In The Nutty Professor Jerry Lewis created one of his most endearing characters and the only one that another comic also adopted. Eddie Murphy who changed the last name from Kelp to Klump did not do an imitation of Lewis. He created his own milquetoast professor who starts experimenting with life altering potions. In fact Murphy created a whole family of characters for his two films.
Jerry did not have the computer graphics available to Murphy, but his Julius Kelp who morphs into Buddy Love does quite all right with just Paramount's makeup wizardry and his own talent. When you think about it Jerry has joined some pretty distinguished company with John Barrymore, Fredric March, Spencer Tracy, and Boris Karloff all who played Dr. Jekyll on the big screen.
Those guys weren't playing it for laughs though, Lewis did see the possibilities of humor in this deadly serious story. He also mined a lot of pathos from both Julius Kelp and Buddy Love.
It's a simple story, Jerry is the world's ultimate nerd in Professor Julius Kelp who gets bullied by all. After a bad session with the college football players he decides that Dupont had the right idea, better living through chemistry. He does his Jekyll thing and from the ultimate nerd, Lewis becomes a candidate for lounge lizard of the century, a man auditioning for admittance to Sinatra's rat pack.
One thing I have to say, that college seem to be caught in time warp. In 1963 kids were no longer listening to Les Brown and his Band of Renown. Yet that is their musical entertainment for the spring prom. Personally I think it would have registered better if say The Beach Boys would have been the entertainment, far more contemporary for 1963. But that would not have allowed Jerry a little chance to spoof the Rat Pack and his old partner Dean Martin.
Jerry's Professor Kelp is someone you really care about and that's the secret of The Nutty Professor's enduring popularity.
