The Delicate Delinquent

I first saw this movie at the theater in 1957. I was 13 and was captivated at the transformation of Sidney(Jerry Lewis). I watched as he went from a goofy, skinny kid(like I was then)to a mature, respected policeman. I never forgot this film and developed an interest in law enforcement. I have been retired for 8 years after a career with the PA State Police. The movie was more than entertainment to me.

Jerry proves in his first film outing after his infamous parting with his partner Dean Martin that his brand of comedy needs no specific straight man as the whole world is his straight man! Jerry plays a peripheral (read barely in) member of a gang who get into a rumble at his backdoor and he is subsequently arrested along with them. Seeing that he's different from the others, a sympathetic cop (Darren McGavin) takes him under his wing to guide him away from the other gang members and make an upstanding citizen of him. Which of course is a monumental task considering who he has as a charge. Speaking of which, you will get a 'charge' out of this movie.

(see my review on Amazon.com)

Sydney L. Pythias (Jerry Lewis), more juvenile than delinquent, is a janitor mistaken for a gang member whilst emptying out the garbage. Kindly police officer Mike Damon (Darren McGavin) tries to straighten him out by putting him through police training.

The role of Damon was earmarked for regular Lewis partner Dean Martin, but Martin allegedly refused to play a copper and the role was given to McGavin. Thus the film became notable for being the first solo film for Lewis away from his regular partner. They never worked together again. Written and directed by Don McGuire who works from a script based upon the Greek mythology legend of Damon and Pythias, the film also stars Martha Hyer, Robert Ivers and features a rare dramatic turn from comedian/impressionist Frank Gorshin. After the tremendous success of the Martin/Lewis partnership the big question of course would be if Lewis as a solo performer would be a big draw? The Delicate Delenquent was a massive success, made for under half a million dollars it went on to make almost $6 million. Thus launching Lewis on a lucrative solo career encompassing many more film's in the decades to come.

Very much a send up of teen rebel movies that were knocking about in the 50s {delinquency amongst teens was becoming a hot topic in the decade}, Lewis' movie is gentle blend of comedy and drama. Tho he doles out some of the gurning buffoon antics that were his comedy trait, Lewis does get to play it more restrained for much of the piece, and it works, none more so than with the warm and uplifting finale. With that in mind, newcomers to the movie should not expect a raucous Jerry Lewis piece. The comedy is good, with some scenes during the police academy training portion of the film, particularly enjoyable. While Jerry sings "By Myself," in cheeky recognition of his split-up with Dino. The romantic interest in the film comes via the beautiful Martha Hyer, who married Hal Wallis in 1966, the producer of the Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis films. And tho it's not a fully formed character, there's just enough material to let Hyer leave a favourable mark.

A long way from Lewis' best solo film {The Nutty Professor} but engaging enough on both its comedy and dramatic fronts. 6.5/10

Everybody knows that the late fifties - more precisely the second part of this decade - evoked the juvenile delinquency. Thanks to Nicholas Ray and his REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE which opened the way to this kind of subject; a social and drama scheme, that you could use in nearly all kinds of features, including science fiction - look for some Edward L Cahn's movies. Only westerns did not speak that much of juvenile delinquency, with the exception of some Billy The Kid westerns where the juvenile delinquency element was not that far...Back to this movie, it remains an amusing comedy, because of Jerry Lewis, but not as slapstick as other films starring also Jerry Lewis and that looked like more TEX AVERY cartoons than social comedies. Because in this film, the social element is also not so far. A social message, to give a chance to juvenile delinquents to succeed in life.

Just watched this, Jerry Lewis' first movie without Dean Martin, on YouTube. Meant to partially be a spoof of the "delinquent" films of the time, Jer does quite well in mixing his usual goofy persona with that of a more serious learner when he gets mentored by a friendly cop named Mike Damon (Darren McGavin). In fact, this was originally supposed to be Dean's role but either he balked at actually playing an authority figure or he simply just had enough of his former partner's ego to continue on with him. Anyway, whenever McGavin has fights with a female council member named Martha Henshaw (Martha Hyer) there's still some traces of the Martin-like attitude especially when he reveals to Sidney (Lewis' character) his feelings for her. Officer Mike not only has to deal with the punks that hang around Sidney like Monk (Robert Ivers) and Artie (Richard Bakalyan) but also his superior officer, Capt. Riley (Horace McMahon) who has plenty of doubts about Mike's methods. Like I said, this was a good mix of comedy and drama and also, Jerry has a nice number by himself in which he drops his usual whiny voice for his more normal one (which he also does in the more serious scenes). So on that note, I highly recommend The Delicate Delinquent.