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Post by denise on Mar 31, 2022 8:58:39 GMT
In 1969, Noël Simsolo published a small paperback in France, Le Monde de Jerry Lewis (The World of Jerry Lewis). After a few introductory chapters, the book critiques Jerry's self-directed films up to and including The Big Mouth. At the end, it announces another film for 1969, Which Way To The Front?. But this film debuted after Simsolo's book had been published, so there is no critique here.
Simsolo calls these nine films Jerry directed - from The Bellboy through Which Way - his "legitimate offspring". Keep this in mind when Simsolo discusses Cinderfella.
I'll start my installments here with the introduction. Altogether there are 10 texts.
Who is our author? Noël Simsolo, born in 1944, is a French actor/comedian, producer, director, film historian and novelist. He has written books on directors such as Orson Welles, Sergio Leone, Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut and Jean Gabin. He has written essays on other Hollywood celebrities such as Judy Garland, Boris Karloff, Billy Wilder, Clint Eastwood, Howard Hawks, and others.
As always, please do NOT re-post these translations elsewhere.
 Introduction.pdf (52.73 KB)
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Post by denise on Apr 3, 2022 8:31:18 GMT
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Post by denise on Apr 6, 2022 18:05:22 GMT
Another installment. This is the chapter where Simsolo discusses Cinderfella, calling it Jerry's "illegitimate offspring" because Jerry did not direct it. It seems however that Jerry originally wanted to, but then put Tashlin in the director's chair. Which means that Jerry certainly was a non-credited co-director.
2 Kick off.pdf (67.05 KB) |
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Post by jerrylewischildstar on Apr 7, 2022 2:29:08 GMT
Very interesting thank you for sharing  |
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Post by denise on Apr 9, 2022 8:09:44 GMT
With today's installment Simsolo starts his discussion of Jerry's self-directed films, his "legitimate offspring". He starts of course with The Bellboy. I think some of Simsolo's remarks are very farfetched. E.g. he calls the fact that Jerry shot this film in black and white reminiscent of the great Buster Keaton, thereby overlooking the obvious: since Jerry had to foot the bill of the film alone, he did not have the money to shoot in color. He said so himself in later interviews. I also find Frenchman Simsolo's jabs at America and American culture interesting.
3 The Bellboy.pdf (81.2 KB)
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Post by Classickat on Apr 10, 2022 9:03:01 GMT
Just read the first chapter you translated. Very intriguing that it brings up Jerry's politics and fight for civil rights. Did this book have any special photos that haven't been posted before?
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Post by denise on Apr 11, 2022 9:17:55 GMT
At the time this book was published, 1969, I think only European critics would have mentioned Jerry's liberal politics. American critics still considered him a goof-off who thought he could direct films and rival the great Chaplin.
There are 12 photos in the book, but nothing new. Just stills taken from the films discussed, nothing we haven't seen before, nothing behind the scenes.
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Post by denise on Apr 13, 2022 7:43:27 GMT
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Post by denise on Apr 17, 2022 9:50:45 GMT
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Post by denise on Apr 20, 2022 7:59:46 GMT
After The Errand Boy, we skip two chapters and arrive at The Family Jewels. Author Simsolo again mentions Henry Miller's short story The Smile At The Bottom Of The Ladder, drawing analogies to Jerry. I recommend reading this story. It's not long and Simsolo will refer to it again in the final chapter on The Big Mouth.
8 The Family Jewels.pdf (82.5 KB)
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Post by denise on Apr 24, 2022 8:21:13 GMT
In a reversal of the proper order of things (but hey, this is a Jerry Lewis forum!), here is the chapter on The Patsy, which precedes The Family Jewels. I translated it after all because Simsolo sees The Patsy as the first part of a trilogy. Altogether, Simsolo sees too much despair and emptiness in Jerry's films for my taste.
7 The Patsy.pdf (86.28 KB) |
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Post by denise on Apr 28, 2022 10:12:15 GMT
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Post by denise on May 1, 2022 8:33:28 GMT
Here is the last chapter of Simsolo's book, on The Big Mouth. Simsolo again presents us with a long quote from Henry Miller's story The Smile At The Bottom Of The Ladder. I think this quote says much about what made Jerry tick.
This is however not the end! I did indeed find time to translate the chapter on The Nutty Professor. I'll post it here in a few days.
10 The Big Mouth.pdf (74.12 KB)
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Post by denise on May 4, 2022 8:17:00 GMT
THIS IS IT - my last translation from this book - the chapter on The Nutty Professor.
I hope you have enjoyed these translations. Please keep in mind that I am not a professional translator or writer. I did my meager best with the French language. Please leave a comment - I'd really like to know your opinion of the book. My own - I think Jerry would have shaken his head in amazement at some of Simsolo's interpretations (he told Robert Benayoun not to look so deep, it was all much simpler), and at other things I think he would smile and say, "so someone really saw that."
6 The Nutty Professor.pdf (90.98 KB)
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Post by Classickat on Jun 21, 2022 8:03:00 GMT
Thank you so much Denise for all these translations!! I really appreciate it.
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Introduction.pdf (52.73 KB)
