You are here: Reviews > Jerry Lewis reviews > Movies >The Disorderly Orderly, starring Jerry Lewis
In ”The Disorderly Orderly,” Jerry Lewis plays the part of Jerome Littlefield, a would-be medical student who has dropped out of school due to his extreme case of sympathy pains—whenever a patient discusses his or her symptoms, Jerome begins to feel the malady himself. In addition, he finds himself pining for the girl that he fell in love with in college, who doesn’t know that he exists—to the distress of one of the nurses, who has fallen in love with Jerry Lewis’ character.
Frankly, I was more than pleasantly surprised by Jerry Lewis’ ”The Disorderly Orderly.” I hadn’t seen the film in nearly 30 years, and remembered very little about it. It was not only funny, it tugged on the heartstrings in just the right amounts - not too much to become sappy, and not too much screen time to detract from the comedy. It also features a very nice social satire in the context of a board room meeting, which was both funny and pointed. The comedy elements are laugh-out-loud funny; some of my favorites include Jerry Lewis’ attempt at collecting dirty laundry and putting it down a laundry shute—it sounds easy, doesn’t it? Until Jerry Lewis tackles it, that is. Another funny element is the recurring theme of Jerry’s character, Jerome Littlefield, being the only ‘sane’ character in a world that’s crazy—for example, trying to fix a patient’s television that has snow—he unscrews the front of the screen, and a snowstorm floods the room. Also, much of the humor is not only slapstick, but visual; for example, in one scene Jerry Lewis has been put into a straight jacket, and is trying to crawl back into the building in order to get help—only to have a snail zoom past him. Other excellent moments include trying to eat spaghetti at an “ethnic” restaurant, taking a patient in a body cast outside for some fresh air, and having a fight with his girlfriend in the “quiet” area of the hospital.
All of the supporting cast works very well, including Kathleen Freeman, who appears in many of Jerry Lewis’ films, this time as the antagonistic Nurse Higgins, who is being driven to the brink by Jerry Lewis’ character’s well-meaning attempts at hard work, that keep backfiring on the suffering Nurse HIggins.
I cannot stop without mentioning the finale, a chase scene reminiscent of a Looney Tunes cartoon, and that hasn’t been surpassed or equalled since. The finale alone is worth the price of admission, but the entire show is a gem. I rate it 4 out of 5 clowns.
Editorial review of Jerry Lewis’ ”The Disorderly Orderly” courtesy of Amazon.com
Editorial Review of “The Disorderly Orderly” starring and produced by Jerry Lewis, courtesy of Amazon.com
The hugely successful collaboration between Jerry Lewis and director Frank Tashlin (including Artists and Models and The Geisha Boy) came to an end with this knockabout hospital comedy, which contains a raft of Tashlin’s patented sight gags. Jerry plays an orderly with a strange fixation on a depressed patient (Susan Oliver), but the point of the movie is watching Lewis wrestle with laundry bags or contorting with agony as he empathizes with the intestinal maladies of patients. This is one of Lewis’s funniest movies for babbling, too ("Oh, friction--burning"). Meanwhile, Tashlin brings his cartoon sensibility to freestanding bits, such as the montage of wind chimes that ends with a skeleton chattering in the breeze, or the inordinately loud crunch of an apple in a hospital quiet zone. All in all, a good laugh-per-minute ratio in the slapstick realm. Plus Sammy Davis Jr. sings the title song, a weirdly Rat Packish number. --Robert Horton
DVD features of “The Disorderly Orderly” starring and produced by Jerry Lewis
A small collection of outtakes includes a nice glimpse of Jerry Lewis playing pranks on his director, Frank Tashlin, while shooting a scene with a laundry cart--you can sense Lewis’s comic ingenuity as well as his urgent need to make people laugh. No commentary track. --Robert Horton
Product Description of “The Disorderly Orderly” starring and produced by Jerry Lewis
As a result of his severe clumsiness and goofy demeanor, Littlefield fits right in with the patients, and is often mistaken for them.
You rated this page:
Reviews • Jerry Lewis reviews • Movies • (0) Comments - what's your opinion?• Permalink
Most recent articles
- Ricky Loses His Temper | I Love Lucy
- I’ll Take Tallulah - song lyrics
- Hermie and Friends: Flo the Lyin’ Fly
- God’s Chisel - The Skit Guys
- The Magic Carpet, starring Lucille Ball
- The Yellow Cab Man, starring Red Skelton
- A Southern Yankee, starring Red Skelton
- Lured, starring Lucille Ball
- The Outlaws is Coming picture gallery | the Three Stooges
- The Outlaws is Coming | the Three Stooges
- The Fuller Brush Girl movie review
- Red Skelton Frogs poem
- Three Stooges Faces fine embroidered black hat
- Red Skelton inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame
- Saps at Sea, starring Laurel and Hardy
Most popular articles
- Charlie Chaplin biography
- True Meaning of Christmas (free clown skit)
- Clown types - the white face clown
- A Nativity Gift (free Christmas clown skit)
- Famous Clowns
- Charlie Chaplin film list
- Emmett Kelly biography
- Christmas Clown Skit
- Red Skelton biography
- Clown Types - whiteface, auguste and hobo clowns
- the August clown
Please link to clown-ministry.com!
<a href="http://www.clown-ministry.com/"> The history and performance of clowning at clown-ministry.com! </a>
clown-ministry home | articles | history | skits | miscellaneous | resources | site map | privacy policy
