CINDERFELLA, the last of three Jerry Lewis comedies inflicted upon 1960, found enough of his built-in audience to tag 39th place, grossing $8,300,000. That was enough to cover the $3,000,000+ expenditure, high for a Lewis picture. Jerry hatched the idea, which was then written up & directed by Frank Tashlin, the fifth of his eight collaborations with the star. Tashlin’s eye for visual styling is evident, the art direction supervised by tag teamers Henry Bumstead and Hal Pereira is pleasing, and Judith Anderson fills the role of ‘Wicked Stepmother’ with practiced hauteur.

But you pretty much have to be die-hard fan of the fella at the top of the fool chain to get much of a kick out of a role reversal switch on the oft-told tale. Knock thyself out: which is what Jerry actually did when finishing an exhaustive dance number. During the all-important ball scene with ‘Princess Charming’, after dashing up 67 steps of a grand staircase in seven seconds, Lewis collapsed, requiring oxygen and a trip to the hospital.

Ed Wynn does his fuddy duddy thing as ‘Fairy Godfather’ to put-upon Jerr’s ‘Fella’, with Henry Silva and Robert Hutton as the meanie brothers. Anna Maria Alberghetti maintains her composure (33 and lovely) as the Princess, and Count Basie and his Orchestra are there to goose up the music. Several songs are tossed in, performed by Lewis; Wynn warbles along with one, but operatic Alberghetti doesn’t get anything. The star does yet another one of his pretend-to-conduct-an-orchestra shticks: how many did this make? A big production number was among the sequences cut, regrettable in that it featured Joi Lansing, Francesca Bellini and Barbara Luna.

And obviously the whole take has genders switched, which between the stars repetitive mugging and mawkish interludes allows Tashlin and Lewis to strike a blow for/at/over/ ‘modern’ men getting an unfair shake as a result of centuries of misconceptions over romance. Or something. *

FAIRY GODFATHER: “Fella, you have been chosen to rectify all the great wrongs brought about by the original Cinderella story. Through the centuries, the women of the world influenced by the Cinderella story have waited. Waited for their Prince Charming’s to come galloping out of the wild blue yonders on their white horses to claim their hands in marriage.”    FELLA: “Yeah, I read that once…”    FAIRY GODFATHER: “But there was only one Prince Charming! And, when he didn’t appear, these women married the closest available man. And they were forever after after miserable, because they always regretted and they felt that, well, they had taken second-best. But what is worse, they made their poor husbands miserable because the poor fellow wasn’t a prince.”  FELLA: “Tsk, tsk, tsk…” FAIRY GODFATHER: “Oh, the Cinderella legend has brought nothing but dissatisfaction to the hearts of women. And their husbands have taken the brunt of it.”   FELLA: “It’s not fair.”   FAIRY GODFATHER: “I won’t bother you with actual statistics, Fella, but the unhappy husbands of the world are crying for help! They’re crying for a chance to get even. It’s time, for a change! And you have been chosen to bring out that change.”   FELLA: “Change… I’m… chosen… I’m… who… chosen…?”

With Milton Frome, Barry Gordon, Kathie Browne and Del Moore. 91 minutes.

* Forty-two years later, Alberghetti, then 86, was one of a bevy of actresses who had sexual harassment issues with Jerry, highlighted in an investigation from Vanity Fair. She recalled that Lewis “was constantly coming on to her” and “a good time was not had by all”.  Smooth, Jerr, trying to make it with a charming Princess. Hurl.

Speaking of creeps revealing in excess—those who recall the TV series The Beverly Hillbillies will notice that the mansion is the same one later occupied by the Clampett’s, the Chartwell Mansion in Bel Air, California. One of Rupert Murdoch’s offspring bought it in 2019—for $150,000,000. Gee, we certainly hope it’s sufficient. How much do the undocumented groundskeepers get paid? La repulsión genera revolución.