The Patsy (1964)

Jerry Lewis, Ina Balin, Everett Sloane, Phil Harris, Keenan Wynn ... see more  , Peter Lorre , John Carradine , Hans Conried , Phil Foster , Richard Deacon , Neil Hamilton , Scatman Crothers , Del Moore , Nancy Kulp , Fritz Feld , Jerome Cowan , Henry Slate , Jack Albertson , Norman Alden , Murray Alper , Phil Arnold , Billy Beck , Billy Bletcher , Don Brodie , Harry V. Cheshire , Fay DeWitt , Herbie Faye , Joe Finnegan , Kathleen Freeman , Marianne Gaba , John Gallaudet , Gavin Gordon , Jerry Hausner , Hedda Hopper , Bobby Johnson , Byron Kane , Norman Leavitt , Buddy Lester , Dave Lipp , Darlene Lucht , John Marlowe , Dee Jay Mattis , Peggy Mondo , Mantan Moreland , Quinn O'Hara , Barbara Pepper , Sherwood Price , George Raft , Sheila Rogers , Michael Ross , Eddie Ryder , Vernon Scott , J. Walter Smith , Joan Swift , Mel Tormé , William Wellman Jr. , Dave Willock , Ed Wynn , Richard Bakalyan , Robert Carson , Sam Weston , John Macchia , Mabel Smaney , The Step Brothers , Adele Claire , Lorraine Crawford , Isabelle Dwan , Bob Harvey , Hollis Morrison , June Smaney , Michael Mahoney

Toward the end of Jerry Lewis's Paramount studio period, Lewis slapped together this bitter comedy about Hollywood phoniness and fame that has to be the most rancid portrait of the Hollywood star syst... read more em in the Rat Pack era this side of Clifford Odets. When a famous entertainer suddenly is killed in an airplane crash, his team of flunkies -- producer Caryl Fergusson (Everett Sloane), writer Chic Wymore (Phil Harris), press agent Harry Silver (Keenan Wynn), director Morgan Heywood (Peter Lorre in his final film role), valet Bruce Alden (John Carradine), and secretary Ellen Betz (Ina Balin) -- decide to continue their life style by finding a complete unknown and manufacturing him into a Hollywood star. That unknown turns out to be the nervous and inept bellboy Stanley Belt (Jerry Lewis). They train Stanley to become an over-night singing sensation, and despite a disastrous recording session and a failed nightclub performance, the public relations blitz makes Stanley's recording of "I Lost My Heart in a Drive-In Movie" a smash single. So much so that Stanley is given a shot at appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Expecting the worst, Stanley's management team abandons him right before his performance. But Stanley musters up enough confidence to go on the live program alone and manages to surprise his pessimistic ex-staff. A collection of Hollywood celebrities circa 1964 --George Raft, Ed Wynn, Ed Sullivan, Mel Torme, Rhonda Fleming and Hedda Hopper -- make cameo appearances. High spots include an apocalyptic music lesson with voice teacher Dr. Mule-rrr (Hans Conried), Ed Sullivan performing a bizarre impersonation of himself, and an ending that would make even Jean-Luc Godard blush. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi