Perhaps the most interesting scene in the movie.
The Ladies Man (1961) falls into the cotton-candy genre of stories – it’s big, it’s complex, but when you’re done consuming it, you’re not full and it wasn’t all that good for you. This is a Jerry Lewis vehicle, through and through. His character, who appears to be on the autism spectrum, has graduated college, been dumped by his girl for someone without a head, and is looking for a job, pursuing ads for “bachelors.” After some false starts, he lucks into Mrs. Wellenmellon’s establishment, which houses about fifty ladies who are trying to break into show business. He is used by them for general chores and errands. And where is this going? Hard to say. I took the ride and I still don’t know why I should have bothered. Jerry showcases some tap skills, along with his usual farce. But, in the end, I just shrugged and filed it under “foreign experience.” Maybe it has meaning for other people.
Or perhaps it was left on the TV channel’s cutting room floor?
For another viewpoint from an expert, here’s Jonathan Rosenbaum’s entry on The Ladies Man. It may be that you have to be of that era, or an expert in it, to understand the commentary Lewis is creating.
