''The Day the Clown Cried'' is an unfinished and unreleased 1972 Swedish-French
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by and starring
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
.
It is based on an original screenplay by
Joan O'Brien
Joan Marie O'Brien (born February 14, 1936) is an American actress and singer. She made a name for herself acting in television shows in the 1950s and 1960s and as a film co-star with Cary Grant, Elvis Presley, John Wayne, and Jerry Lewis.
Ear ...
and
Charles Denton, from a story idea by O'Brien, with additional material from Lewis. The film was met with controversy regarding its premise and content, which features a circus clown who is imprisoned in a
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
.
Lewis repeatedly insisted that ''The Day the Clown Cried'' would never be released, but later donated an incomplete copy of the film to the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
in 2015 under the stipulation that it was not to be screened before June 2024. According to Lewis's son, there is no complete negative of the film, and outstanding copyright issues have prevented its release.
Plot
Helmut Doork is a washed-up German circus
clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
during the beginning of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. Although he was once a famous performer who toured North America and Europe with the
Ringling Brothers
The Ringling brothers (originally Rüngling) were seven American siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of the largest circuses in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Four brothers ...
, Doork is now past his prime and receives little respect. After Doork causes an accident during a show, the head clown convinces the circus owner to demote Doork. Upon returning home, Doork confides his problems to his wife Ada, and she encourages him to stand up for himself. After going back to the circus, Helmut overhears the circus owner agreeing to fire him after the head clown issues an ultimatum. A distraught Helmut is arrested later by the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
and the
Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...
for ranting about Germany and drunkenly mocking
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
in a bar. Following an interrogation at the Gestapo headquarters, he is imprisoned in a
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
camp for
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
s. For the next three to four years, he remains there while hoping for a trial and a chance to plead his case.
He tries to maintain his status among the other inmates by bragging about what a famous performer he once was. His only friend in prison is a good-hearted German named Johann Keltner, whose reason for being interned is never fully revealed but is implied to be his outspoken opposition to the Nazis. The camp receives a large group of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
prisoners, including several children. The other prisoners goad Doork into performing for them, but he does not realize that he actually is not very good. The other prisoners beat him up and leave him in the courtyard to sulk about his predicament. He sees a group of Jewish children laughing at him from the other side of the camp, where the Jewish prisoners are being kept away from everyone else. Delighted to be appreciated again, Helmut performs for them and gains an audience for a while, until the new prison
commandant
Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
orders that he stop.
Helmut learns that fraternizing with Jewish prisoners is strictly forbidden. Unable to leave the children in a state of unhappiness, he continues to perform for them. The
SS guards break up one of his performances; they knock him unconscious and warn the children away from the barbed-wire fence. Horrified, Keltner fights off one of the guards, but he is quickly cornered and beaten to death. Doork is placed in
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
. Seeing a use for him, the commandant assigns him to help load Jewish children on trains leading out of the internment camp, with the promise his case will be reviewed. By a twist of fate, he ends up accidentally accompanying the children on a boxcar train to
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
, and he is eventually used, in
Pied Piper
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany.
The legend dates back to ...
fashion, to help lead the Jewish children to their deaths in the
gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide.
Histor ...
.
Knowing the fear the children will feel, he begs to be allowed to spend the last few moments with them. Leading them to the "showers", he becomes increasingly dependent on a miracle, but there is none. He is so filled with remorse that he remains with them, taking a young girl's hand and walks with them into the chamber.
Cast
*
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
as Helmut Doork
*
Harriet Andersson
Harriet Andersson (born 14 February 1932) is a Swedish actress, best known outside Sweden for being part of director Ingmar Bergman's stock company. She often plays impulsive, working class characters.
Film actress
Harriet Andersson began her ...
as Ada Doork
*
Anton Diffring as Colonel Bestler
*
Ulf Palme
Ulf Henrik Palme (18 October 1920 – 12 May 1993) was a Swedish film actor. He was born in Stockholm and died in Ingarö.
