The Bellboy

In The Bellboy we get to see two Jerry Lewises. Jerry plays a bellboy at the famous Miami Beach Fountainbleu Hotel where a good deal of the film is shot. And he plays movie star Jerry Lewis who happens to be staying at the Fountainbleu with one very large entourage. That's one of the gags in a funny scene involving a limousine. Also staying there is Milton Berle in another gag involving an identical Milton as well as an identical Jerry.

Jack Kruschen plays the head of Paramount Pictures in a prologue opening where he explains this film has no plot or story, it's just the day in the life of a singularly inept bellboy. He's the bane in the existence of hotel manager Alex Gerry and bell captain Bob Clayton. Jerry must be related to someone important otherwise he would have been canned years ago.

That raucous Lewis laugh and voice you will not hear at all, still Jerry puts together a lovely series of sight gags without a sound coming from him. Usually that voice is so much a part of his comedy shtick you'd think he'd be lost without it, but he carries off his goal of making a film that is a tribute to the famous silent comedians of yore.

One gag involves writer Bill Richmond doing an imitation of Stan Laurel. My guess is that Jerry tried to get the real Stan to do this film, but probably health reasons prevented it. It wasn't one of the better gags in the film, it could have used the real Stan to make it work.

The Bellboy is a quieter, but not more gentle Jerry Lewis.