Why ‘The Nutty Professor’ is still a classic after 51 years

In “The Nutty Professor,’’ Jerry Lewis plays not only the title role, the nerdy Julius Kelp, but also an egotistical and obnoxious lounge singer with slicked-back hair named Buddy Love. A comic twist on “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” it’s not only Lewis’s most famous film, but also his best. And for half a century, there’s been speculation that Buddy was based on singer-comedian Dean Martin, with whom Lewis performed for a decade in films, TV and live performances before their dramatic 1956 breakup made headlines.

“There are a lot of people who believe that Buddy Love is Lewis’ attack on Martin, because Buddy is this semi-skilled crooner who is mean to everyone around him,’’ says film historian James Neibaur in a documentary on the (belated) 50th anniversary Blu-ray box set that’s just been released. “But that wasn’t Dean Martin at any time in his career, as far as I know.’’

Lewis seems hurt at the very suggestion.

“This could never be Dean — I loved Dean more than the next breath,’’ he says. “When people ask me what I thought my love was, well, just look at my sons, open them up and put my partner in the middle. You’ll know what love is.’’

Neibaur says that Buddy Love instead represents the less pleasant aspects of Lewis’ own personality, including egotism, bullying and a vigorous need for attention.

“If anything, Lewis is admitting this is his own subconscious,’’ Neibaur says. “Everybody’s got a Jekyll and Hyde personality — and [Buddy] was his Mr. Hyde.’’

Lewis claims Buddy was “actually a conglomeration of every unkind, nasty son of a bitch I had seen all of my life. The man who says, ‘Waitress, where the hell is my coffee?’ . . . the man who takes the cab in the rain from the lady who had her hand on the [door] handle.’’

Paramount Pictures was initially skeptical about releasing “The Nutty Professor.’’ Lewis’ previous films had a huge following among children, and this one was more adult-oriented, with Buddy trying to seduce Stella Stevens. (Two of Lewis’ earlier movies, “Cinderfella’’ and “The Errand Boy,’’ are included as extras in the box set, along with an illustrated booklet containing 44 pages of excerpts from “Being A Person,’’ which Lewis wrote for the cast and crew of “The Nutty Professor’’ after hearing about conflicts on set.)

Rather than opening with a limited release in a Times Square movie palace, as was customary for Lewis’ films, “Professor’’ bowed on June 4, 1963, at neighborhood theaters on a double feature. I myself saw it at the long-gone Loew’s Triboro on Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens.

“The Nutty Professor’’ got the strongest reviews of Lewis’ career, but it took US critics decades to respect Lewis as a filmmaker (he directed, as well as co-wrote this with Bill Richmond) even a fraction as much as their French colleagues.

Brilliantly blending pathos and uproarious slapstick, it’s Lewis’ most enduring work. In 1996, it was loosely remade as an Eddie Murphy vehicle that was so successful it produced a 2000 sequel (a box-office disappointment).

Lewis served as executive producer on both Murphy films, but later said, “I have such respect for Eddie, but I should not have done it. What I did was perfect the first time around, and all you’re going to do is diminish that perfection by letting someone else do it.”

Ranked No. 99 in the American Film Institute’s list of 100 funniest films, the 1963 original was selected for the National Film Registry in 2004. A year later, Lewis himself revisited the material, providing his voice for an animated sequel centering on Julius Kelp’s grandson that went straight to video.

Lewis still isn’t done with Kelp and his alter ego Love. The comedian directed a musical theater version of “The Nutty Professor,’’ with a score by Marvin Hamlisch, that premiered in Tennessee in 2012. At 88, Lewis — who will be honored by the Friars Club this week — is hoping the show will eventually make it to Broadway.