The Delicate Delinquent

Infobox_Film
name = The Delicate Delinquent


director = Don McGuire
writer = Don McGuire
starring = Jerry Lewis
Darren McGavin
Martha Hyer
producer = Jerry Lewis
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = June 6, 1957
runtime = 101 minutes
language = English| imdb_id = 0050301

"The Delicate Delinquent" is a 1957 black and white film starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed in 1956 and released on June 6, 1957 by Paramount Pictures and is notable as the first film that Lewis made without his longtime partner Dean Martin.

Plot

Sydney L. Pythias (Jerry Lewis), a 'juvenile delinquent' who is mistaken for a gang member. Mike Damon (Darren McGavin), a police officer who tries to straighten him out by putting him through police training. After a difficult training and a series of mishaps, Pythias finally proves his worth by graduating and become a police officer.

Production Notes

*"The Delicate Delinquent" was filmed from September 5-October 12, 1956 and is based upon a script entitled "Damon and Pythias". Darren McGavin stepped in to fill the role of a police officer that was originally written for Martin. Although the credits show a copyright date of 1956, the film was released the following year, a common practice in Hollywood.
*Lewis, who also produced the film, played a 'juvenile', although he was 30 years old at the time.
*The romantic interest in the film was provided mainly by actress Martha Hyer, who married Hal Wallis in 1966, the producer of the Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis films. Hyer's fancy dresses in the film were designed by longtime Paramount costumer designer Edith Head.
*Comedian/impressionist Frank Gorshin made a rare dramatic appearance as a gang member in the film.

Re-release

*It was re-released in 1962 on a double bill with another Lewis film, The Sad Sack.

DVD Release Date

External links

*