Partial filmography
* '' Black Roses'' (1945) - Gunnar Bergström
* '' The Serious Game'' (1945) - Ture Törne
* '' ...
as Johann Keltner
*
Pierre Étaix
Pierre Étaix (; 23 November 1928 – 14 October 2016) was a French clown, comedian and filmmaker. Étaix made a series of short- and feature-length films, many of them co-written by influential screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. He won an A ...
as Gustav the Great
*
Tomas Bolme
Tomas Robert Olof Bolme (born 21 April 1945 in Högalid, Stockholm) is a Swedish actor. He is famous for being the Swedish voice of Tintin, and he is also the voice of the anime hero Cobra. As a child, he acted at Vår teater, a children's the ...
as Adolf
*
Jonas Bergström as Franz
*
Bo Brundin as Ludwig
*
Lars Amble
Lars Anders Amble-Næss (10 August 1939 – 20 August 2015) was a Swedish actor and director. Amble was the son of Leif Amble-Næss and Maritta Marke. After finishing theater school in Stockholm, which he attended from 1962 to 1965, he was ...
as Concentration camp guard
*
Sven Lindberg,
Fredrik Ohlsson
Carl Fredrik Walter Ola Ohlsson (born 12 June 1931) is a Swedish actor. In 1956 he won a scholarship to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he made his stage debut as Tesman with Siân Phillips as Hedda Gabler 1957. Opening at The Duke of Yo ...
as German officers
[Martin Kristenson,]
Dagen då clownen grät
, in "Kapten Stofil", #12, 2003, pages 38—41
*
Ulf Palme
Ulf Henrik Palme (18 October 1920 – 12 May 1993) was a Swedish film actor. He was born in Stockholm and died in Ingarö.
Partial filmography
* '' Black Roses'' (1945) - Gunnar Bergström
* '' The Serious Game'' (1945) - Ture Törne
* '' ...
,
John Elfström
Per Johan "John" Hilding Elfström (20 April 1902 – 27 March 1981) was a Swedish film actor who appeared in more than 120 films. He was born in Ovansjö, Sweden and died in Täby, Sweden. He starred in the Åsa-Nisse series of films.
Sel ...
,
Tor Isedal
Tor Isedal (20 July 1924 – 18 February 1990) was a Swedish actor on stage, screen and television. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1952 and 1990. One of his sons is Swedish actor Ola Isedal.
Partial filmography
* ''She Came Like ...
, Curt Broberg and Ulf von Zweigbergk as prisoners
*
Heinz Hopf
Heinz Hopf (19 November 1894 – 3 June 1971) was a German mathematician who worked on the fields of topology and geometry.
Early life and education
Hopf was born in Gräbschen, Germany (now , part of Wrocław, Poland), the son of Elizabeth ( ...
,
Carl Billquist
Carl Folke Billquist (19 May 1933 – 24 May 1993) was a Swedish actor. He appeared in 60 films and television shows between 1961 and 1993.
Partial filmography
* ''Lyckodrömmen'' (1963) - Fabian Widefjäll
* ''All These Women'' (1964) - Th ...
as Gestapo officers
*
Nils Eklund
Nils Eklund (born 17 January 1927) is a Swedish actor. He has appeared in more than 50 films and television shows since 1952.
Selected filmography
* ''Bom the Flyer'' (1952)
* ''Äktenskapsbrottaren'' (1964)
* '' Rooftree'' (1967)
* ''Doctor Gl ...
as bartender
*
Egil Holmsen as camp guard
Production
Development
In 1971, while performing at the Olympia Theatre, Lewis met with producer Nat Wachsberger, who offered him the chance to star in and direct the film with complete financial backing from his production company and Europa Studios. Before he had been given the offer, several stars such as
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, Pop music, pop, rock and roll, Folk music, folk, Swing music, swing, and country music.
He started his car ...
,
Milton Berle
Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...
, and
Dick Van Dyke were also approached, but declined. Lewis was initially reluctant to take the role, especially after reading the script, stating in his autobiography ''Jerry Lewis in Person'', "The thought of playing Helmut still scared the hell out of me". In addition, he felt that he was wrong for the part, due to the strong subject matter. He asked Wachsberger:
After re-reading Joan O'Brien and Charles Denton's first draft, Lewis felt that he would be doing something worthwhile in portraying the horrors of the Holocaust. He signed on to the project, but, in order to make it, he first had to arrange to perform at
Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks.
Caesars P ...
in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
for a month, in order to fulfill the terms of his contract with the hotel. In February 1972, he toured the remains of
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
and
Dachau concentration camps and shot some exterior views of buildings in Paris for the film, all the while reworking the script. He lost thirty-five pounds in six weeks by eating
nothing but grapefruit.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
during April 1972, but the shoot was beset by numerous problems. Film equipment was either lost or delivered late, and the necessary money was nowhere in sight. Lewis was repeatedly assured that money was forthcoming by Wachsberger, who did not appear at all on set.
