''Hardly Working'' is a 1980 American
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by, co-written by and starring
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
and
Susan Oliver
Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...
, filmed in 1979, released in Europe in 1980 and then in the United States on April 3, 1981 through
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
. This film marks the final theatrical release for Oliver, as the rest of her career only featured on several television movies and series, before her death in 1990.
Plot
Bo Hooper, a clown, finds himself unemployed when the circus where he works suddenly closes. He winds up living with his sister, against the wishes of her husband Robert. From there he goes from job to job, wreaking havoc along the way. He finally finds some stability as a postal worker, until he finds out that his boss is his girlfriend's father. The father hates all mail carriers because his daughter's ex-husband was one, so he tries to wreck Bo's life, but Bo overcomes the odds and succeeds not only at work, but at impressing the father.
Cast
*
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
as Bo Hooper
*
Susan Oliver
Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...
as Claire Trent
*
Roger C. Carmel as Robert Trent
*
Deanna Lund
Deanna Lund (May 30, 1937 – June 22, 2018) was an American film and television actress best known for her role in the Irwin Allen television series ''Land of the Giants'', in which she played the character of Valerie Ames Scott.
Early years
Lu ...
as Millie
*
Harold J. Stone as Frank Loucazi
*
Steve Franken as Steve Torres
*
Buddy Lester
Buddy Lester (born William Goldberg, January 16, 1915 – October 4, 2002) was an American actor and comedian who portrayed dozens of character roles in films and television. Although known for his appearances in Jerry Lewis’ comedy films, he w ...
as Claude Reed
*
Leonard Stone
Leonard Stone (born Leonard Steinbock; November 3, 1923 – November 2, 2011) was an American character actor who played supporting roles in over 120 television shows and 35 films.
Early years
Stone was born in Salem, Oregon. The son of Mr. and ...
as Ted Mitchell
Production
Joseph Proctor set up a production company to produce his first film, based on a Michael Janover script, which Lewis agreed to direct and star in.
This was Lewis' "comeback" film, as it was his first released film since 1970's ''
Which Way to the Front?
''Which Way to the Front?'' is a 1970 American comedy film produced, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis, which was his first film for Warner Bros.
Plot
Brendan Byers III is a rich playboy who enlists to fight in the war against the Axis powe ...
''. In between, he filmed ''
The Day the Clown Cried
''The Day the Clown Cried'' is an unfinished and unreleased 1972 Swedish-French drama film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It is based on an original screenplay by Joan O'Brien and Charles Denton, from a story idea by O'Brien, with additio ...
'', which, to date, remains unreleased.
Lewis set up a studio-like complex in 23 rooms at the
Palm Aire
Palm Aire, Florida was an unincorporated census-designated place in Broward County, Florida consisting of residential property, commercial businesses, and four golf courses. Palm Aire describes both Palm Aire Village, a collection of single-family ...
Country Club in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
and became a joint owner of the production and placed his salary in
escrow
An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a third party (the stakeholder or escrow agent) receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacti ...
.
[ He received a co-screenplay credit for his work on the film.][ As well as Fort Lauderdale, the film was also filmed in ]Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...
.[
Proctor ran into financial difficulties][ and work on the film was suspended for about six months in 1980 after the production ran out of money, with Lewis himself declaring ]personal bankruptcy Personal bankruptcy law allows, in certain jurisdictions, an individual to be declared bankrupt. Virtually every country with a modern legal system features some form of debt relief for individuals. Personal bankruptcy is distinguished from corporat ...
. Because of this, there are many notable continuity issues throughout the film.[ Proctor left the production and James J. McNamara came in as producer raising $1 million to complete the production.][
Looking back on the shoot, Lewis admitted that "the whole experience was a mixed bag". "I have to admit that the awful strain of the past ten years showed in every part of my work," the comedian wrote in ''Dean and Me: A Love Story''. "The movie didn't really hang together, and not so surprisingly, I looked terrible in it."] Lewis' future wife, Sandee "Sam" Pitnick, has a cameo as a disco dancer.
Lewis also played the part of the 'Little Ol' Lady' dressed in drag. During the closing credits this part was credited to "Joseph Levitch", which Lewis claimed to be his birth name.
The clown makeup worn by Lewis in this film was designed by him for 1954's '' 3 Ring Circus'' and later reused in 1965's '' The Family Jewels''.
Release
The producers struggled to find a U.S. distributor and the film was released in West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
on January 31, 1980.[ In its first 17 days, ''Hardly Working'' grossed $2.3 million in West Germany and went on to gross over $4 million.][ It grossed $625,000 in its first week in France.][
The Europe success and sold out test engagements in ]Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
and Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
convinced 20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
to pick up the independent production for distribution in the United States.[ The U.S. cut was trimmed from the European prints] by around 20 minutes.[
The U.S. cut opens with a montage of scenes from earlier ]Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
films,[ including '']The Bellboy
''The Bellboy'' is a 1960 American comedy film written, produced, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was released on July 20, 1960 by Paramount Pictures and marked Lewis's directorial debut.
Plot
In a prologue sequence, fictitious execut ...
'', ''Cinderfella
''Cinderfella'' is a 1960 American semi-musical comedy film adaptation of the classic ''Cinderella'' story, with most characters changed in gender from female to male and starring Jerry Lewis as Fella. It was released on November 22, 1960 by P ...
'', ''The Errand Boy
''The Errand Boy'' is a 1961 American comedy film directed by, co-written by and starring Jerry Lewis.
Plot
Paramutual Pictures decide that they need a spy to find out the inner workings of their studio. Morty S. Tashman, (the 'S' stands for 's ...
'', ''Who's Minding the Store?
''Who's Minding the Store?'' is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Jerry Lewis, Jill St. John, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Walston, Kathleen Freeman, and John McGiver. It was released on November 28, 1963, by Paramou ...
'', and '' The Patsy''.
The film premiered in the United States on March 27, 1981 in Palm Beach[ and opened in the United States on April 3, 1981 and grossed $4,160,193 in its opening weekend from 704 theatres and was number one on '']Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
s weekly film chart. It went on to gross $24 million in the United States.[ It grossed $25 million throughout Europe and South America, for a worldwide gross of $49 million.
]
Reception
The movie received negative reviews; Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave it zero stars and called it "one of the worst movies ever to achieve commercial release in this country ..no wonder it was on the shelf for two years before it saw the light of day." Both Ebert and Gene Siskel included the film in their list of the worst movies of 1981, referring to it as “one of worst, most incompetent, most chaotically constructed comedies I’ve ever seen”, agreeing that the only reason it wasn't the very worst film of the year (Siskel gave that nod to Billy Wilder's flop final film ''Buddy Buddy
''Buddy Buddy'' is a 1981 American comedy film based on Francis Veber's play ''Le contrat'' and Édouard Molinaro's film '' L'emmerdeur''. It was the final film directed and written by Billy Wilder.
Plot
Hitman Trabucco eliminates two witnesses a ...
'' and Ebert singled out '' Heaven's Gate'') was because those other films were more ambitious and therefore more brutal failures than a film as amateurish and poorly made as ''Hardly Working'' was. In his ''Movie Guide'', Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
gave it two stars out of four with this comment: "Not a very good movie; the opening montage ..is much funnier than anything that follows."[
On ]Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds a 10% rating based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 2.67/10.
References
External links
*
*
{{Jerry Lewis
1980 films
1980 comedy films
20th Century Fox films
Films directed by Jerry Lewis
Films with screenplays by Jerry Lewis
1980s English-language films
American comedy films
1980s American films