The Errand Boy (1961)
92 mins | Comedy | 23 November 1961
Cast:
Jerry Lewis, Brian Donlevy, Dick Wesson [ More ]Director:
Jerry LewisWriters:
Jerry Lewis, Bill RichmondProducer:
Ernest D. GlucksmanCinematographer:
Wallace KelleyEditor:
Stanley JohnsonProduction Designers:
Hal Pereira, Arthur LonerganProduction Company:
Jerry Lewis ProductionsItems in the 26 May 1961 DV and LAT announced that The Errand Boy would be Jerry Lewis’s next film for Paramount Pictures, scheduled to begin shooting in Jul 1961. Lewis, who was set to co-write, direct, and star in the picture, planned to utilize “the entire Paramount lot,” which would double as the fictional “Paramutual Pictures.” According to an item in the 19 Jul 1961 DV, some of the shoot would take place on the $500,000 set built for Lewis’s recently completed film, The Ladies’ Man (1961, see entry).
The 24 Jul 1961 DV stated that principal photography would begin that day. According to a 29 Aug 1961 DV item, one scene depicting a premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre called for 400 background actors.
The following people were listed as cast members in DV items published between 31 Jul 1961 and 14 Sep 1961: Irving Kaye; Rosalind Roberts; Jerry Wayne; Lewis’s co-screenwriter Bill Richmond; Sandy Stewart of the George Rock Sextet; Mary LeBow; Regis Toomey; Roscoe Ates; Kathy Reed; Maureen Janzen; Darlene Lucht; Patricia Olson; Eileen O’Neill; Joyce Ross; Janet Watson; Patricia Winters; John Hoyt; Dolores Donlon; and William Joyce.
According to a news item in the 9 Aug 1961 DV, Lewis co-wrote an original song, titled “That’s The Way,” with Bill Richmond and Louis Y. Brown. A “‘name’ band” was said to be recording the tune, with actress Pat Dahl providing vocals. The song was to be used in a nightclub sequence, and released as a record.
Two sneak previews were scheduled to take place on 25 Oct ...
Items in the 26 May 1961 DV and LAT announced that The Errand Boy would be Jerry Lewis’s next film for Paramount Pictures, scheduled to begin shooting in Jul 1961. Lewis, who was set to co-write, direct, and star in the picture, planned to utilize “the entire Paramount lot,” which would double as the fictional “Paramutual Pictures.” According to an item in the 19 Jul 1961 DV, some of the shoot would take place on the $500,000 set built for Lewis’s recently completed film, The Ladies’ Man (1961, see entry).
The 24 Jul 1961 DV stated that principal photography would begin that day. According to a 29 Aug 1961 DV item, one scene depicting a premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre called for 400 background actors.
The following people were listed as cast members in DV items published between 31 Jul 1961 and 14 Sep 1961: Irving Kaye; Rosalind Roberts; Jerry Wayne; Lewis’s co-screenwriter Bill Richmond; Sandy Stewart of the George Rock Sextet; Mary LeBow; Regis Toomey; Roscoe Ates; Kathy Reed; Maureen Janzen; Darlene Lucht; Patricia Olson; Eileen O’Neill; Joyce Ross; Janet Watson; Patricia Winters; John Hoyt; Dolores Donlon; and William Joyce.
According to a news item in the 9 Aug 1961 DV, Lewis co-wrote an original song, titled “That’s The Way,” with Bill Richmond and Louis Y. Brown. A “‘name’ band” was said to be recording the tune, with actress Pat Dahl providing vocals. The song was to be used in a nightclub sequence, and released as a record.
Two sneak previews were scheduled to take place on 25 Oct 1961 in Las Vegas, NV, including a 2:30 a.m. showing for Las Vegas entertainers who performed on the “strip,” as noted in that day’s DV. The following month, The Errand Boy opened at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, IL, on 23 Nov 1961 (Thanksgiving Day), the 28 Nov 1961 DV noted. It received generally positive reviews in the 30 Nov 1961 DV, 7 Feb 1962 NYT, and 23 Feb 1962 LAT, although the latter two lamented that, after a promising set-up, the second half of the comedy fell flat. In New York City and Los Angeles, CA, the picture was screened on a double bill with Hey, Let’s Twist! (1961, see entry).
Determined to cut wasteful expenditures, T. P., the head of Paramutual Pictures, selects dimwitted paperhanger Morty S. Tashman to spy on studio employees while posing as an errand boy. Almost immediately, havoc reigns as the well-meaning but disaster-prone Morty blunders through a series of calamities. He disrupts the filming of a western, accidentally becomes the escort of a voluptuous European beauty attending a Hollywood premiere, panics the studio stenographic department, and ruins a sound-recording session. Finally, he turns a birthday party for a "great star" into a total shambles by almost drowning the woman in a flood of exploding champagne. The distraught T. P. decides to fire Morty before the entire studio is destroyed. However, two top directors who witnessed Morty's antics at the birthday party regard him as a potential star comedian, and T. P. is persuaded to sign him as the new reigning comic of Paramutual ...
Determined to cut wasteful expenditures, T. P., the head of Paramutual Pictures, selects dimwitted paperhanger Morty S. Tashman to spy on studio employees while posing as an errand boy. Almost immediately, havoc reigns as the well-meaning but disaster-prone Morty blunders through a series of calamities. He disrupts the filming of a western, accidentally becomes the escort of a voluptuous European beauty attending a Hollywood premiere, panics the studio stenographic department, and ruins a sound-recording session. Finally, he turns a birthday party for a "great star" into a total shambles by almost drowning the woman in a flood of exploding champagne. The distraught T. P. decides to fire Morty before the entire studio is destroyed. However, two top directors who witnessed Morty's antics at the birthday party regard him as a potential star comedian, and T. P. is persuaded to sign him as the new reigning comic of Paramutual Pictures.
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