Jerry Lewis (Contemporary Film Directors)
The lionization of Jerry Lewis’ films by French critics has long been a source of amusement to Americans, who mostly consider his movies, hugely popular though they may have been in the 1950s and ’60s, puerile and unfunny. But Fujiwara, author of invaluable critiques of Otto Preminger and Jacques Tourneur, makes a solid case for Lewis as a genuine auteur, picking up on motifs, such as the aloof partner figures that evoke Lewis’ erstwhile cohort, Dean Martin, and stylistic devices that run throughout his oeuvre. Fujiwara finds a complexity and adventurousness in Lewis’ work that may not be apparent to casual viewing and that was undoubtedly missed by the vast audiences for them in Lewis’ heyday, and he blames Lewis’ professional eclipse on a directorial style “too drastic, uncompromising, and strong” for Hollywood. A lengthy 2003 interview with Lewis confirms how seriously the comedian views his filmmaking. Fujiwara’s insights should provoke readers to reassess Lewis’ considerable body of work or, at least, to add The Nutty Professor to their Netflix queues. --Gordon Flagg--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.