The Ladies Man (1961)

The DVD arrived well packaged. Played perfectly. Great price.

I loved Jerry Lewis movies as a kid, but naturally lost interest as I grew older and it seemed the movies simultaneously declined in quality while Jerry became increasingly annoying as a pontificating pseudo-intellectual. However his early work was interesting as he tried different things (silence in The Bellboy for example) and he made a couple of fine comedies early on. I have always found parts of It's Only Money and The Ladies Man hilarious. Many feel The Nutty Professor to be his best, and it has some good stuff, but I have always been partial to the all-out, anything-goes assault of gags in The Ladies Man, one of his best efforts. Also the shmaltz and sentimentality that marred so much of his later films is, for the most part, thankfully absent here.Comedy, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, and you cannot fake a laugh. You either find a non-sequiter throw-away joke like the bit with the door cited above funny, or you don't. Likewise many of the non-stop gag setups and deliveries here will crack you up or they won't. Of course it's silly. It was meant to be silly. Silly done well, is just fine.There are some great bits here: the opening "heartbreak" scene (hilariously exaggerated); the butterflies; the other "pain" jokes (the toaster); "baby"; the dance with George Raft; the surreal encounter with Miss Cartilage; the "sound test" with Doodles Weaver; the intrusions into Mrs. Wellonmellon's TV show and so on. And if none of the above make you laugh, there is the one certified classic routine of the "hat bit" with Buddy Lester doing his patented "slow-burn".Jerry made good use of the elaborate set and his direction here is as concise and appropriate as possible. As to the DVD, unfortunately, on the Commentary Jerry offers a few useful insights, but Steve Lawrence seems to be there just to say "Great Jer" after every bit. Egregious, but I suppose they don't watch many DVD's, and fail to understand what a Commentary is about. Take the 5 stars in context.

HI, LIKE THAT JERRY LEWIS MOVIES LOOK GOOD ON 1080 BLU- RAY, HOPE TO SEE MORE OLD JERRYS MOVIES TO BLU - RAY, THANKS, PAUL......

If you like jerry Lewis then you’ll love this one. I still find him funny in everything he does. Growing up as a little kid I would watch him and try and imitate him. Looking back then I really had a good time, and still can with my new DVD.🤣🤣

Of all the Jerry Lewis movies ... with or without Dean Martin .... this has to be one of my favorites.Jerry's humor shines through every scene he is in, it is classic clean cut humor, just proves you can be funny without having a "Potty Mouth".Would love to see comedy like this made today .... is it possible? ... and who would do it Robin Williams or Jim Carrey maybe?

Another Jerry Lewis helmed effort, "The Ladies Man" is a sparkling comedy that demonstrates Lewis' strengths & weaknesses as a filmmaker.Strengths: Nobody does broad bits of comedy business quite like Lewis.That enormous three-story set with the fourth wall shaved away so all the action can be followed is an impressive set indeed.Weaknesses: Lewis' cloying tendency to undermine his humor with moments of self-serving pathos.Lewis' need to isolate certain gags and punctuate them, lest we miss the point (which seems to be his particular style).As a love-spurned fellow who "vows never to fall in love again"--and winds up at an all-girls boarding house!--Lewis gives himself all kinds of opportunities to mug, scream & tear about the large set. As with other Lewis comedies, the comedy is hit-&-miss, but it has its moments.

If you like Jerry Lewis, this is one of his best. The scene of the jealous date with the hat is a classic. I love this movie.

This is my favorite of all the Jerry Lewis films and it is as funny as I remeber it. My favorite scene is the part where he opens the butterfly case and all the butterflies fly out then he whistles and they fly back in.This movie is as funny today as it wasw 47 years ago. A must see for all Jerry Lewis fans young and old and possibly new fans.