Smorgasbord (1983) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A confused misfit moves through escalating absurdity until psychological suggestion offers a possible way beyond fear and failure.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

A Misfit Seeks Explanation

Warren begins in severe confusion and enters a bizarre psychiatric consultation. He describes himself as a misfit while Dr. Perks questions his fears, childhood, and habits.

Key Events

• Room 612 Distress Call — Warren calls room service while overwhelmed by confusion and anxiety. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Room 612
• Perks Begins Consultation — Warren enters an unusual psychiatric consultation with Dr. Perks. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Psychiatric consultation room
• The Misfit Explanation — Warren calls himself a misfit and a square peg in a round hole. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Psychiatric consultation room
• Alienation From Another Planet — Warren says he has always felt as if he came from another planet. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Psychiatric consultation room
• Childhood Questions Collapse — Questions about childhood, fears, and habits dissolve into absurd confusion. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Psychiatric consultation room

Everyday Life Unravels

Warren's smoking claim provokes Dr. Perks, and ordinary tasks become absurd encounters. Cars, paintings, food, travel arrangements, and payment all expose his inability to function normally.

Key Events

• Five Packs A Day — Warren claims that he smokes five packs of cigarettes every day. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Psychiatric consultation room
• Perks Rejects Smoking — Dr. Perks angrily declares that Warren must never smoke again. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Psychiatric consultation room
• Car Needs A Push — Warren asks someone to push his car, extending his everyday confusion. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Roadside
• Horse And Bull Presentation — Warren becomes entangled in an art presentation involving a horse and a bull. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Art presentation
• Ordinary Transactions Fail — Food orders, travel arrangements, and payment become baffling obstacles. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Public service and dining areas

Danger Above The Clouds

Warren's confusion intensifies during an airplane journey. The lost pilot and threatening passenger turn his search for peace into a dangerous airborne crisis.

Key Events

• Air Travel Begins — Warren's confusion escalates during an airplane journey. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter, The Pilot Location: Airplane
• Pilot Loses Location — The Pilot cannot determine the aircraft's exact location and asks for more power. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter, The Pilot Location: Airplane cockpit
• Grenade Threat Aboard — The Passenger demands a parachute and threatens to blow up the airplane. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter, The Pilot, Passenger Location: Airplane cabin
• Search For Peace — Warren becomes lost while traveling to London in search of peace. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Air travel route

The Fear Exercise

Warren travels toward London and identifies Dr. Perks as his possible solution. Perks guides him through repeated affirmations intended to overcome fear.

Key Events

• Perks As Hope — Warren identifies Dr. Perks as the person who may be able to help him. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Air travel route
• Fearless Repetition Exercise — Dr. Perks guides Warren through repeated statements that nothing can happen to him. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Psychological treatment setting
• Warren Attempts The Task — Warren appears to complete the frightening exercise and attempts the landing. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Outdoor landing area

Survival And Suggestion

Warren survives a bizarre chain of accidental impacts during his landing but blames himself for everything. Dr. Perks finally recognizes posthypnotic suggestion as a possible treatment.

Key Events

• Accidental Landing Chain — A flagpole, awning, umbrella, bus, and empty manhole make the landing survivable. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Street landing route
• Blame And Hermit Plan — Warren blames himself for everything and considers becoming a hermit. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Aftermath area
• Posthypnotic Suggestion Found — Dr. Perks realizes posthypnotic suggestion may provide Warren's psychological solution. Characters: Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter Location: Psychological treatment setting

Story Breakdown

• Anxious Opening — Warren is introduced as overwhelmed and unable to make ordinary life feel correct.
  • Room 612 Call — Warren calls room service from room 612 while suffering extreme confusion and anxiety.
  • Misfit Confession — He describes himself as a square peg in a round hole and feels alien to the world.
• Perks Consultation — The psychiatric session attempts to identify the source of Warren's fears and habits.
  • Childhood Questions — Dr. Perks asks about Warren's childhood, fears, and habits.
  • Smoking Outburst — Warren claims to smoke five packs daily, provoking Perks to demand that he stop.
• Social Confusion — Warren's inability to navigate ordinary situations produces a chain of comic obstacles.
  • Car Push Request — Warren asks someone to push his car.
  • Art And Transactions — Paintings, food orders, travel arrangements, and payment become confusing encounters.
• Airborne Crisis — The airplane journey transforms Warren's confusion into a direct physical threat.
  • Lost Aircraft — The Pilot cannot determine the aircraft's exact location and asks for more power.
  • Grenade Threat — The Passenger demands a parachute and threatens to blow up the aircraft.
• Search For Peace — Warren becomes lost while traveling to London and looks to Dr. Perks for help.
  • London Journey — Warren explains that he is traveling to London in search of peace.
  • Perks As Guide — Warren names Dr. Perks as the person he hopes can help him.
• Fearless Exercise — Dr. Perks uses a frightening psychological exercise to challenge Warren's expectations of danger.
  • Repeated Assurance — Warren repeatedly tells himself that nothing can happen to him.
  • Attempted Landing — Warren appears to complete the task and proceeds into a dangerous landing.
• Accidental Survival — A chain of unlikely objects turns Warren's landing into a survivable but destabilizing experience.
  • Impact Chain — A flagpole, awning, umbrella, bus, and empty manhole intervene in sequence.
  • Hermit Impulse — Afterward, Warren blames himself and considers withdrawing from society.
• Possible Treatment — The conclusion reframes Warren's condition as something that may respond to psychological intervention.
  • Overlooked Answer — Dr. Perks realizes that posthypnotic suggestion has been overlooked.
  • Hopeful Solution — Perks begins offering a direct psychological solution for Warren's fear and sense of failure.

Directed by

Jerry Lewis

Key Cast

• Jerry Lewis — Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks / Gangster / Speed Armeter
• Milton Berle — Ms. Sultry
• Sammy Davis Jr. — Himself
• Herb Edelman — Dr. Jonas Pletchick
• Foster Brooks — The Pilot