Jerry Lewis Contributor(s): Fujiwara, Chris (Author) |
|
ISBN: 0252076796 ISBN-13: 9780252076794 Publisher: University of Illinois Press OUR PRICE: $20.90 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2009 Annotation: The premier study of an incomparable American director |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Performing Arts | Film - Direction & Production |
Dewey: 791.430 |
LCCN: 2009026686 |
Series: Contemporary Film Directors (Paperback) |
Physical Information: 0.4" H x 5.4" W x 8.1" (0.55 lbs) 176 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Well known for his slapstick comedic style, Jerry Lewis has also delighted worldwide movie audiences with a directing career spanning five decades. One of American cinema's great innovators, Lewis made unmistakably personal films that often focused on an ideal masculine image and an anarchic, manic acting out of the inability to assume this image. Films such as The Bellboy, The Errand Boy, Three on a Couch, and The Big Mouth present a series of thematic variations on this tension, in which such questions as how to be a man, how to be popular, and how to maintain relationships are posed within frameworks that set up a liberating and exhilarating confusion of roles and norms. The Nutty Professor and The Patsy are especially profound and painful examinations of the difficulty experienced by Lewis's character in reconciling loving himself and being loved by others. With sharp, concise observations, Chris Fujiwara examines this visionary director of self-referential comedic masterpieces. The book also includes an enlightening interview with Lewis that offers unique commentary on the creation and study of comedy. |