Cracking Up

Two or more years ago, at about three in the morning, I saw the beginning of the Jerry Lewis movie CRACKING UP on one of my many premium cable channels, I don't mean to brag. There was a part when Jerry slipped on some marbles. It was hilarious! Another part showed one of Jerry's ancestors trying to escape from the Bastille (or somewhere. Anyhow, I recall it as a French setting). He made a dummy of himself, much like Clint Eastwood in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ. Through a series of merry mix-ups, it was Jerry's DUMMY who ended up escaping! Well, I fell asleep, through no fault of Jerry's, and missed the rest of the movie (a scene from which illustrates this particular "blog" entry. I am simultaneously terrified and thrilled that I might therefore be sued by Jerry Lewis!). I kept checking the cable listings every day for months, wondering when they would rerun it so I could see the whole thing. It's a rare Jerry movie, which enjoyed only a limited US release. Well, now Jeff McNeil has found a copy on Ebay, and he's kindly mailing it to me as we speak! This is the kind of spirit and camaraderie that can keep "blogging" alive! Mr. McNeil was also the first to respond to my request for cutting-and-pasting material, the lifeblood of any good "blog." He writes: "I watched the opening few seconds of Cracking Up and noticed that the carpet is the same color as the carpet in The Patsy. It could, in fact be the very same carpet, for it looked as if it had 20 years of wear on it..." Rest assured, this intriguing hypothesis will soon be confirmed or denied by the forensics team here at "Blog" Central, and you, my loyal readers, will be the first to learn the result!