The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon

Transcript (Download)

My name is Larry Foster.

Where is the store Larry? 4834 Church in Skokie.

This is one of the stores that is participating in the Jerry Lewis Telecon? Yes it is.

Can you tell us how, what's going on here that's going to help Jerry's kids? Well we had a car wash for the kids this year.

And every year we try to do whatever we can.

And where do you get the go ahead to start these kind of activities? With the company.

Anything that we want to do is fine with them.

We have a meeting twice a year.

And people come up with different suggestions for different locations.

And we all try to pitch in.

So people can purchase here at 7 -Eleven to help out Jerry Lewis? Certainly and Schick Blades both give a rebate for Jerry Lewis.

And how much is it? I really don't know.

It varies on the different products.

So do you think that people tend to buy thoroughly over another dessert during this weekend? Yes, definitely.

During the year I don't think so.

But when they know the push is on they all do.

And what about this display here? Do you get a lot of response? Do people tend to throw their change in there? And how long has this been up? This has been up for three weeks.

And they just emptied it before the weekend for the count.

And you mentioned that there was a little boy here? Yes, just a few minutes ago with multiple children.

And he was in a wheelchair and he came with his bucket.

He had been out collecting.

Oh, so he goes around collecting from house to house? Yes, he was.

Okay? He's watching the show.

What's Jerry Lewis doing by all this? Getting money for MTA.

Do you think that's where the money really goes? Which one is Jerry? That's a mom's t -shirt.

And you pedaled all the way over here? Down to Irving Park.

How long did it take you? I left at about 11 .30.

About a half hour.

So you got here in half an hour? Well, I left here at 11 .30.

And I got here about a half hour ago.

What do you think of the telethon? It's excellent.

You've been watching it? Yeah.

You wanted to come out and see what was going on? Yeah.

I stayed up all last night.

I always go inside.

He will, uh, I have to go into the vest.

See if you can get it.

Okay? You go all the way around and through the vest.

That's why he does it? That's why.

He's got a heart.

Get out of there.

Get over this way.

People with cards, too.

People with cards.

Where do you have the cards? Come on.

College students and high school students to devote their time and their energy and their involvement, and I mean those kids are involved, to really help Jerry's kids.

They are the heroes.

And what we have for you today, Ed, on behalf of the employees of the Schick Safety Razor Division and all of our customers throughout the United States, here's a check for $150 ,000 to help Jerry's kids.

We've got to start on the other side of the wire.

Otherwise, we'll...

Wait, I'm going to have to take off my hat.

I want to start on the other side of the wire.

I want to get there right now.

Thank you, Louis.

That was terrific.

And that's a child with a problem.

Could you imagine if that was just a perfectly healthy child? We just can't smile All the things that come And the stars may appear Don't prove their meaning at all One thing we know This is a show called love Whoa We can't smile Without you We can't smile Without you We can't smile We can't laugh We can't sing Unless we hear those sounds of our brain Feel sad When you fall Feel sad When you fall It's perfectly clear To make it this year We just can't do Without you I love you I love you I love you Paul, could you get the two mini and the two large T -shirts? Everybody stand back in the front.

I'd like you to go.

I don't know what your question is to me or not But you can ask me and I'll write it.

All of us at McDonald's are thrilled To be working to help find a cure for MD.

We're proud of our eight year association With Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telecon.

Now at your verge are some very impressive numbers.

Ed Kim is now showing Some more great news for you And those wonderful kids.

From the state of Pennsylvania $100 ,107.

From all our good friends Back in Detroit and all of Michigan $110 ,798.

Stuart, what happens to Jerry At the end of the show? Well I think it starts building up From the first time we see him when the show begins.

He comes out with his hair plastered back And looking very very cool And calm.

And as the show progresses, the telethon progresses And every once in a while he reverts back Into the idiot image from his films As a kind of joke.

And as it gets closer and closer to the end of the show And he gets more and more tired and more and more hoarse He starts losing the distinction Between when he's being the suave Sophisticated Jerry Lewis And when he's the idiot kid.

And by the end of the show we see a kind of Manifestation of his pure schizophrenia In which he's on his hands and knees Grumbling like a child, weeping Praying, begging And it becomes a sort of frightening experience It's like watching the nutty professor Come to life and seeing the end of it In actuality.

How close Lewis himself And his own idea of what he is As two people, becomes so evident When he loses control at the end of the show.

It's kind of horrifying Like watching Dr.

Jekyll turn into Mr.

Hyde Right before your eyes.

And it happens every year.

It's sort of sitting and waiting In anticipation for this Horrible and fascinating thing to happen.

