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THE ERRAND BOY (1961)

Film Pick of the Day
Thursday, October 1, 2026

Paramutual Pictures is losing money... not at the box office, but from internal inefficiency. Studio President Tom Paramutual (Brian Donlevy), aka "T.P.," decides an internal spy would be more effective than efficiency expert Mr. Fumble, preferably someone that no one would suspect. Enter Morty S. Tashman (Jerry Lewis), an incompetent bumbler, hired as a studio errand boy so that he can routinely observe activity around the studio, and report to T.P.'s assistant Dexter Sneak (Howard McNear). This plot device is virtually forgotten once it creates a means for Morty to stumble around the studio, and create havoc with a series of blackout and extended gag sequences.

Joe Besser has a small role as a studio projectionist.

One of Jerry Lewis' best films, funny even to most who don't like Lewis.

Excellent supporting cast filled with some of the best character actors around, including several Three Stooges veterans like Kenneth MacDonald, Phil Arnold and Benny Rubin, and other familiar faces like Fritz Feld, Sig Ruman and Stanley Adams. Kathleen Freeman is hilarious as T.P.'s laryngitis-stricken wife, forgotten by Morty when he drives the limo into the car wash with the top down. Howard McNear (THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW) steals every scene he's in.

Joe Besser was struggling for work at this time, and friend Jerry Lewis gave him a small role. It paid off well for Besser, who met Joey Bishop on the set... and wound up with a costarring role on Bishop's television sitcom for the next few years.

Details

Average Rating:

[ 8.00/10 ]   1 votes
Featuring Joe Besser (Solo)
Release Date Tuesday, November 28, 1961
Studio Paramount
Production Type Feature Film
Duration 95 min.

On This Date in Stooge History - October 1st


Births

Minta Durfee
(Actress)

b. 1889

Los Angeles, CA

Cliff Friend
(Music and Lyrics)

b. 1893

Cincinnati, OH

Abraham Sofaer
(Actor)

b. 1896

Rangoon, Burma

Miki Morita
(Actor)

b. 1896

Ueda City, Nagano, Japan

Ted Healy
(Actor)

b. 1896

Kaufman County, TX

Jack Stoney
(Actor)

b. 1897

Chester, PA

James V. King
(Camera Operator)

b. 1901

Cotati, CA

Joe Kirk
(Actor)

b. 1903

New York, NY

Richard Loo
(Actor)

b. 1903

Maui, HI

Lew Leary
(Production Manager)

b. 1906

Mississippi

Sol Haines
(Actor)

b. 1909

Los Angeles, CA

Pauline Brooks
(Actress)

b. 1912

New York, NY

John Truax
(Actor)

b. 1915

Bibez, AZ

Laurence Harvey
(Actor)

b. 1928

Joniskis, Lithuania

Loren Janes
(Actor)

b. 1931

Sierra Madre, CA

Larry Simms
(Actor)

b. 1934

Los Angeles, CA

Stella Stevens
(Actress)

b. 1938

Yazoo City, MS



Deaths

Olive Borden
(Actress)

d. 1947   (41)

Los Angeles, CA

George Moran
(Actor)

d. 1949   (67)

Oakland, CA

Albert Von Tilzer
(Music and Lyrics)

d. 1956   (78)

Los Angeles, CA

Donald Cook
(Actor)

d. 1961   (60)

New Haven, CT

Lou Brandt
(Director, CINDERELLA sequence)

d. 1971   (57)

Los Angeles, CA

Joe Devlin
(Actor)

d. 1973   (79)

Burbank, CA

Madalynne Field
(Actress)

d. 1974   (67)

Palm Springs, CA

Danny Jackson
(Actor)

d. 1985   (57)

New York, NY

J. Robert Bren
(Original Story)

d. 1987   (84)

Los Angeles, CA

June Clyde
(Actress)

d. 1987   (77)

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Lucien Ballard
(Photography)

d. 1988   (80)

Rancho Mirage, CA

Marjorie Weaver
(Actress)

d. 1994   (81)

Austin, TX

Donna Mae Roberts
(Actress)

d. 1996   (83)

Gardnerville, NV

Dorothy DeHaven
(Actress)

d. 1996   (86)

Monterey, CA

Paul Brooks
(Actor)

d. 2003   (85)

Santa Barbara, CA

Peggy Maley
(Actress)

d. 2007   (81)

Hatfield, PA

House Peters Jr.
(Actor)

d. 2008   (92)

Woodland Hills, CA



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