While working on his first film as a director Jerry Lewis invented something which
changed the way films have been made ever since - the video assist. Directing a
film in which he was also the featured actor Lewis did not want to wait until the next
day to see if he had gotten the performance and shot he wanted. So, he invented
a device which would allow him to see a video tape playback of every shot he
had made, from the viewpoint of the film camera. Sound simple? Well no such
device existed before Lewis invented it, and there is no professional filmmaker
working today who does not use the video assist!

"In my opinion, he's the greatest comedian's director around." - Woody Allen


Jerry Lewis directing on camera crane, 1965.
Image taken from The Official Jerry Lewis Comedy Museum.
Color effect digitally created by me.

FILMS DIRECTED BY JERRY LEWIS
"The Bellyboy" 1960*
"The Ladies Man" 1961*
"The Errand Boy" 1961*
"The Nutty Professor" 1963*
"The Patsy" 1964*
"The Family Jewels" 1965*
"Three On A Couch" 1965
"The Big Mouth" 1967*
"One More Time" 1970
"Which Way To The Front" 1970*
"The Day The Clown Cried" 1971-72*
     (unreleased due to continuing litigation)
"Hardly Working" 1981*
"Smorgasboard" aka. "Cracking Up" 1983*

"How Are The Kids" a compilation of short
   films co-sponsored by Unicef. Lewis
   wrote and directed the segment "Boy"*

an * indicates film was written or cowritten by Lewis