The Family Jewels (1965)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

I wanted to like "The Family Jewels" but found there was more to it to dislike than like. It's really a shame, as some aspects of the film were quite good--but too much of it suffered from extreme overacting.The film begins with a very rich little girl being told by lawyers that her father's will stipulates that she must move in with one of her five uncles. So, the plan is for her to visit each uncle and spend a couple weeks with each of them--and then she gets to choose the one she'll live with for the rest of her life. The uncles, it turns out, are all played by Jerry Lewis. And, oddly, their unrelated chauffeur also is played by Jerry. So, in many ways the film is reminiscent of such comedies as "Kind Hearts and Coronets", "The Mouse That Roared" and "The Klumps".There were some parts of the film I liked. A few of the jokes (a distinct minority) were funny and I caught myself laughing a couple times. Additionally, I liked watching the relationship between the chauffeur and the child--showing what I've thought for a long time--that Lewis was EXCELLENT at drama and I wish the film had more of that. But, too often the characters were done with no subtlety and although many reviewers love him, I found much of the antics overbearing and overdone. Subtle, it ain't! It's a shame, as I do like some of Lewis' films--but others just needed less--a lot less.

I have been familiar with both The Family Jewels and Paradise Hawaiian Style for many years, but it was only when I coincidentally bought both on DVD recently that I realised Donna Butterworth starred in both. I'm not sure her name even registered with me in the past. However, her performances in both films are winning and funny and I imagine she grew up to be a very lovely person. Her singing is sensational in what is otherwise a lesser Elvis Presley film (directed by Michael Moore (!) but not the Sicko guy). The audio commentary and special features on The Family Jewels provide some interesting information and background about Donna. Jerry claims to have discovered Donna in Hawaii and we see amusing and heartwarming screen tests of them together among the special features. She is now 50 or so years old and I hope she is proud of them. If you're reading this Donna, hi from me.

This is the third old Jerry Lewis-film I've seen recently(the others being THE NUTTY PROFESSOR and WHO'S MINDING THE STORE?)and it's easily the least of the three. Whereas the other two had an inspired moment every hour or so, this film scores low on ingenuity and high on stupidity. There just isn't a single funny scene in it, the story is of course ludicrous(which wouldn't have been a problem when it would have been funny) and the only thing Jerry Lewis seems to be able to is looking cross-eyed when there's a sudden noise. Oh yes, and have I mentioned his idiotic walk? Now I know that when you've seen a Lewis movie, you've seen them all. The more I see of him the worse it gets. And I just can't understand why some people keep calling him "underrated", I just can't. There's nothing subtle about him, he's about as funny as Pauly Shore(and his films of the same level)and he's not really a modest guy too. If it's obvious that your films are nothing more than a showcase for yourself(and the story of no importance), you expect them to be funnier. What can I say more? Just don't see this unless you have to write a book or so about Jerry Lewis. But then again, who would do that? 3/10

And now I would like to write an objective review of the movie for you--but I don't have time. Just watch it. I thought it was fascinating and funny. I hadn't seen it since 1965 when it was at the theaters, maybe it was kept off tv because experts didn't like it. But make up your own mind, one that isn't closed from the beginning because of analysis or psychoanalysis by someone else. There are two great pool shots that you definitely need to see, and the part where Jerry Lewis was talking like Pee Wee Herman way back in 1965 was also interesting. I think there's a lot more to the movie than these two things though.