Main Cast: Jerry Lewis, Jan Murray, John Wood, Steve Franken, Dack Rambo
Release Year: 1970
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
Brendan (Jerry Lewis) is an eccentric multimillionaire who is rejected for military service in this misfired comedy. Eager to help the Allies, he gathers a quartet of offbeat irregulars and sails to Italy to join the conflict. Brendan captures a Nazi general and masquerades as the enemy. When Allies arrive, he is mistaken for the real general. Jan Murray, Dack Rambo, John Wood and Steve Franklin help the inept but patriotic Brendan. Also appearing are Kaye Ballard, Neil Hamilton, and George Takei, all allumni of successful television programs from the late 1960s. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Review
Jerry Lewis turned out some less-than-memorable films during the twilight of his career but this misguided effort may be the most tiresome. Which Way To The Front? is the kind of film where every element feels like it's off the mark. Despite an intriguingly odd premise, the script meanders to and fro with no semblance of pace or narrative drive. Almost all the gags fizzle out and they frequently take a long time to arrive at their tired punchlines. Lewis supplies the manic energy one would expect from one of his comedies but he seems to be going through the motions here (it doesn't help that his character is unsympathetic and a bit of a jerk). There is the occasional highlight -- the best moment arrives when Lewis double-talks his way out of having to give the password at a checkpoint -- but it's a lot of work to get those all-too-rare laughs. Finally, Lewis's direction is as static as it is slack and the jazzy soundtrack music he often favored in his films seems particularly out of place here. To sum up, Which Way To The Front? is one of Lewis's least appealing films. Even devoted fans may have a tough time getting through this one. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
John Beckman - Art Director, Guy C. Verhille - Costume Designer, Jerry Lewis - Director, Russell Wiles - Editor, Louis Y. Brown - Composer (Music Score), Louis Y. Brown - Musical Direction/Supervision, Jack Stone - Makeup, Fred Williams - Makeup, John Beckman - Production Designer, W. Wallace Kelley - Cinematographer, Jerry Lewis - Producer, Ralph Webb - Special Effects, Al Overton - Sound/Sound Designer, Dick Miller - Screen Story, Dee Caruso - Screenwriter, Gerald Gardner - Screenwriter
Which Way to the Front? is a 1970 film starring Jerry Lewis. It would be Lewis' last released film for eleven years, until 1981's Hardly Working. The unreleased The Day the Clown Cried was filmed in the years between. Which Way to the Front? was released in July, 1970 by Warner Bros.
Brendan Byers III (Jerry Lewis) is a rich playboy who is classified 4-F. He really wants to fight in WWII, so he enlists other 4-F's and forms his own army. He finances all the training and once completed they embark on a mission to infiltrate Hitler's bunker, with Byers posing as a Nazi general named Kesselring.
Production
Which Way to the Front? was filmed from November 30, 1969 through February 1, 1970 and received a G rating from the MPAA.[1]
