He has always been an acquired taste has Jerry Lewis. For many he is a comic genius, to others he's a buffoon who got lucky by playing the idiot. I fall into the former camp, from childhood memories of laughing hysterically, right into middle age where I still find myself chortling away with much of his work, he's an artist who owes me nothing on the entertainment front. But being a devout fan doesn't mean I'm ignorant of his weaker efforts, and he does have many, of which Cinderfella is one of the bottom dwellers.It's on the premise surface a fresh and interesting spin on the Cinderella story, the sexes are reversed and this is the modern world in setting. However, that's where the freshness ends, for Cinderfella is a stale old offering, ponderously paced by the normally astute Frank Tashlin and the few jokes within fall agonisingly flat. No amount of high energy mugging from Jerry can lift the picture out of its stupor, the songs from Harry Warren & Jack Brooks are weak, while poor Anna Maria Alberghetti (Princess Charmein) is reduced to being nothing but a pretty and well dressed up prop!Ed Wynn as the Fairy Godfather comes out with credibility still intact, and Count Basie's input into the production is like a ray of sunshine on a darkly bleak winter's day. There's also one great sequence as Lewis goes panto playing various musical instruments, but the irony there is that the best scene in the film has nothing to do with the plot! No, this is not close to being a good Jerry Lewis movie, and those stalwart fans who insist it is are sadly leading the uninitiated down the wrong path. 4/10

This updated comical parody of the Cinderella story is not only funny, but is also very touching and heart-warming. It followed so closely the fairy tale only this time it was the rejected stepson who is terribly mistreated by his stepmother and stepbrothers. Henry Silva and Robert Hutton were accomplished as mean stepbrothers, and it was easy to hate Judith Anderson, the horrible stepmother. The only things I did not like were the overdoing of Ed Wynn as the fairy godfather and the polo game: those parts were almost too ridiculous. Of course, as is almost always the case, Lewis was adept at causing a lot of laughs. I liked hearing Count Basie and his band, and Anna Maria Alberghetti was ravishing and so caring. As a rule, it is worth the viewing.

The Jerry Lewis (solo) movie formula was a rather awkward mix of sticky romantic sentiment and wildly elaborate and catastrophic comic ballets and I have often wondered who Jerry himself thought was his target audience. His anarchic, destructive comedy seems aimed straight at 12 year old boys who would be little interested in icky girls, yet there was always a central romantic subplot. And the date crowd would have found his romantic chemistry with his female co-stars lacking and the overall atmosphere rather contrived and juvenile. Anyway, here Jerry does a spin on Cinderella, with Ed Wynn as his Fairy Godfather who uses wizardry to put the bungling Jerry in the path of a European princess. We all know how the story ends, but the difference here is that along the way, the princess has to wade through a succession of truly destructive comic disasters. I wondered why she stuck around with this guy all the way to the end. Any well-bred woman of her class would have gone to take a rest in Monte Carlo after the first one. Yet, contrived and formulaic as it is, the movie manages to still entertain almost 50 years later, largely on the strength of Jerry's comic and cinematic inventiveness. He was a master at staging destructive comedy sequences with few rivals at this. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.

"Cinderfella" was Jerry Lewis' answer to the classic Cinderella story. And he intended it to be a masterpiece. To say that it fell somewhat short of it's goal is putting it mildly, but it's not bad. The plot is, of course the familiar story, with a few (expected) variations. When his father dies, poor Fella (Lewis) is left at the mercy of his snobbish stepmother (Judith Anderson) and her two no-good sons, Maximilian (Henry Silva) and Rupert (Robert Hutton). As he slaves away for his nasty step-family, Maximilian and Rupert attempt to find a treasure Fella's father has supposedly hidden on the estate. Meanwhile, hoping to restore her dwindling fortunes, the stepmother plans a fancy ball in honor of the visiting Princess Charmein (Anna Maria Alberghetti) whom she hopes will marry Rupert. Eventually, Fella's Fairy Godfather (Ed Wynn) shows up to convince him that he has a shot at winning the Princess himself. Lewis had big plans for the film's release. Although it was completed in January of 1960, he insisted it make it's debut that Christmas, complete with a holiday campaign and record album tie-in. In the meantime, he produced and starred in a low budget item called "The Bellboy" in order for Paramount to have a Jerry Lewis movie for summer release. "Cinderfella" was given a lavish production and a formidable supporting cast was recruited to co star with Lewis. He was indeed fortunate to obtain the services of Judith Anderson, who, while not a performer one would expect in a Jerry Lewis film, was nevertheless excellent as the stepmother, bringing just the right touch of arrogance to the part. Ed Wynn is reliably daffy as the Fairy Godfather,though, due to severe editing, he disappears before the climax, and is not seen again. Silva and Hutton do what they can as the stepbrothers, but the beautiful Alberghetti has nothing to do but fall hopelessly in love with the hapless Fella. The pace of the film is somewhat choppy, and several critics pointed out that the editing had left voids in the plot. The film originally ran 99 minutes, it ended up at 88. Sure enough, it was released at Christmastime, when it inspired some of the most scathing critical comment ever bestowed on a Lewis picture. Most of this was devoted to Lewis' own performance, and his frequent mugging, mixed with his pathetic attempts to play for sympathy. "Cinderfella" did just O.K. at the box office, and it ended up well behind the modest "Bellboy" which was a box-office smash. Thanks to handsome sets (with exteriors filmed at the "Beverly Hillbillies" estate in Bel Air, CA), costumes and a pleasant (if unmemorable) score, "Cinderfella" is entertaining enough to get by. But you'd better be prepared for a lot of "singing/mugging" from the Producer/Star, who fancied himself a brilliant vocalist. After all, though, this is SUPPOSED to be a fairy tale!