Which Way to the Front? (1970)

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I'm not sure I have ever laughed so little at something billed as a comedy...no, wait, I've seen some of the "American Pie" franchise films.

World War II is raging and Jerry Lewis plays the richest man in the world. He is rejected as 4-F by the Army, and decides to use his money to raise his own army of about half a dozen men. He impersonates a Nazi commander in Italy, and eventually tries to kill Hitler- and that is the description of the flimsy plot.

This film is as funny as a heart attack, and makes "Hogan's Heroes" look like Shakespeare. I cannot stress how bad this is. Lewis' direction consists of two cameras shooting the action from two angles, and the footage is edited together. This sitcom direction works on television, but this is an obvious attempt to cheat the audience. He ends most of his scenes with a still shot, giving the viewer a chance to double over in stitches before going to the next tired set-up. Lewis- star, director, and producer, sets the film in 1943, but makes no attempt to use period costumes or sets. Everyone wears the latest 1970 style, cavorting in the latest interior design.

The supporting cast is lost as Lewis goes off on comedic tangents, which last as long as major surgery and are just as painful. When Lewis becomes the Nazi commander, he spends the last half of the film screaming at the top of his lungs in a performance so odious as to stink up any goodwill you try to bring in at the beginning. The final embarrassing shot has Lewis and his cronies trying to put one over on the Japanese. They wear buck teeth, squint their eyes, and talk in a "funny" accent. I was slack-jawed at what Lewis did through this anyway, but that put me over the edge. Watch for Kaye Ballard's tasteless scene where she attempts to end it all over and over again. George Takei has two scenes, then wisely drops out of the picture- I wonder what this progressive icon thinks of this today? There is nothing sadder than watching a formerly respected comedian screw up a project so horribly, you actually feel sorry for them; trust me, I sat through "Boom in the Moon" starring Buster Keaton. I've never recognized the "genius" that others (the country of France) see in Jerry Lewis' work, and I would hold this film up as an example.

"Which Way to the Front?" is cheap, unfunny, offensive, and stupid. I feel bad for everyone involved, and anyone who must endure this.

Stats:
(1970) 96 min. (0 *) out of five stars
-Directed by Jerry Lewis
-Screenplay by Gerald Gardner & Dee Caruso, Story by Gerald Gardner & Dee Caruso and Dick Miller
-Cast: Jerry Lewis, Jan Murray, John Wood, Steve Franken, Willie Davis, Dack Rambo, Robert Middleton, Kaye Ballard, Harold J. Stone, Paul Winchell, Sidney Miller, Joe Besser, Gary Crosby, George Takei
(G)