Wachsberger not only ran out of money before completing the film, but his option to produce the film expired before filming began. He had paid O'Brien the initial $5,000 fee, but failed to send her the additional $50,000 due her prior to production. Lewis eventually ended up paying production costs with $2,000,000 of his own money to finish shooting the film, but the parties involved in its production were never able to come to terms that would allow the film to be released. O'Brien was shown a rough cut of the film in an attempt to acquire the necessary rights to release the film, but after viewing the product decided that it was not fit for release and, therefore, did not enter into an agreement with the producers or Lewis for the unauthorized, derivative work. After shooting wrapped, Lewis announced to the press that Wachsberger had failed to make good on his financial obligations or even commit to producing. Wachsberger retaliated by threatening to file a lawsuit of
breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...
and stated that he had enough to finish and release the film without Lewis. Wanting to ensure the film would not be lost, Lewis took a
rough cut
In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and ...
of the film, while the studio retained the entire film negative. On February 23, 1973, Lewis appeared as guest on ''
The Dick Cavett Show
''The Dick Cavett Show'' was the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:
* ABC daytime, (March 4, 1968–January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning''
* ABC prime time, Tuesdays, We ...
'', where he stated that the film would complete editing in six to seven weeks, that it had been invited to premiere at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
in May, and that it would be released in America after that. The film was never officially released and remains un-releasable due to the failure to secure the underlying rights from O'Brien.
Criticism and changes
The film became a source of legend almost immediately after its production. In May 1992, an article in ''
Spy
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
'' magazine quoted comedian and actor
Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
, who saw a rough cut of the film in 1979:
Shearer, who did not know Lewis during the latter's lifetime, gave his opinion why Lewis would make the film: he believed "
the Academy can't ignore this". When asked to sum up the experience of the film overall, he responded by saying that the closest he could come was like "if you flew down to
Tijuana
Tijuana ( ,["Tijuana"](_blank)
(US) and [< ...]
and suddenly saw a
painting on black velvet of Auschwitz. You'd just think 'My God, wait a minute!' It's not funny, and it's not good, and somebody's trying too hard in the wrong direction to convey this strongly-held feeling."
The article quoted Joan O'Brien as saying the rough cut she saw was a "disaster". It also says she and the original script's co-author, Charles Denton, will never allow the film to be released, in part due to changes in the script made by Lewis that made the clown more sympathetic and
Emmett Kelly
Emmett Leo Kelly (December 9, 1898March 28, 1979) was an American circus performer, who created the clown figure "Weary Willie," based on the hobos of the Great Depression in the 1930s. According to Charles W. Carey, Jr.:
:Kelly’s creation of ...
-like. In the original script, the protagonist was an arrogant, self-centered clown named Karl Schmidt, who was "a real bastard", according to O'Brien. Her script reportedly had him trying to use his wife, who knew the ringmaster, to get him a better gig, and he apparently informed on nearly everyone he knew after being interrogated for mocking Hitler. She stated that the original draft was about the redemption of a selfish man, but that Lewis practically changed the entire story into a Chaplinesque dark comedy ''à la'' ''
The Great Dictator
''The Great Dictator'' is a 1940 American anti-war political satire black comedy film written, directed, produced, scored by, and starring British comedian Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the o ...
''.
Had producer Wachsberger retained rights to the material, Lewis would have had the option to adapt the screenplay, reshaping the protagonist. Without the rights, he was forced to seek author approval.
Historical controversy and praise
From 1949 to 1972, Lewis was known primarily for
slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
and
sight gag
In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretation ...
comedy. Although he stated the film was a drama, there was a perception he would make irreverent humor from serious and horrific events. This production, ten years before his dramatic role in ''
The King of Comedy'', caused some to believe he was unsuited to the role. However, that did not prevent filmmaker
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...
from saying in an interview with
Dick Cavett, "it is a great idea", "a beautiful idea", and that Lewis "should be supported" in his efforts.
In the June 2001 ''
Spin'' article "Always Leave 'Em Laughing", author Bowman Hastie writes of ''
Life Is Beautiful
''Life Is Beautiful'' ( it, La vita è bella, ) is a 1997 Italian comedy drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who emplo ...
'' and ''
Jakob the Liar
''Jakob the Liar'' is a 1999 American war comedy-drama film directed by Peter Kassovitz, produced by Steven Haft, Marsha Garces Williams and written by Kassovitz and Didier Decoin. The film is based on the book of the same name by Jurek Becker ...
