I have seen most of Jerry Lewis' comedies and I wasn't surprised that I liked this film, as it was made during a period in which most of his best films were made--the late 1950s (don't ask me what I think of the ones from the late 60s and 70s...yick). However, I must confess that while I liked the film overall, it was very uneven and about as many gags worked as flopped. As for me, I actually preferred many of the moments when Jerry wasn't trying to be funny-- such as one of the musical numbers where Jerry and the babies' grandfather sing a nice little duet.
The plot to this film is kind of weird. Clayton Poole (Lewis) used to date Carla Naples (Marilyn Maxwell) but now Carla has gone on to better things. She's now a big Hollywood star and her career is about to take a hit because she's pregnant and her husband died after only a day...and no one knows about the marriage. So, to avoid any sort of scandal, she plans on dumping the baby off on Clayton. However, she is surprised when she ends up having triplets. Yet, oddly, Clayton agrees to raise the kids even though they aren't his and he spends most of the rest of the film with the three adorable little girls. But, some rich biddy without kids decides to go to court to try to take the kids away, as everyone back in the 1950s KNEW that a man cannot raise a child by himself. What's next?
The film has lots of jokes that simply fall flat. The ones with the babies tended to work better because they were gentler and seemed less forced. As for the music, Jerry sings a lot of tunes (several of which were poorly chosen, as they were out of his musical range) and his acting is very nice. Overall, a cute little film that Lewis fans will love and others will at least tolerate.
