The Jerk

Steve Martin stars in Carl Reiner’s madcap comedy as a white man raised by black sharecroppers who sets off to make his fortune only to become the unwitting target of a crazed killer (M Emmet Walsh). Martin ends up in a circus, little knowing that his brainwave invention of a ‘glassesgrabber’ has made him a millionaire., A less than brilliant man who thinks he’s black after being raised by a black family finds himself in a whole new world when he learns he’s actually white. After leaving home his adventures include inventing a best seller and joining a travelling carnival., Carl Reiner’s rags-to-riches-to-rags story of a simpleton., Zany comedy about a white man, adopted and brought up by a family of black sharecroppers, who sets out to find his place in the world – courting disaster wherever he goes. When he invents spectacles which do not slip off the wearer’s nose, he makes a fortune – but loses it again when medical experts prove that the glasses damage the eyes. The first starring feature for energetic comedian Steve Martin., Carl Reiner directs Steve Martin (who co-wrote the script with Carl Gottlieb) in this gag-laden comedy about an idiotic white man, raised by a poor family of black sharecroppers, who doesn’t realize he’s not black. Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) is told the horrible truth when he finds himself instinctively tapping his feet to an easy listening tune on the radio, instead of a low-down blues. His mother (Mabel King) tells him he’s white and Navin takes to the road (in a World War II bomber helmet and goggles) to start a new life in St. Louis. A filling station owner, Harry Hartounian (Jackie Mason), give Navin his first break, hiring him to pump gas. One day at the station, Navin has a brainstorm, concocting an invention called “The Opti-grab,” a combination handle and nose-brace for eyeglasses. But Navin runs into trouble when a crazed killer (M. Emmet Walsh) picks out his name at random from the telephone book and tries to kill him. Navin escapes to a traveling carnival, where he wrangles a job as the “guess-your-weight” man. At the carnival, he discovers his sexual nature, thanks to stunt rider and S&M enthusiast Patty Bernstein (Catlin Adams). But Navin meets the beautiful Marie (Bernadette Peters) and he quickly falls in love. In the meantime, the “Opti-grab” has taken off and soon Navin is a millionaire., Zany comedy about a white man, adopted and brought up by a family of black sharecroppers, who sets out to find his place in the world – courting disaster wherever he goes. When he invents spectacles which do not slip off the wearer’s nose, he makes a fortune – but loses it again when medical experts prove that the glasses damage the eyes., Steve Martin stars in this now-classic comedy as a white man brought up on a black plantation who becomes a financial success, prior to losing all his money just as swiftly. Carl Reiner directs with his usual comic touch and Martin excels as the innocent everyman whom no man would wish to emulate., Zany comedy about a white man, adopted and brought up by a family of black sharecroppers, who sets out to find his place in the world – courting disaster wherever he goes. When he invents spectacles which do not slip off the wearer’s nose he makes a fortune – but loses it again when medical experts prove that the glasses damage the eyes. The first starring feature for energetic comedian Steve Martin, Zany comedy. A white man who was adopted and brought up by a family of black sharecroppers sets out to find his place in the world – courting disaster wherever he goes. The first starring feature for comedian Steve Martin.