Official Synopsis
The title’s eponymous professor is Julius F. Kelp (Lewis), a shy, bumbling chemistry teacher who has a mad crush on his student Stella Purdy (Stella Stevens). When he tires of being made fun of, Kelp develops a magic potion that turns him into smooth and smarmy nightclub singer Buddy Love. Stella is drawn to Buddy but unfortunately, the potion’s formula is unstable and Buddy keeps slipping back into Julius at the most embarrassing moments. In the end the professor’s ploy is revealed, but not before he delivers a speech calling for everyone to learn to love themselves first before others can return the favor. Stella realizes she loves him for who he is and, needless to say, the ending is a happy one.
I was very surprised on how much I liked this 50 year old film.
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The Nutty Professor starts out with our main man, Professor Julius Kelp (Jerry Lewis), blowing up his classroom ‘again’. Kelp is a lovable screw up, who can’t seem to catch a break in life, nor with his boss, Dr. Mortimer S. Warfield (Del Moore). Fed up with Kelp’s constant explosions, and off-beat way of teaching his students, Warfield threatens Kelp with unemployment if another explosion happens again. While trying to do the right thing and stand out, Kelp creates another concoction that ends in a terrible explosion, but that gives him Jekyll and Hyde-like abilities. No, he doesn’t turn into a monster, rather he turns into a handsome, confident (maybe too confident) man, who is a lady killer, or, in short, the complete opposite of Professor Kelp.
The first 30-40 minutes of this movie had me rolling a little. I was impressed that Lewis could create these two very separate personas onscreen. He played the idiot, good-intentions professor very well. You feel sorry for him and hate all the abuse he gets from his co-workers, students and other individuals who find him more annoying than entertaining. Even though Lewis can be over-the-top with Kelp sometimes in the film, you still can’t help but love the character he creates through the nutty professor.
On the flip side, Lewis nails his role as Buddy Love, his handsome Hyde side that really knows how to sway the ladies, and one in particular , Stella Purdy (Stella Stevens). His quick one-liners and suave debonair really do separate him from his other role in the movie. If there was anything to be enormously impressed with it’s how Lewis truly makes these characters unblemished from one another. If you threw a bit more wacky make-up on Kep, you couldn’t tell Lewis was playing them both. I think in 1963 this type of character separation hadn’t been done as well up to this point. Lewis’ does a great job with both characters.
Anyway, as the film continues it does get long in the tooth towards the middle. Lewis’ Buddy Love does tend to get annoying and on your nerves, but maybe that was the purpose of his existence. Regardless, it does affect how the overall movie tends to feel. It feels a bit drawn out and gets a little empty on content. The fact that the writers included the gradual change of Buddy Love back to Kelp as the film draws to its conclusion is a huge plus. It creates some solid anticipation for a climax between the two personalities. And, as with any medicine, it makes sense that the potion starts wearing off. Eventually the body fights the effectiveness of it, so the slow change back to Kelp makes sense. I guess my biggest issue is that if they had cut 10-15 minutes of the middle out then it would have been fine. It would have given enough time for both personas to play out. As it stands, it just seems a bit drawn out, though the conclusion of the film is absolutely brilliant (not going to ruin it, if you’ve never seen it).
At the end of the day, The Nutty Professor is still darn good and better than Eddie Murphy’s atrocity of a remake. Lewis is the king between the two releases and it’s not even really close.
Anyway, you’re not here to read my opinion of what many critics and viewers think of as the pinnacle of Lewis’ career in film. Rather, you’re wanting to know how it survived the Blu-ray transfer process.
As with most Warner Bros. Blu-ray transfers, you get one of the finest efforts when it comes moving a classic like The Nutty Professor into high definition. While there is some graininess in the picture transfer, and it’s tough to get all of it out for a 50 year old film, the clean up and crispness of the visual quality shines through, especially when you get to Kelp’s classroom. You get to see all the pretty colors that the 60s loved (purples, reds, yellows, blues, greens, etc.) in some of the most high quality of ways. There are no issues with the compression of this film and no issues with color banding (which is shocking considering the film’s age). The Nutty Professor is a fine Blu-ray release from WB and ranks up there with some of there best Blu-ray transfers.
As for the additional content with this, you get two additional Jerry Lewis movies, Cinderfella and The Errand Boy, both on DVD (I really wanted a Blu-ray version of each, especially Cinderfella, which could have looked gorgeous). You also get a CD of Jerry Lewis’ Phoney Phone Calls from 1959 – 1972. The CD is brilliant.
All of that is before the features.
In the features section of this release, here’s what you’re looking at:
The Nutty Professor:
– Jerry Lewis: No Apologies NEW! An intimate look at the artist who has entertained and educated audiences for more than eight decades
– Directors Letter NEW! A letter specially written by Jerry to present this new collection
– Recreated “Being A Person” book: 96-pages made up of drawings and quotes inspired/written by Jerry Lewis and drawn by his personal illustrator. 250 copies of this book were originally made and distributed to members of the cast and crew of The Nutty Professor after the director heard of general conflicts among them.
– 48-Page Storyboard Book
– 44-Page Cutting Script with Jerry’s notes
– Commentary by Jerry Lewis and Steve Lawrence
– The Nutty Professor: Perfecting The Formula Behind-The-Scenes Footage
– Jerry Lewis at Work
– Jerry at Movieland Wax Museum with commentary by son Chris Lewis
– Deleted Scenes
– Jerry and Stella Promos
– Bloopers
– Screen Tests
– Outtakes
– Original Mono Track
– Trailers
Cinderfella (DVD)
– Commentary by Jerry Lewis and Steve Lawrence
– Bloopers
Errand Boy (DVD)
– Select Scene Commentary by Jerry Lewis and Steve Lawrence
– Bloopers
– Promo Spots
– Theatrical Trailer
As a package, this is a brilliant amount of features to include and definitely worthy of a 50th anniversary release. The Jerry Lewis at Work featurette is solid and full of first-hand information about Lewis’ life and what he has endured. Lewis adds a lot of flavor to an already impressive career.
Anyway, WB definitely gives you your money’s worth on this Blu-ray release. I’m not sure what else they could have added to make this more of an entertainment value. Possibly getting Jerry Lewis to visit everyone’s home who purchased it? Kidding, kidding.
There’s a lot here that’s going to keep you occupied for some time. If you’re a fan of Jerry Lewis’ The Nutty Professor or someone who is a collector of his work, then don’t miss this release. It’s rather impressive.
