The Bellboy

The Bellboy

Jerry Lewis and Milton Berle played both themselves and a bellboy. Lewis as himself seeing Berle as the bellboy, and Berle as himself running into Lewis as the bellboy.

Jerry Lewis as the bellboy had exactly 24 words, all coming in the last scene of the movie. He played the bellboy and himself in the movie, but as the bellboy had only 16 words.

Jerry Lewis is credited with having created the video-assist technique for this film. At the time it was called "Closed Circuit Television Applied to Motion Pictures," for which he was awarded a patent.

Jerry Lewis shot the movie in four weeks at Miami Beach's Fontainebleau Hotel while he also was performing there. He edited it during his subsequent engagement in Las Vegas.

Jerry Lewis wrote the script in eight days.



Cinderfella was ready to be released that summer, but Jerry Lewis wanted it to wait until Christmas, being a family-oriented film. Regardless, Paramount demanded a summer film, so Lewis shot this film in four weeks, directing himself because nobody else could do it as quickly as needed.

In the film, Jerry Lewis' frequent co-writer Bill Richmond does a quick walk-on as Stan Laurel, one of Lewis' idols. The Laurel imitation, Lewis' non-speaking bellboy and the black-and-white photography show Lewis' intention to make a silent-movie-type comedy.

The cast of this film is comprised largely of nightclub performers who were appearing in or near the Fontainbleau Hotel in Miami, FL, during the time of filming. Jerry Lewis was under tremendous pressure to finish the film quickly in order for it to be released in time for the summer season. Despite writing a 165-page script (enough for a film of roughly 2-1/2 hours), Lewis' final cut ran 71 minutes.

The first theatrical release directed by Jerry Lewis.


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