The Geisha Boy (1958) or, Lewis in Japan

♥♥♥

 

Jerry Lewis looks his trademark loony self on this bright and colorful poster for Frank Tashlin's The Geisha Boy

An American magician without much traction in his career flies to Japan to help entertain US troops there, but soon a local orphan boy clings to him...

 

The Geisha Boy is written and directed by Frank Tashlin (The First Time (1952)), based on a story by Rudy Makoul (Teenage Thunder (1957)).

As often the case in Jerry Lewis' (Boeing, Boeing (1965))/Tashlin films, the level is unsteady: Lewis is too much, and a bit later he is funny, and then a bit later too much again and ...

The story is somewhat bizarre: Lewis ridicules Japanese in some sequences, but the boy simply loves him regardless. (Still, the bizarro factor is surely higher in Lewis' infamous lost Holocaust clown movie, The Day the Clown Cried (1972).) Little Robert Hirano as the orphan boy is unbeatably cute.

 

Related posts:

Frank Tashlin: The Disorderly Orderly (1964) or, Lewis in a Hospital

The Girl Can't Help It (1956) - Fabulous Mansfield and colossal rock 'n' roll push in Tashlin classic 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 3.2 mil. $ - North-American rentals estimate (Variety, 1960)

= Uncertain

[The Geisha Boy premiered 3 December (Chicago) and runs 99 minutes. Shooting took place from June - August 1958 in California, including Los Angeles. The film recorded 1.3 mil. admissions in France but other release details are regrettably scarce online. Tashlin returned with Say One for Me (1959). Lewis returned in Don't Give Up the Ship (1959). 1,807 IMDb users have given The Geisha Boy a 6.5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Geisha Boy?

The Girl Can't Help It (1956) - Fabulous Mansfield and colossal rock 'n' roll push in Tashlin classic

♥♥♥♥

 

Sex-bomb Jayne Mansfield more than catches the eye on this colorful poster for Frank Tashlin's The Girl Can't Help It, which also allures with its countless rock 'n' roll star names in the bottom right corner

A drunken music agent gets a call from a gangster, who wants him to make his sexy blonde girlfriend a star. But that's easier said than done ...

 

The Girl Can't Help It is written by Herbert Baker (Rickles (1975, TV movie)) and co-writer/producer/director Frank Tashlin (The First Time (1952)), based on Do Re Mi (1955) by Garson Kanin (Smash (1980)).

Jayne Mansfield (The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958)) is splendid, fun, eye-popping and lovely as Jerri Jordan, the girlfriend in question, one of the all-time biggest blonde bombshells on cinema here in Tashlin's Deluxe-colored, playful, saucy movie. The plot is thin and anything but nerve-wracking, which leaves room for the film's swinging rock 'n' roll acts, and in particular Little Richard, who performs The Girl Can't Help It, Ready Teddy and She's Got It, is incredible to hear and behold. The Girl Can't Help It also has its good share of really funny bits.

The men in the film look funny enough, and they unquestionably raised more mirth in their time than they do now, but their few scenes without Mansfield lose the film some momentum. They are luckily few. The Girl Can't Help It is a cool blast of a time.

Related post:

Frank Tashlin: The Disorderly Orderly (1964) or, Lewis in a Hospital

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 1.3 mil. $

Box office: 6.25 mil. $ (likely just North America)

= Big hit (returned at least 4.80 times its cost)

[The Girl Can't Help It premiered 1 December (USA) and runs 99 minutes. Filming took place in California, including Los Angeles, around September 1956. Whether the 6.25 mil. $ gross, which stems from Twentieth Century Fox books, is just the North-American gross is unsure but entirely possible. The film won a Golden Globe and it had a profound effect on rock music history, as it inspired the later members of The Beatles to meet and pursue their dream. Tashlin returned with Hollywood or Bust (1956). Mansfield returned in Shower of Stars (1957, TV-series) and theatrically in The Wayward Bus (1957); Tom Ewell (State Fair (1962)) in A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed (1958); and Edmond O'Brien (The Love God? (1969)) in Lux Video Theatre (1951-57) and theatrically in The Big Land (1957). The Girl Can't Help It is fresh at 75 % with a 6.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Girl Can't Help It?

The Disorderly Orderly (1964) or, Lewis in a Hospital

♥♥♥

The splashy, busy poster for Frank Tashlin's The Disorderly Orderly

QUICK REVIEW:

Jerry Lewis (The Errand Boy (1961)) is presented to us as Napoleon, a mountain climber and a medic (all equally ridiculous identities for him), before we get to see him as the latter: In an exclusive hospital, he goofs and tumbles around for the duration of the film.

Disorderly Orderly might appeal more to American taste than Scandinavian. I saw most of it mostly as a curiosity of its time period, a pretty bizarre curiosity, I might add. Lewis grimaces, screams, tumbles, yell, tumbles again and then screams some more. His brand of slapstick comedy is often nearly cringe-worthy, and to me it's a far cry from the disciplines' masters like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
But Disorderly Orderly is also an exuberant, colorful and highly energetic work, (even if its plot could fit in a teaspoon.)
It is written by writer-director Frank Tashlin (Son of Paleface (1952)), based on a story by Norm Liebmann (The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1977-79)) and Ed Haas (The Jerry Lewis Show (1967-68)).

 Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2.7 mil. $ (North America only)
= Unknown
[The Disorderly Orderly was released December 16 and runs 89 minutes. It was filmed at Greystone Park and Mansion in Beverly Hills, CA. Sammy Davis Jr. sings the opening song. Besides the above number, the film drew 1.4+ mil. admissions in France, but those are the only numbers I have found on its release. I suspect it was a box office success. The Disorderly Orderly has been given a 3.5/5 rating by 2,214 users on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Disorderly Orderly?