Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River

Pretty good film with Jerry Lewis and Terry Thomas involved in a money scam to raise money quickly. George Lester (Lewis) and his wife Pam (Jacqueline Pearce, who looks and sounds JUST like Audrey Hepburn, even her wardrobe) are getting a divorce, and in an attempt to hold onto her, George has spent a lot of money converting their house into a business. Pam will have none of it, and now George needs money fast. He and his buddy Willie Homer (Terry Thomas) come up with a scheme to sell something that belongs to Pam's new beau Dudley Heath (Nick Parsons). Thomas had made "Naked Truth" with P. Sellers ten years prior... Keep an eye out for a YOUNG Patricia Routledge - she will go on to be Hyacinth Bucket (its Bou - quet !) on BBC's "Keeping Up Appearances". She keeps getting in the way of George's scam. Viewers will know the gap-toothed Terry Thomas as the Colonel and botanist from Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (J. Lewis had a cameo in that) , and TONS of film appearances in the UK and the US. Here, Lewis plays the straight man, who spends most of the film storming and fuming, trying to keep Heath away from Pamela. The funniest scenes in the flick are on the two airplane trips from England to Lisbon, and the slapstick comedy there is done by the flight attendant (Bernard Cribbins). There ARE some funny one-off lines and scenes from J Lewis, (he even says two separate lines directly into the camera). While it IS a clever farce, this has more of a serious, believable story-line than the earlier, sillier J Lewis films where he spoke in a high pitched voice and tripped over himself every couple minutes. Unfortunately, the ending is quite weak, compared to the pace of the rest of the movie. Story by Max Wilk, who had also written "It Happened to Jane", starring Doris Day. Directed by Jerry Paris, best known from the Dick Van Dyke Show. He made the jump from acting to directing pretty early on, and did mostly directing from the 1960s on.

As Jerry Lewis was winding down in his career as a box office star he did this film in Great Britain where he got to co-star with Terry-Thomas. Lewis plays a mercurial entrepreneur of sorts whose schemes seem to go awry all the time. For one thing unabashed con man Terry-Thomas is constantly bamboozling him. But when wife Jacqueline Pearce finally is ready to leave him once and for all, Lewis has need of his nemesis and the contacts he has to win her back.

He'll have to go some because after he turns their home into what he thinks is a grand idea, a combination discotheque and Chinese Restaurant in swinging London of the Sixties that settles his hash. But Lewis has a scheme whereby he steals the plans for a new type oil driller from Pearce's boyfriend Nicholas Parsons and he needs Terry-Thomas to make the contacts for illegal buyers.

Don't Raise The Bridge Lower The River had a pretty good plot premise, but somehow Lewis and Terry-Thomas never quite meshed together in their comedy styles. It's like both were in different films. In fact the comedy itself is clearly British in origin with Lewis brought in to insure some American box office.

One good thing about the film is the debut of Patricia Routledge as the mentor of some Girl Guides which is the British equivalent of the Girl Scouts. When she gets loaded and sets a romantic eye on Jerry it gets the funniest it does get.

In a film that will only really appeal if you're a keen fan of Jerry lewis, Terry - Thomas, for me,was the saving grace of this picture. It was the only reason I bought it in the first place, but thankfully, aided by some fine support from a young Patricia Routledge, Bernard Cribbins and John Bluthal, the film is still worth a look-in. The story is also quite amusing, although I can't help feeling that it could have been used to a much bigger comic impact. Thankfully, there are enough comic scenarios are characters to help fill out some of the gaps for the film to become too slow. Terry - Thomas puts in a fantastic, stereo-typical "cad" performance and there's some great mugging from Bernard Cribbins but apart from that, the film is a bit of a dead loss.

Jerry was cardboardish and unfunny. Good effort by Terry-Thomas, his scenes were funny. Jacqueline Pearce as Jerry wife was attractive but added nothing to the film. There was generally poor writing & directing. I was surprised to see Jerry Paris (the dentist neighbor from the Dick Van Dyke Show) was the director and not Jerry Lewis himself.

The unseen pilot of the Plane to Lisbon on the British Air Company that has no offices had some funny lines. I particularly like the line were they cruising " somewhere between 8,000 and 30,000 feet." I cannot really find any reason to recommend watching this movie, it is not campy and doesn't even show off Jerry's typical shtick.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. I can't make my mind up if this is one of those so bad it's good films or if it's just awful. The only stand out thing for me is it is the first film appearance of the fantastic British actress Patricia Routledge as a dotty girl guide leader. Other than that, it's one of those films you either give up on half way through because it's so terrible or stick with it because it's a bit bonkers.