music
acts in general could have (and this a year before The Beatles
arrived) so he is doing some much more clever here than he ever got
credit for and that makes it some of the only dark comedy he ever
created outside of working with Scorsese. But the film never wallows
in this or anything else as it moves briskly and effectively from
scene to scene.
There
may be a few predictable moments here and there (being it is Jekyll &
Hyde mythology , he had no choice in at some points, obviously), but
he also has more great acting talent to join him and Stevens,
including the irrepressible Kathleen Freeman, Del Moore, Howard
Morris, Buddy Lester, Marvin Kaplan, Henry Gibson and everyone
seeming to be in the same off-kilter state that makes this film work
all these years later. The Eddie Murphy remakes were big hits, but
were too gross and silly to be take seriously and I am not a fan (see
my reviews elsewhere on this site), but the original has aged well
and has even become an underrated comedy, give or take a few flaws.
Now
you can really appreciate it in this stunning new Blu-ray with a full
restoration that will impress.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer hardly ever
shows the age of the materials used, is far superior a transfer to
all previous releases of the film, is pretty pristine and pretty much
a total representation of a dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor
version of the film you would get in 35mm if you were lucky (such
prints are worth serious money now). The stunning big surprise of
this set, once you start watching it, you cannot stop. Director of
Photography W. Wallace Kelly, A.S.C. (Fastest
Gun Alive,
Watermelon
Man)
was Lewis' DP on so many of his solo outings and the
use of color (along with the help of the costumers (led by Edith
Head) and set/production designers) is very impressive and more than
you might suspect based on the copies circulating for so long.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is towards the front
speakers, but this was originally a monophonic film, yet more than
the Walter Scharf score should benefit from this upgrade.
Extras
in this great box set packaging in the mode of previous Warner
Blu-ray releases includes a personal message note from Lewis
especially penned for this set, 48-Page Storyboard Book. 96-page
Recreated “Being A Person” book (250 copies of this book were
originally made and distributed to members of the cast and crew of
Nutty Professor after the director heard of general conflicts amongst
them) and 44-Page Cutting Script with Lewis' personal notes, then on
Blu-ray we get the new HD extra Jerry Lewis: No Apologies covering
eight decades of his incredible career, The Nutty Professor:
Perfecting The Formula Behind-The-Scenes Footage, Jerry Lewis at
Work, Jerry at Movieland
Wax Museum
with commentary by son Chris Lewis, Deleted Scenes, amusing Jerry and
Stella Promos, Bloopers, Screen Tests, Outtakes, Original Mono Track
in lossy Dolby Digital sound, Trailers (including one that spoofs
Hitchcock's Psycho!)
and feature length audio commentary track by Jerry Lewis and Steve
Lawrence.
They
also do similar tracks for the older copies of Errand
Boy
and Cinderfella
here on DVD (both showing their age and needing Blu-ray upgrades) and
we get Nutty
Professor
on DVD and finally, a CD dubbed Phoney
Phone calls 1959-1972
originally issued in 2001 on the Sin-Drome label, he did not go to
jail over it, but he is amusing here too of course, as always.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
