The Disorderly Orderly

Jerry Lewis may have reached his wackiest here. He plays Jerome Littlefield, an orderly who appears to be a combination of Insp. Clouseau and Gilligan. Pretty much most of the movie features him getting into a series of embarrassing situations. I personally think that they could have just left it at that and avoided the love story.

And yes, that's Alice Pearce as the over-communicative Miss Fuzzibee, right before she got the role of a certain nosy neighbor suspicious that there's a witch or something in the neighborhood. All in all, "The Disorderly Orderly" is classic comedy at its best. You gotta wonder how they did some of those scenes. Also starring Kathleen Freeman.

I can watch Jerry Lewis films over and over again and still get the full laugh effect. This one finds him as an orderly in a mental hospital (!) where he manages to fumble everything from breakfast to scrubbing the floors. He meets a destitute patient (Susan Oliver) and then the fun begins. These sequences provide a little of the film's serious side but overall the slapstick and Jerry's mugging are hilarious. Even the kids will get a hoot out of this. Highly recommended for family viewing.

This time Jerry Lewis is a hospital worker.Now that doesn't sound right.When Jerry is trying to do his job, it's always a disaster.This Jerome Littlefield, that Jerry plays, is in love with one patient.And there is also a nurse, that likes Jerome. Disorderly Orderly is a terrific Jerry Lewis comedy. Just hilarious.

I am not a Jerry Lewis specialist, though I possess nearly all his films, but comedies are not my stuff. However I like this kind of entertainment,naive, mindless but exciting, especially in climaxes. This one makes no exception and remains I guess one of Jerry Lewis' best, pulled by a Frank Tashlin in great shape. Last fifteen minutes are overwhelming, a gigantic tribute to Buster Keaton and silent slapstick masterpieces. IT'S A MAD MAD WORLD was also a terrific tribute to slapstick movies.

Disorderly Orderly, The (1964)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Totally unfunny Jerry Lewis film finds him playing (gasp) a dumb orderly who wishes to become a doctor. Lewis falls in love with a suicidal patient and she could hold the key to him getting his wish. I really love Jerry Lewis and find him quite funny in interviews but man have I been disappointed in his solo work. One of the characters tells the dumb orderly that his problem is that he tries too hard and I think that's the problem with Lewis. The jokes are so forced that they are more annoying than anything else. A few laughs but after thirty minutes I started looking at my carpet.