'', similar themed Holocaust films released twenty-plus years after Lewis' ''The Day the Clown Cried'', "All three movies shamelessly use the Holocaust — and the impending death of children — as a vehicle for the star's most base, maudlin ideas about his own beneficent selflessness and humanity. But only Lewis has been vilified for it."
In the same article, comedian
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''.
Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...
provided a hint to another issue that has dogged Lewis's production: ridicule. An often polarizing figure, Lewis had detractors. Garofalo said, "Lewis's public criticism of younger comics ... only fuels ''Clown'' obsessives." Public readings of the script at comedy venues, halted by a
cease and desist order (not by Lewis), provided opportunities to mock, as well as four decades of jokes and relentless interrogation of Lewis, shaped a perverse perception of the film.
[
In 2006, writer and editor Lawrence Levi wrote of his interview with Michael Barclay, who in 1991 was planning a new production of ''Clown'', "The ''Clown'' screenplay was brilliant ... most of what has been written about the film is incorrect or unfair; he was particularly incensed by the comments of Harry Shearer (quoted in ''Spy'' 1992)."
On July 18, 2012, French director ]Xavier Giannoli
Xavier Giannoli (born 7 March 1972) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. In 2010, he was named a Chevalier in the ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order ...
stated on the France Inter
France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, li ...
film show ''Pendant les travaux, le cinéma reste ouvert'' that he had managed to track down a 75-minute copy of the film and that he had shown it to a number of people, among whom was noted French film critic Jean-Michel Frodon
Jean-Michel Frodon (born 20 September 1953 in Paris) is a journalist, critic and historian of cinema.
Biography
Born Jean-Michel Billard, he writes with a pseudonym borrowed from Frodo of ''The Lord of the Rings''. He has a master's degree and a ...
. In 2013, Frodon published a text dedicated to the film titled "Jerry Made his Day" in the anthology ''The Last Laugh. Strange Humors of Cinema'' edited by Murray Pomerance. The French version of the same text, titled "Le Jour de Jerry, et la nuit", was later published in the film journal ''Trafic''.
In 2017, shortly after Lewis's death, Bruce Handy's article in '' Vanity Fair'', ''The French Critic Who Saw Jerry Lewis's Infamous Holocaust Movie and Loved It'', brought to light a previously unpublished interview with Jean-Michel Frodon. The French critic claimed to have seen a copy of the film in 2004 or 2005 at the invitation of director Xavier Giannoli who owned a bootleg copy. Frodon did not know how Giannoli obtained his copy, and Giannoli declined Handy's request for comment. Frodon reported that while the copy he watched was obviously a rough preliminary edit, it generally followed the published script and did not seem to be missing any major story elements. His experience viewing the film is as follows,
Frodon further denies there is any sentimentality in the film, calling it "very meaningful" and stating Lewis is "not indulging himself, he is self-caricaturing. He is playing a very unsympathetic character. He's selfish and totally stupid. ... The film finds what I consider a cinematic answer to some real, serious issues, using a kind of stylized setting, both in the costumes and the sets. It's not pretending to be realistic. Instead, it has a very obvious fairy-tale feeling—not fairy tale, but tale. ... There are details like in the Grimm Brothers
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
." and "For me, one of the many elements that draw such negative reaction to the film in the U.S. is that this performance is very far from what is expected from him." It was one of the earliest mainstream films to deal with the Holocaust and to directly depict the Nazi concentration camps.
Lewis interviews and responses
Due to the film's mystery and mythology, Lewis faced decades of questions by reporters. Lewis offered the opinion that it was all bad, an artistic failure because "I lost the magic". Quoted in ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'': "You will never see it. No one will ever see it, because I am embarrassed at the poor work." In 2001, an 'inquisitive heckler' mentioned the film to Lewis during one of Lewis's motivational speeches, indicating that the man had heard the film might be eventually released. Lewis replied to this comment with "None of your goddamn business!" The same year, Lewis responded to a reporter's faxed request for information about the movie by calling and telling him: "As far as discussing he movie forget it! If you want to see any of it, forget it!" On January 12, 2013, Lewis appeared at a Cinefamily
The Cinefamily was a non-profit cinematheque located in West Hollywood, California, at the historic Silent Movie Theatre. The Cinefamily's mission statement was to "reinvigorate the movie-going experience by fostering a spirit of community and a ...