And finally you wind up, if it works at all Giving money out of a kind of Sense of shame or guilt Of having to watch this man Convert into this monster And lose his control right before your eyes.

It's fascinating.

It's hard to keep your eyes off the screen.

Or it's hard for me to keep my eyes off the screen.

Keep rolling and keep going.

Grant, keep rolling.

Okay, go ahead.

You never knew it was going to happen.

I should have billboarded him at the start of the hour.

I didn't know he was going to be on it.

I didn't know either.

I could have mentioned the name of the other star.

I awkwardly didn't know there was a full moon.

Here's a lady With a stream of great songs.

I'm not sure about the telephone.

Why does Jerry Lewis do this every year? Jerry has not specifically given a reason.

But he claims that when a cure is found He's going to unveil his reason.

He apparently has some personal reason that he hasn't unveiled.

For now his explanation is that he is Interested in anybody who suffers And in helping them.

And that's why he does it.

So why are you doing it? I'm doing it because I believe in many of the same things.

I think that we're in a unique Position I think because of the fact that we're You know, public figures To maybe get people to listen to us And to join a cause like this And come together.

I've done a number of these telephones And no matter what, you know, there are so many Tremendous causes That people can get involved with.

But I think that This one is particularly close to us because we're obviously Involved in it.

But again, the fact that we're public figures, people will listen to us.

And if there's any way in which we can use our influence To help a cause like this And I think it behooves us to do that.

I think it's human beings.

It's one human being who cares about Another human being.

The kids need it.

The kids are everything, baby.

You know, I've been here since 3 a .m.

This morning working for the kids.

And I gotta go to bed Get up and get up at 4 o 'clock In the morning and go back to my Regular job.

Do you do it every year too? All right.

I think everybody's got a fantasy.

And everybody would like to come to Fantasy Island To fulfill their fantasy.

Well, I just left Fantasy Island To fulfill my fantasy in another way.

You people who are watching me now I would like you to send me A lot of money for You will send me a lot of money I'm going to the party! I'm going to the party! I'm going to the party! I'm going to the party! I'm going to the party! I'm going to the party! Standing here knocking my Brains out and I hear it's giggling.

With a record maximum total of more than 30 million dollars.

Locally at WGMTV A record 1 ,602 ,500 dollars $65 was played.

There were a number of Labor Day parades and Steve Tickle reported on to us.

What's the difference between MS and MD? Multiple sclerosis and muscular Dystrophy.

Yeah, what's the difference? I don't know.

Is this a joke? No.

It's not a joke.

This is no joke.

Identifier

F.2021-04-0019b

Date Of Production

1980

Abstract

Chuck Kleinhans and Liz Schillinger's “comedy verité documentary” about the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon.

Description

"Like the Super 8 format he chooses to work in, Chuck Kleinhans' films are unpretentious and casual to the point of seeming haphazard. They are also filled with the discoveries that only casual observation can catch. In The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon--a whimsical documentary on Chicago events in support of the annual drive to raise money for children who are the victims of muscular dystrophy--an interview is conducted with a local media person who speaks knowingly of Jerry and the kids. The interview is hollow, the emotions empty. But in the background an unforgettable woman in a red dress paces the street, anxiously awaiting we know not what. Her nervous gum-chewing, her look of anxiety verging on disgust completes the empty foreground image to provide a multiple, conflicting image of the event. In another sequence a file of kids tiptoe across the screen in a semi-crouch determined not to get in the way of the camera. Of course they are in the way, are, in fact, as much a part of what the film is about as the supposedly main action. It is characteristic of Kleinhans' camera to maintain an open field of vision, including in that vision moments of interaction between foreground and background as well as with the eye behind the camera. Although full of the inherent grotesqueries of the Jerry Lewis event, the film itself suggests none of the attributes of a work that sets out to satirize its subject. It is, surprisingly, a very honest record and analysis of a most American ritual." — Linda Williams, “Super 8 Films by Chuck Kleinhans,” undated.

Format

Super 8

Extent

292 feet

Color

Color

Sound

Mag Stripe

Reel/Tape Number

1/1

Has Been Digitized?

Yes

Notes

Dictatorship of the Proletariat and The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon are spliced together on the same reel.

Element

Reversal Positives

Genre

Documentary

Form

Amateur

Subject

Celebrities
Diseases
Entertainers
Television

Related Collections

Chuck Kleinhans Collection

Related Places

North America ➜ United States ➜ Illinois ➜ Skokie

Main Credits

Kleinhans, Chuck (is filmmaker)

Schillinger, Liz (is filmmaker)

Participants And Performers

Schillinger, Liz (is interviewer)

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