The Nutty Professor is a 1963 American science fiction comedy film directed, co-written (with Bill Richmond) by, and starring Jerry Lewis.

A parody of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it follows weak-willed scientist Julius Kelp as he creates a serum that transforms him into a charismatic but narcissistic ladies' man, which he subsequently uses under his alter ego Buddy Love.

[3] In 2004, The Nutty Professor was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

He invents a serum that causes him to fall unconscious and have a nightmare about transforming into a traditional Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-esque monster; he then awakens as a handsome, suave, charming, and brash girl-chasing hipster who at his core is a narcissistic sociopath.

Buddy wows the crowd with his jazzy, breezy musical delivery and poised demeanor at the Purple Pit, a nightclub where the students hang out.

Although Kelp knows that his alternate persona is an inherently bad person, he cannot prevent himself from continually taking the formula as he enjoys the attention that Love receives.

Fearing the cost of the formula becoming publicly available, he sends a copy to his equally weak-willed father Elmer and overbearing mother Edwina, hoping he can entrust them with his secret.

Rather than running out to take more of the formula, Kelp allows his real identity to be revealed as he gives an impassioned speech about the importance of liking one's self, admitting his mistakes and seeking forgiveness.

Buddy Love is often interpreted as a lampoon of Lewis' show business partner Dean Martin;[3] the duo were highly successful from 1946 to 1956 before an acrimonious breakup when they did not speak to each other for decades.

In his 1982 autobiography and again in a DVD featurette entitled The Nutty Professor: Making The Formula, Lewis stated that the character was based on every obnoxious, self-important, hateful hipster he ever knew.

Film critic Danny Peary made the claim in his 1981 book Cult Movies that the character of Love is actually a representation of a dark side of Lewis's real personality.

Walter Scharf's score makes extensive use of the Victor Young jazz standard Stella by Starlight including an upbeat version over the film's main titles.

In the commentary, Lewis discusses aspects of production, including his creating a real-time, on-camera monitor, which subsequently became standard in the film industry, known as video assist.

An animated direct-to-DVD sequel, also titled The Nutty Professor, featured the voices of Lewis and Drake Bell and was released on November 25, 2008.

Directed by Paul Taylor, the film involves Julius Kelp's teenage grandson Harold discovering his grandfather's secret formula and unleashing his own alter ego.

In an interview with BroadwayWorld.com promoting the 2022 production, book writer Rupert Holmes credited "someone" as approaching Jerry Lewis with the idea of creating a musical adaptation of The Nutty Professor.