Q&A event at the Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
Silent Movie Theatre. He was asked by actor Bill Allen, "Are we ever gonna get to see ''The Day the Clown Cried''?" Lewis replied in the negative, and explained the reason the movie would never be released was because "in terms of that film I was embarrassed. I was ashamed of the work, and I was grateful that I had the power to contain it all, and never let anyone see it. It was bad, bad, bad." He then jokingly added, "But I'll tell you how it ends." At Cannes while promoting ''Max Rose
Max N. Rose (born November 28, 1986) is an American military officer and politician who served as a United States representative from New York for a single term from 2019 to 2021. A moderate Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he served ...
'', Lewis was asked about ''The Day the Clown Cried'' and said, "It was bad work. You'll never see it and neither will anyone else."
In October 2012, Australian-based film production company Traces Films recorded one of the most candid and emotional interviews with Jerry Lewis about ''The Day the Clown Cried''. He states in his own words his motivation for taking on the project and his feelings during filmmaking. Shearer's conjectures aside, Lewis states his motivation for the project as such,
He further went on to say regarding the emotional toll and difficulty of the subject matter, "I had a talk with myself in the mirror and I said 'Understand one day you'll feel great and the next day you'll want to throw up because reading it disgusts you but playing it is a double disgust'." He said to ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', "There's something about the risk, the courage that it takes to face the risk. ... I'm not going to get greatness unless I have to go at it with fear and uncertainty."
In a 2013 interview with Lewis, Chris Nashawaty of ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' wrote, 'When asked about all the speculation surrounding the film, he (Lewis) said, "I think it's like bad advertising.
Still, Lewis seemed to relish being the keeper of one of Hollywood's biggest mysteries. "The more I hear about it, the more I enjoy it."
Legacy
According to Richard Brody of ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', the film's grim portrayal of the holocaust "was, at the very least, unusual and original".
In the 2016 documentary '' The Last Laugh'', which explored the limits of humor regarding the Holocaust, comedian David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix si ...
reflected Lewis was "too ahead of his time. If he had waited 25 years, then he'd be bounding over those seats grabbing his Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
". Similarly Amy Wallace in ''GQ Magazine
''GQ'' (formerly ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and ''Apparel Arts'') is an American international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though articles o ...
'' wrote: "He was mercilessly criticized for attempting to mix comedy with the ultimate tragedy. However, in 1999, when Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni (; born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing and starring in the Holocaust comedy-drama film ''Life Is Beautiful'' (1997), f ...
's ''Life Is Beautiful'' won three Oscars for a similar story line, many noted that Lewis had tried it first."
After Lewis's death in August 2017, Richard Brody of ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' wrote, "I don't know whether the film is as bad as Lewis himself has said that it is. The point is that, in the early 1970s, when the very term "the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
" was hardly known and when the extermination of six million Jews by Nazi Germany was a little-discussed phenomenon, at a time before Claude Lanzmann
Claude Lanzmann (; 27 November 1925 – 5 July 2018) was a French filmmaker known for the Holocaust documentary film '' Shoah'' (1985).
Early life
Lanzmann was born on 27 November 1925 in Paris, France, the son of Paulette () and Armand Lanzmann. ...
made ''Shoah
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...
'', Lewis took it on. He may have been naïve to do so with a twist of comedy, he may have been naïve to do so with such uncompromisingly direct and untroubled cinematic representation—but he also went where other directors didn't dare to go, taking on the horrific core of modern history and confronting its horrors. What childhood can there be with such knowledge, and what comedy? The moral complicity, the self-scourging accusation of the role of the clown in amusing children en route to their destruction, is itself as furious a challenge to himself, and to the entertainment of the time, as any by the most severe critic of media."
Lewis was at the forefront of what became a Hollywood genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
, films exploring the events and personal experiences of the Holocaust. He was doing so at a time of virtually no Holocaust scholarship in academia, minimal recognition of the loss of European Yiddish culture, with limited public documentation, and only the initial stirrings of survivor testimonies.
Viewings and footage
On April 9, 2012, Flemish public service broadcaster VRT re-released—on its cultural website Cobra.be—a film piece its predecessor BRT had aired 40 years earlier to the day on the film show ''Première-Magazine''. It includes behind-the-scenes footage shot in a Paris circus and some take
A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production.
Film
In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each s ...
s with sound from the film. On February 3, 2016, German public TV ARD aired a 2-hour documentary called ''Der Clown''.[Der Clown](_blank)
'' Tagesschau'' (German language) German film maker Eric Friedler shows interviews, a 31-minute version of original footage and re-staged scenes from the original scripts with some Swedish actors who participated in Lewis's movie. Finally, the film shows the first full interview with Lewis about his work after 43 years. The documentary was later put on DVD and shown theatrically at the Deutsches Filminstitute. In June 2016, a 31-minute version from ''Der Clown'' was uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo by editor Kay Brown, and dubbed into German with English subtitles, marking the first time a version of ''The Day the Clown Cried'' was made available to the general public. It has since been removed.
