Lee Eisenberg Jerry Lewis's first movie without Dean Martin casts him as a juvenile delinquent hired by a cop (Darren McGavin) to become a cop. "The Delicate Delinquent" is the typical sort of movie that Lewis was making around that time. It's mostly an excuse for him to act silly, sometimes via facial expressions. There's nothing special about the movie, although it does provide a few laughs. Without a doubt, Lewis reached his apex with "The Nutty Professor".Martha Hyer (who later got married to Lewis's producer Hal Wallis) provides a foil for both Lewis and McGavin. Watch for a young Frank Gorshin (best known as the Riddler on the 1960s "Batman" series) as a gang member.

STEVEN DANKO In his first solo run without Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis is wonderful as a bumbling janitor in a tenement building who decides to make something out of himself by becoming a police officer. He finds himself walking a fine line between his friendship with Officer Mike Damon(DARREN McGAVIN), who has taken a personal interest in him and believes in him, and the local gang of neighborhood delinquents headed by Monk(ROBERT IVERS) and his sidekick Artie(RICHARD BAKALYAN). Lewis' exposure to the police academy provides most of the film's humor as he fumbles and stumbles his way through his coursework. The funniest sequence here is when the recruits are given a class in hand-to-hand combat by a Japanese sumo wrestler, who picks Lewis to demonstrate the techniques on. The interpreter tells Lewis he was picked because the wrestler says he looks Japanese! After getting karate-chopped numerous times and twisted into a pretzel, Lewis pleads with the martial artist to let him live- in Japanese! This is what makes the sequence so hilarious- that Lewis would be able to speak Japanese, considering who he was and where he was living. It's a riot to watch these two men walk off the mat with their arms around each other, conversing fluently in Japanese. In one critical scene, Monk and Artie pay a visit to Lewis in his basement apartment. These guys are poster boys for Anti-Social Personality Disorder. Monk tells Lewis that before he leaves this world, he going to make a lot of noise. Lewis tells him that there are lots of good, decent people in the world who are not looking to break anyone's back and that he wants to be one of them. When they leave, Artie asks Monk why he didn't let him rough Lewis up and Monk, clearly affected by what Lewis told him, says "I got confused... He made sense." As part of their final evaluation before being graduated from the academy, the rookie cops are paired with veteran officers to go out on armed street patrol and Lewis gets paired up with his buddy Mike. Called to a burglary in progress, the two buddies and other officers confront Monk and his gang and a free-for-all ensues. A gunshot rings out and Artie falls to the ground, a bullet in his leg. The discharge is quickly traced to Lewis' revolver and Artie accuses him of deliberately shooting him. It looks like Lewis' police career might be over before it even starts, but someone from an unlikely corner comes forward to speak up for him and tell the Precinct Captain(HORACE McMAHON) what really occurred. Someone who had firsthand knowledge of what happened with Lewis's gun and how Artie wound up getting shot. Someone who vindicates Lewis and himself. This is a wonderful film that still holds up 50 years later. I give it a 10 out of 10.

dr_shred My wife hates Jerry Lewis. The French love him. Why the divergence?In the late 40's and 50's Martin and Lewis were the most popular comedy act of their era. Watching some of their early stand-up routines one can't help marvel at Lewis's precocity and Martin's understated comic acumen. People who really know about Dean know what an underrated genius he was, but in this movie, Lewis's wide range of talents - mimicry, improvisation, foolery, jest - erupt with no comic-duo distractions. It's his tour de force.Darrin McGavin turns in a great performance as Damon to Lewis's Pythias. The stunning Martha Hyer is great as the uppity goody two-shoes who falls for McGavin. Don't forget the uncredited cameo by Frank Gorshin. Robert Ivers, Horace McMahon, Richard Bakalyan, Milton Frome, et al, complete a great cast in one of the best comic movies ever.

Petri Pelkonen Jerry Lewis plays a janitor called Sidney Pythias, who is hanging up with wrong kind of people.With the help of a cop called Mike Damon (Darren McGavin) he goes to the police academy to become a policeman.Delicate Delinquent from 1957 is Jerry'sfirst movie without Dean Martin, but he does nice job as solo. This isn't Lewis' greatest works, but it offers some great moments.Watch the movie if you want to be a cop or if you just like Jerry Lewis.