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Movies: “The Family Jewels”

Jan. 29, 1965 - Jerry Lewis, dressed in slacks and a sweater, stepped in front of the cameras the other day. “Okay, let’s try it,” he shouted to the cameraman.

With the cameras rolling, the comedian’s face suddenly contorted into a series of grimaces as he staggered around the set in grotesque, spastic movements. Just as suddenly, he halted his slapstick routine and shouted, “Cut! I messed it up. Let’s try it again.”
Most movie actors normally wait for a director to shout “Cut” but in his newest picture, “The Family Jewels,” this poses a problem since Lewis is himself the director. He is also the writer, the producer, and plays seven leading roles.

“The Family Jewels” is the 32nd picture Lewis has made for Paramount and, though he has directed before, it marks the first time he has sought to be virtually the whole show.

As in his previous pictures, “The Family Jewels” does not have a plot of enormous subtlety. It relates the fate of a young girl whose parents die, leaving her $20 million. The girl’s bodyguard-chauffeur escorts her around the country to meet her six uncles, each of whom has invited her to live with him. The uncles and the bodyguard-chauffeur are all played by Lewis. Lewis did agree, however, to cast a young actress named Donna Butterworth as the girl.

All this may sound like a lot of work for the comedian, but Lewis still finds time for innocent diversion on the set. The other day, he got into a small disagreement with an assistant, James Wright, and suddenly leaped on him, pinning him to the floor. Calling for a hammer and nails, Lewis proceeded to nail his aide to the wooden floor, plunging the nails through Wright’s neat Ivy League suit.

“He’s a great one for jokes,” Jim Flood, Lewis’s personal press agent, explained nervously. “Lots of laughs.”



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