Directed By: Jerry Lewis
Starring: Jerry Lewis, Sebastian Cabot, Donna Butterworth
Tag line: "Jerry is seven times nuttier in seven gems of character portrayal!"
Trivia: Gary Lewis & The Playboys have a cameo, singing their song "Little Miss Go-Go"; their hit song "This Diamond Ring" is also featured
Truth be told, I’ve never been the biggest Jerry Lewis fan, which I blame on my early exposure to his films. Lewis was still making movies during my formative years, and I thought 1980’s Hardly Working (which marked his return to the big screen after an 8-year hiatus) was absolutely dreadful. Cracking Up, released in 1983, was better, yet still only sporadically funny.
Yes, he was excellent in Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, but when it came to Lewis's own “unique” brand of humor, these initial experiences had me scratching my head. I did not understand his appeal.
The movie that convinced me I need to go backward in Lewis's filmography as opposed to forward was 1965’s The Family Jewels, a comedy in which Jerry portrays seven different characters, all vying for the attentions of a wealthy little girl named Donna. Unlike the Lewis movies mentioned above, The Family Jewels actually made me laugh.
Per the terms of her late father’s will, Donna Peyton (Donna Butterworth) must decide which of dear old dad’s brothers will be her new guardian.
Accompanied by her chauffeur / best friend Willard (Lewis), Donna travels far and wide to spend quality time with her five uncles (all played by Lewis): Ferryboat captain James Petyon; circus clown Everett Peyton; professional photographer Julius Peyton; Airline Pilot Eddie Peyton; and private detective Skylark Peyton, who, with the assistance of Dr. Matson (Sebastain Cabot), always gets his man.
A sixth uncle, gangster Bugsy Peyton, was reportedly murdered years earlier by one of his underworld associates, though his body has never been found.
Her back against the wall, Donna must choose one of these men to be her new guardian, but in her heart, she knows the right man for the job isn’t even a relative!
Not all of the jokes in The Family Jewels work. The opening scene, a slapstick bit in which Willard inadvertently prevents a gang of thieves from robbing an armored car, is far too broad; and the sequence featuring Uncle Julius the photographer, whose mannerisms were inspired by Lewis’ Nutty Professor character, seemed to drag on forever (along with shooting a breakfast cereal ad, Julius has two models posing under hot lights, and his scatterbrained approach keeps him from finishing either job in a timely manner).
Even with these few hiccups, The Family Jewels is a very funny film. A scene in which Willard temporarily runs a gas station owned by a friend has its moments, as does the later sequence where we meet Skylark Peyton and Dr. Matson for the first time (when Donna arrives, the two are knee-deep in their latest “case”). The film’s best scene, however, involves Uncle Eddie the pilot, whose plane is the aeronautical equivalent of a jalopy. Hired to take a group of women to Chicago, Eddie proves that he may not be the most talented navigator out there, but he’s certainly the most entertaining.
In addition to Lewis, Donna Butterworth does a fine job as the young heir, and is one of the better child actors I’ve come across in a while.
The Family Jewels convinced me to delve a bit deeper into the back catalog of Jerry Lewis. As I kid, I saw, but remember very little about, The Nutty Professor, and I’ve yet to watch either The Bellboy or The Geisha Boy, both of which fans rank among his best.
But even if these and other Jerry Lewis movies fall short of the mark for me, I will always have The Family Jewels. It is, indeed, a treasure.
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