Professor Julius F. Kelp (Jerry Lewis) is an addle-brained, absent-minded chemistry instructor always incurring the wrath of the university administration by continually blowing up the classroom laboratory. The shy guy has his eyes on the student body of Stella (Stella Stevens). When a football-playing bully humiliates him, Kelp tries to concoct a chemical to help him gain physical strength and stature. The potion turns him into the handsome, hard-edged nightclub singer named Buddy Love. The mild-mannered professor's alter ego becomes a self-absorbed campus favorite at the Purple Pit, a hangout for hip cats and kittens. Stella falls for the enigmatic entertainer who wows the crowd with his jazzy, breezy delivery and cool demeanor. Buddy mixes it up with the bartender (Buddy Lester), who is instructed on how to mix the latest drinks by the professor-turned-party animal. The drawback of the potion is that it wears off at the most embarrassing an inopportune times for Buddy, turning him back into the helpless Kelp. Buddy performs at the annual student dance, and while on the dais, the elixir starts to wear off. The students and staff watch in amazement as he changes back into the professor. He gives an impassioned plea that people must learn to like themselves before others can like them in return. Stella still wants to be the teacher's pet, and the two make future plans together.
Jerry Lewis | Professor Julius Kelp |
Stella Stevens | Stella Purdy |
Baby Kelp | |
Del Moore | Dr. Hamius R. Warfield |
Kathleen Freeman | Millie Lemmon |
Med Flory | Football Player |
Norman Alden | Football Player |
Howard Morris | Mr. Elmer Kelp |
Elvia Allman | Edwina Kelp |
Milton Frome | Dr. M. Sheppard Leevee |
Buddy Lester | Bartender |
Marvin Kaplan | English student |
David Landfield | College Student |
Skip Ward | Football Player |
Julie Parrish | College Student |
Henry Gibson | Gibson, College Student |
Edward R. Morse | Casting |
Stephanie Hill | |
Les Brown and His Band of Renown | Themselves |
Les Brown | Himself |
Mushy Callahan | Cab Driver (scenes deleted) |
Murray Alper | Gym Attendant |
W. Wallace Kelley | Cinematographer |
Monya Andre | Faculty Member |
John Woodcock | Editor |
Les Brown Jr. | Student at Senior Prom (uncredited) |
Roger Bacon | Student |
Walter Scharf | Composer |
Joseph Forte | College Faculty Member (uncredited) |
Todd Barron | Boy in Bowling Alley |
Hal Pereira | Art Director |
Gavin Gordon | Clothing Salesman (uncredited) |
Mel Berger | Moon-Faced Man |
Walter H. Tyler | Art Director |
Terry Higgins | Cigarette Girl (uncredited) |
Hal Blaine | Conga Player |
Stuart Holmes | Faculty Member at Senior Prom (uncredited) |
Nicky Blair | Student |
Richard Kiel | Bodybuilder #1 (uncredited) |
Billy Bletcher | Plumber |
Gary Lewis | Boy (uncredited) |
Forbes Murray | Faculty Member at Senior Prom (uncredited) |
Brad Brown | College Student |
Michael Ross | Weight Lifter (uncredited) |
Stumpy Brown | Band Member |
Bert Stevens | Nightclub Extra (uncredited) |
Ivan Browning | Faculty Member |
Doodles Weaver | Rube (uncredited) |
Dave Willock | Man at Nightclub (uncredited) |
Hugh Cannon | Man in Gym |
Celeste Yarnall | College Student (uncredited) |
Seymour Cassel | Bored Man |
Francine York | Student (uncredited) |
Selette Cole | College Student |
Lorinne Crawford | Girl |
George DeNormand | Faculty Member |
Charles Grenzbach | Sound Department |
Robert Donner | College Student |
Hugo Grenzbach | Sound Department |
Dominic Fidelibus | College Student |
Bud Parman | Sound Department |
Fritz Ford | Gym Member |
Bill Wistrom | Sound Department |
Art Gilmore | Narrator |
Bob Harvey | College Student |
Robert R. Benton | Set Decorator |
Sam Comer | Set Decorator |
Edith Head | Custome Designer |
Agnes Flanagan | hair stylist |
Jimmie Horan | Birdman |
Nellie Manley | hair style supervision |
Robert Keys | Policeman |
Jack Stone | Makeup Artist |
Wally Westmore | makeup supervisor |
Wallace Earl Laven | Bored Girl |
Ralph Axness | Assistant Director |
Carl M. Leviness | Faculty Member |
Jack Barry | Assistant Director |
William R. Poole | Assistant Director |
Charles Macari | College Student |
Martin Pendleton | property master |
John Macchia | College Student |
Mike Mahoney | Man in Bowling Alley |
Marilyn Malloy | Girl |
Mickey Manners | College Student |
William Meader | Bartender |
Hollis Morrison | Man |
Suzanne Noel | Girl |
Paddy O'Hara | Nurse |
Susan Odin | Cotton Pickin' Girl |
Bob Pane | College Student |
Paul Power | Faculty Member |
Emil Richards | Musician - Percussionist |
Bill Richmond | Man in Booth |
Clark Ross | Faculty Member |
Phillip Shaw | Man |
Kelly Stevenson | Natalie |
Clay Tanner | Man |
Judi Thor | College Student |
Roger Torrey | Football Player |