A bumbling, clowning alien visitor named Kreton observes the ways of humans here on Earth. Arriving in Richmond, Virginia in Civil War costume in 1960, he believes he is just in time to witness the beginnings of the Civil War, but is off by 100 years. He then decides to observe the customs of 20th Century American life, including such things as lovemaking rituals and what people do for entertainment: he watches two people romantically involved with each other (Holliman & Blackman), billing and cooing at one another, and ends up getting between them; he goes to a Beatnik nightclub, and realizes that the Beatniks are more like the aliens he knows than humans. Lots of hilarious Jerry Lewis mugging, sight-gags and comedy routines, terrific special effects work by the master John P. Fulton; great flying saucers! Terrific counterpoint with Lewis' Kreton and his professor back home, Mr. Delton, played by the distinguished English actor John Williams; a few Lewis gems: "Keep your nose out of other people's planets", even if you think "the grass is greener on the other side of the galaxy"! A really fun picture. I saw this when it first came out in the summer of 1960. Too bad it wasn't filmed in Technicolor; that's really the only flaw I find in it - it was made in b&w. It would have been so much better in Technicolor. This is probably why it wasn't more popular. Great fun for the whole family, with a terrific cast. This was Lewis' last studio picture under his old Paramount contract before he formed his own independent production company; he made "The Bellboy" in six weeks completely on his own, right after completing work on this movie, and sold it to Paramount. This would be his arrangement with the film studio on all his subsequent films of the 1960s at the studio until he went on to other studios. Delightful for Jerry Lewis fans, and a delightful music score by Leigh Harline. So why isn't this out on video?
