Jerry Lewis Comedy Triple Feature DVD Review

Mill Creek Ent.; Not Rated/G; 5 hours

It's pretty much a none fact on this blog that I started watching horror flicks at a very young age. However, you probably don't know that I also grew up watching Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedies, which were aired repeatedly on AMC (before the channel had commercials) during the early 1990s. The first solo Jerry Lewis film that I watched was Rock-A-Bye Baby. I thought I had seen all of his films, well, until Mill Creek Entertainment recently released a Comedy Triple Feature DVD featuring three Jerry Lewis films - "Don't Raise The Bridge, Lower The River," "Hook, L'ne & Sinker," and "3 on a Couch."

Directed by Jerry Paris, Don't Raise The Bridge, Lower The River (1967) has Jerry Lewis playing George Lester, an American who finds himself living in London after marrying a British woman, Pamela (played by Jacqueline Pearce). His profession is more of a con artist. Eventually, his get-rich-quick schemes forces Pamela to leave him after he turns her family's home into a casino. After she gives him a final ultimatum, George is determined to prove to her that he can act like adult by making enough cash to pay her back for the "redesigns" he made on her house. Actually, he's planning on one "get rich" last scheme to steal an electric oil drill blueprints and have his friend Willy (played by (Terry-Thomas) sell the plan in Lisbon.

Directed by George Marshall (his final film), Hook, L'ine & Sinker (1969) has Jerry Lewis playing Peter Ingersoll, a former insurance salesman who's about to undergo surgery in Chile. Before the surgery begins, he explains to the medical staff about how he got injured. His story begins when his best friend, Dr. Scott Carter (Peter Lawford), tells him that he only has a short time to live. After telling his wife (played by Anne Francis) the dreadful news, she convinces him to spend his final days on a fishing trip around the world and pay for it all by charging it to credit cards.

After racking up $10,000 dollars in bills, Peter learns that Dr. Carter made a mistake and he's in fact not dying! Together, they come up with a scheme to fake his death.

Produced and directed by Jerry Lewis, Three on a Couch (1966) has Lewis playing Christopher Pride, a businessman who's being sent to Paris for a year to work on a project. He want's his fiance Dr. Elizabeth Acord (played by Janet Leigh) to go with him to Paris, but she's dedicated to her psychiatric practice and doesn't want to leave three of her patients - Mary Lou (played by Leslie Parrish), Susan (played by Mary Ann Mobley), and Anna (played by Gila Golan). These women are all extremely hostile towards men.

After getting advice from his best friend, Dr. Benjamin Mizer (played by James Best), Christopher decides the best way to get Elizabeth to leave her patients, is for him to help cure them. To do so, he impersonates the ideal man for each woman and gets them to fall in love with him. Of course, things don't go as planned for Christopher!

Final Thoughts

The three films on this DVD release aren't Jerry Lewis's best solo outings, as the humor feels a bit dry and the plots are a little outrageous. Since I'm a fan of Lewis's movies, I enjoyed watching the films for what they are, despite their many flaws.

My favorite out of three would have to be "3 on a Couch," which co-stars Janet Leigh. The plot is beyond silly, but Jerry Lewis seemed to be having fun impersonating "other men" and a woman throughout the movie.

"Hook, L'ine & Sinker" has a decent plot, but the slapstick humor at the very end ruins the movie from actually being good. "Don't Raise The Bridge, Lower The River" is my least favorite on the DVD; mostly due the fact that the humor is really dry.

Don't expect restored film quality for the three films, as they're all on one disc. Nevertheless, the actual film and sound quality aren't too bad. This is a bare bones release, so there are no special features on it.