Bo Hooper, a clown, finds himself unemployed when the circus where he works suddenly closes. He winds up living with his sister, against the wishes of her husband Robert. From there he goes from job to job, wreaking havoc along the way. He finally finds some stability as a postal worker, until he finds out that his boss is his girlfriend's father. The father hates all mail carriers because his daughter's ex-husband was one, so he tries to wreck Bo's life, but Bo overcomes the odds and succeeds not only at work, but at impressing the father.
Joseph Proctor set up a production company to produce his first film, based on a Michael Janover script, which Lewis agreed to direct and star in. This was Lewis' "comeback" film, as it was his first released film since Which Way to the Front? in 1970. In between, he filmed The Day the Clown Cried, which, to date, remains unreleased. Lewis set up a studio-like complex in 23 rooms at the Palm AireCountry Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and became a joint owner of the production and placed his salary in escrow. He received a co-screenplay credit for his work on the film. As well as Fort Lauderdale, the film was also filmed in Palm Beach, Florida. Proctor ran into financial difficulties and work on the film was suspended for about six months in 1980 after the production ran out of money, with Lewis himself declaring personal bankruptcy. Because of this, there are many notable continuity issues throughout the film. Proctor left the production and James J. McNamara came in as producer raising $1 million to complete the production. Looking back on the shoot, Lewis admitted that "the whole experience was a mixed bag". "I have to admit that the awful strain of the past ten years showed in every part of my work," the comedian wrote in Dean and Me: A Love Story. "The movie didn't really hang together, and not so surprisingly, I looked terrible in it." Lewis' future wife, Sandee "Sam" Pitnick, has a cameo as a disco dancer. Lewis also played the part of the 'Little Ol' Lady' dressed in drag. During the closing credits this part was credited to "Joseph Levitch", which Lewis claimed to be his birth name. The clown makeup worn by Lewis in this film was designed by him for 1954's 3 Ring Circus and later reused in 1965's The Family Jewels.
Release
The producers struggled to find a U.S. distributor and the film was released in West Germany on January 31, 1980. In its first 17 days, Hardly Working grossed $2.3 million in West Germany and grossed over $4 million. It grossed $625,000 in its first week in France. The Europe success and sold out test engagements in Colorado Springs and Wichita, Kansas convinced 20th Century Fox to pick up the independent production for distribution in the United States. The U.S. cut was trimmed from the European prints by around 20 minutes. The U.S. cut opens with a montage of scenes from earlier Jerry Lewis films, including The Bellboy, Cinderfella, The Errand Boy, Who's Minding the Store?, and The Patsy. The film premiered in the United States on March 27, 1981 in Palm Beach and opened in the United States on April 3, 1981 and grossed $4,160,193 in its opening weekend from 704 theatres and was number one on Variety's weekly film chart. It went on to gross $24 million in the United States. It grossed $25 million throughout Europe and South America, for a worldwide gross of $49 million.
Reception
The movie received negative reviews; Roger Ebert gave it zero stars and called it "one of the worst movies ever to achieve commercial release in this country no wonder it was on the shelf for two years before it saw the light of day." In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin gave it two stars out of four with this comment: "Not a very good movie; the opening montage is much funnier than anything that follows." When the movie was first shown in Miami, Florida, critics were not invited to the premiere, as Fox was afraid the word would get out how bad the film was, before the general release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 10% rating based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 2.67/10.
