The Nutty Professor (1963)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Jerry Lewis

Writers:

Jerry Lewis (written by) and
Bill Richmond (written by)

Release Date:

4 June 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

What does he become? What kind of monster?

Plot:

To improve his social life, a nerdish professor drinks a potion that temporarily turns him into the handsome, but obnoxious, Buddy Love.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Professor | Student | Teacher | Fall In Love

Awards:

1 win

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 13

7:45 AM

AMC

Cast

Jerry Lewis	...	Professor Julius Kelp / Buddy Love / Baby Kelp
Stella Stevens	...	Stella Purdy
Del Moore	...	Dr. Hamius R. Warfield
Kathleen Freeman	...	Millie Lemmon
Med Flory	...	Football Player
Norman Alden	...	Football Player
Howard Morris	...	Mr. Elmer Kelp
Elvia Allman	...	Edwina Kelp
Milton Frome	...	Dr. M. Sheppard Leevee
Buddy Lester	...	Bartender
Marvin Kaplan	...	English student
David Landfield	...	College Student
Skip Ward	...	Football Player
Julie Parrish	...	College Student
Henry Gibson	...	Gibson, College Student
Les Brown	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mushy Callahan	...	Cab Driver (scenes deleted)
Murray Alper	...	Gym Attendant (uncredited)
Les Brown Jr.	...	Student at Senior Prom (uncredited)
Joseph Forte	...	College Faculty Member (uncredited)
Art Gilmore	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Gavin Gordon	...	Clothing Salesman (uncredited)
Terry Higgins	...	Purple Pit Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes	...	Faculty Member at Senior Prom (uncredited)
Richard Kiel	...	Bodybuilder at Gym (uncredited)
Les Brown and His Band of Renown	...	Themselves (uncredited)
Gary Lewis	...	Boy (uncredited)
Forbes Murray	...	Faculty Member at Senior Prom (uncredited)
Emil Richards	...	Musician - Percussionist (uncredited)
Michael Ross	...	Weight Lifter at Gym (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Purple Pit Customer (uncredited)
Doodles Weaver	...	Rube (uncredited)
Dave Willock	...	Purple Pit Customer (uncredited)
Celeste Yarnall	...	College Student (uncredited)
Francine York	...	College Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Jerry Lewis

Writing credits
Jerry Lewis		(written by) and
Bill Richmond		(written by)

Produced by
Ernest D. Glucksman	....	producer
Arthur P. Schmidt	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Walter Scharf

Cinematography by
W. Wallace Kelley

Film Editing by
John Woodcock

Art Direction by
Hal Pereira
Walter H. Tyler		(as Walter Tyler)

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton		(as Robert Benton)
Sam Comer

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Nellie Manley	....	hair stylist supervision
Jack Stone	....	makeup artist
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Hal Bell	....	assistant production manager
William Davidson	....	production manager (as Bill Davidson)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ralph Axness	....	assistant director

Art Department
Martin Pendleton	....	property master

Sound Department
Charles Grenzbach	....	sound recordist
Hugo Grenzbach	....	sound recordist
Bud Parman	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Bill Wistrom	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Paul K. Lerpae	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Bob May	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Murray Young	....	key grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sy Devore	....	wardrobe: men
Nat Wise	....	wardrobe: men

Editorial Department
Richard Mueller	....	color consultant: Technicolor

Music Department
Walter Scharf	....	conductor
Walter Scharf	....	musician: "I'm In the Mood for Love" (uncredited)

Other crew
Marshall Katz	....	assistant to producer
Marvin Weldon	....	dialogue coach
Dorothy Yutzi	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Jerry Lewis Enterprises

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1968) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (19??) (Australia) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)

Other Companies

• Band of Renown  group cast members
• Phoenix Film Office  special thanks

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Film debut of Celeste Yarnall.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kelp has been jammed into a storage cabinet by a student, we see Stella as seen from his horizontal viewpoint with her head to the left of shot. But he's lying on his left side, so her head should be on the right.

Quotes:

Purple Pit Bartender: What'll it be?
Buddy Love: Aww... That's no way to talk. Tsk, tsk, tsk. "What'll it be?" That's no way to treat a customer. C'mere. Try it like this. Pay attention. You'll feel better and the customers'll be happier. Try this: "What'll it be? Hmmm?" Try that. Come on. We haven't got all night. Try it.
Purple Pit Bartender: What'll it be? Hmmm?
Buddy Love: Good! That was wonderful. Did anyone ever tell you you couldn't sing?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: The Last Temptation of Homer (#5.9)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Love Is a Lonely Thing

"That Old Black Magic"!

Further to my earlier review, I would wholeheartedly endorse the opinion of other reviewers that the original Lewis movie is superior - vastly superior - to the crass Eddie Murphy re-make. Lewis's subtle points about Buddy Love (whom, I am unsurprised to learn, he loathed) are utterly lost in the Murphy version. If Lewis's movie fails as popular entertainment, it is because it makes extraordinary intellectual demands on its audience, requiring them to see beyond the surface glamour of Buddy Love to the moral rottenness and egotism within. Strangely enough, however, Buddy Love is not without pathos. There is enough of Kelp in him, together with the shakiness of his chemically-induced persona, to lend a faint suggestion of vulnerability. Perhaps even this is part of his satanic charm (he literally charms the pants off the college Principal). It is no coincidence that his calling-card number is "That Old Black Magic"!