The 3 Apr 1981 NYT review noted that the film opens with a series of clips from Jerry Lewis’ earlier movies. However, the titles and credits of those movies do not appear onscreen in Hardly Working.
       End credits include the following statement: “We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the following Companies and Individuals in the making of this film: Governor Robert Graham and The State Of Florida; Sid Levin, Florida Secretary of Commerce; Clay Shaw, Mayor of Ft. Lauderdale; Leo Calahan, Ft. Lauderdale Police Dept.; Palm Beach Economic Council; First National Bank of Palm Beach; Royal Trust Bank of Palm Beach, H. Loy Anderson, Jr., President; Jesse Newman, Palm Beach Coordinator; Robert Cuillo; Red Roman, West Palm Beach Post Office; U.S. Postal Service; Anheuser-Busch Inc.; Benihana of Tokyo; Dunkin’ Donuts; Nikon Cameras; Palm Aire Country Club; Quasar Company; Seven-up Bottling Co.; Ray Alburn; Vogue Motor Coaches.”
       The 30 Jan 1979 Var reported that actress Valerie Perrine was in negotiations for Hardly Working, but Perrine did not participate in the project.
       As tracked in articles in the 30 Jan 1979 Var and the 29 Apr 1979 NYT, Jerry Lewis was returning to film after an absence of almost a decade. Lewis’ last released film was Which Way To The Front (1970, see entry), while the 1972 film The Day the Clown Cried, which Lewis co-wrote, directed and starred in, was mired in legal problems and never released. Joseph Ford Proctor, a Florida-based developer/promoter, discovered co-screenwriter Michael Janover’s script of Hardly Working and approached Lewis, who agreed to direct and star in the project. Lewis also worked with Janover to develop the script and received co-screenplay credit. Proctor, a first-time producer, created Gold Coast Productions to produce the film, and he convinced nine local investors to put in $100,000 to $750,000 each for the film’s $3 million budget. Additionally, Proctor negotiated twenty-eight promotional tie-ins for the feature. The NYT noted that Lewis was “half-owner” of the film and also placed his salary in escrow to show that he could bring the film in on time and budget.
       On 22 Feb 1979, DV announced the start of principal photography in Florida. Locations included West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The 11 Apr 1979 Var noted that the filmmakers had originally planned to focus on Palm Beach locations, but difficulties obtaining clearances during the height of the tourist season led them to shift most of the filming to Fort Lauderdale. The 12 Apr 1979 HR reported the film would finish principal photography the following day, on 13 Apr 1979.
       According to articles in the 11 Apr 1979 Var and the 29 Apr 1979 NYT, Lewis and Proctor announced their plans to work together on additional projects near the completion of principal photography, including a sequel to Hardly Working, which was tentatively titled Hardly Working Attacks Star Wars and was budgeted at $10 million. However, plans for the sequel quickly collapsed and the fate of Hardly Working became uncertain when Proctor faced financial difficulties in mid-1979. As tracked in articles in the 26 Sep 1979 Var, the 18 Mar 1981 Var, the 1 Apr 1981 Var and the Sep 1987 Box, Proctor’s Gold Coast Productions shut down when his “financial bubble burst,” and Proctor left the project. At that time, more than $1 million of the film’s money was reportedly missing and there was not enough left to complete the film. Florida Governor Robert Graham was instrumental in bringing “freelance troubleshooter” James J. McNamara to the project. McNamara signed on as producer and raised approximately $1 million for the film’s post-production. The 28 Feb 1980 HR noted that McNamara was head of HWC, Inc., a nine-man investment team, and Hardly Working was the first feature film venture for McNamara and HWC, Inc.
       Articles in the 27 Feb 1980 Var and the 28 Feb 1980 HR reported that Hardly Working was released in Europe before the producers looked for a domestic distributor. Producer McNamara stated it was part of a “careful plan” to demonstrate that Jerry Lewis was still a box-office draw, despite being absent from the screen for almost a decade. The film opened in 100 theaters in Germany in Feb 1980. The 29 Feb 1980 HR and the 5 Mar 1980 Var reported the film grossed $2,348,000 in its first seventeen days of release in Germany. The 23 Apr 1980 Var noted the film’s box-office gross in Germany had reached $4 million. The film premiered in France on 9 Apr 1980 and grossed $625,000 during its first week.
       According to the 1 Apr 1981 Var, Lewis altered the film for its domestic release, cutting twenty to twenty-two minutes from the European version. He also added a brief compilation of scenes from his previous films, opening and closing the film with this footage as a means of introducing himself to a younger audience.
       The 1 Apr 1980 HR reported that Arthur Manson’s Cinemax organization was signed as the “sales marketing producer’s representative” for the film’s domestic distribution. According to the 5 May 1981 NYT, Hardly Working had difficulty finding a domestic distributor. For almost a year, the film was turned down by several movie companies, including Paramount, Warner Bros., Columbia and Filmways, with Universal and United Artists refusing to even consider it. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. agreed to distribute the film when the producers put up half the money to test market it in two cities. The 26 Oct 1980 HR stated the two previews in Colorado Springs, CO, and Wichita, KS, were sold out and the audience was enthusiastic. The 18 Mar 1981 Var reported the official U.S. premiere would be 27 Mar 1981 in Palm Beach, FL. The 16 Mar 1981 HR announced Hardly Working would open in Los Angeles, CA, on 3 Apr 1981. The 7 Apr 1981 HR stated the film was released in 704 theaters and its three-day domestic box-office gross was $4,160,193. An item in the 10 Apr 1981 LAT noted the box-office gross had reached $5.3 million, and the 24 Apr 1981 DV reported that the film’s two-week domestic gross was $8,683,560. The 5 May 1981 NYT claimed the film had “weak legs” and its box-office grosses were dropping quickly after the surprising success of its first two weeks. However, the Sep 1987 Box reported the film became an unexpected hit in 1981, with a box-office gross of $24 million.
       The 24 Apr 1979 DV reported that John Beck filed a lawsuit against Jerry Lewis, Joseph Ford Proctor, and several others involved in the film. Beck claimed that he had submitted Hardly Working to Lewis in 1977, and had negotiated a deal with Gold Coast Productions to receive $100,000, profit participation, and screen credit as a producer. Allegedly, he was informed in Jan 1978 that he was not a producer on the film, and he did not receive any financial compensation. Beck filed for damages of $2.2 million on each of several counts. The outcome of this lawsuit could not be determined.