Fans and critics alike hope for the film's eventual release. The Jerry Lewis official museum website (archived) states: "The film has been tied up in litigation ever since, and all of the parties involved have never been able to reach an agreeable settlement. Jerry hopes to someday complete the film, which remains to this day a significant expression of cinematic art, suspended in the abyss of international litigation".
In June 2018, at a public auction of items from the Lewis estate, were an original annotated script, polaroids of exteriors, and an original costume.
In a January 2019 interview with World Over, Lewis's son Chris stated there is no complete negative of the film and that outstanding copyright issues prevented a release.
Early possible remakes
Jim Wright revealed to the press his plan to produce a new version of ''The Day the Clown Cried'', and he mentioned he had Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
in mind for the title role. Despite major buzz about the project, nothing concrete came out of the planning stages. By 1991, producer Michael Barclay announced that he and Tex Rudloff (apparently with the help of Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
lobbyist Jack Abramoff
Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction ...
) were preparing a joint production of ''Clown'' with the Russian film studio Lenfilm. Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
had allegedly been offered the leading role and given a copy of the script. Jeremy Kagan
Jeremy Paul Kagan (born December 14, 1945) is an American Film director, film and television director, screenwriter, and television producer.
Early life
Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Kagan received his Bachelor of Arts, B.A. from Harvard Unive ...
, who made ''The Chosen
Chosen or The Chosen may refer to:
The chosen ones
*Chosen people, people who believe they have been chosen by a higher power to do a certain thing including
**Jews as the chosen people
Books
* ''The Chosen'' (Potok novel), a 1967 novel by Chaim ...
'' (1981), reportedly was slated to direct the film, but once again the idea was dropped before it was officially greenlit
To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead".
Film industry
In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
. In 1994, William Hurt
William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor.
...
was considered to play the role, but nothing came to fruition.
Discussion of the film in the mainstream press was rekindled in the late 1990s due to the release of two films with similar themes, ''Life Is Beautiful
''Life Is Beautiful'' ( it, La vita è bella, ) is a 1997 Italian comedy drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who emplo ...
'' (1997) and the remake of ''Jakob the Liar
''Jakob the Liar'' is a 1999 American war comedy-drama film directed by Peter Kassovitz, produced by Steven Haft, Marsha Garces Williams and written by Kassovitz and Didier Decoin. The film is based on the book of the same name by Jurek Becker ...
'' (1999). The latter starred Robin Williams, whose name had previously been attached to the planned remake. The film ''Adam Resurrected
''Adam Resurrected'' ( he, אדם בן כלב, translit=''Adam Ben Kelev'') is a 2008 drama film directed by Paul Schrader and written by Noah Stollman based on a 1968 novel of the same name by Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk (the book's original na ...
'' (2009), adapted from Yoram Kaniuk Yoram ( or ) is a name derived from Jehoram (), meaning "Jehovah is exalted" in Biblical Hebrew, which was the name of several individuals in the Tanakh; the female version of this name is Athaliah. Notable people with the name include:
*Yoram A ...
's novel of the same name published in 1968, has also drawn comparisons.
Possession by the Library of Congress
On August 5, 2015, the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' reported that Lewis had donated a copy of the film to the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, under the stipulation that it not be screened before June 2024. The Library of Congress intends to eventually screen it at its Audio Visual Conservation campus in Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. Rob Stone, curator of the Library of Congress, has stated that they will not be able to loan the film to other theaters or museums without permission from Lewis' estate. Stone has also stated that they do not have any intent to release the film in any form of home media. In a December 2018 article for ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Stone stated the LOC does not have a complete print of the film.
See also
* List of Holocaust films
These films deal with the Holocaust in Europe, comprising both documentaries and narratives. They began to be produced in the early 1940s before the extent of the Holocaust at that time was widely recognized.
The films span a range of genres, wit ...
* List of World War II films
This is a list of fictional feature films or miniseries which feature events of World War II in the narrative.
There is a separate list of World War II TV series.
Criteria
* The film or miniseries must be concerned with World War II (or the ...
References
External links
*
Jerry Lewis' ''The Day the Clown Cried'' Revealed!
''Film Threat
''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...
''
Film summary
from The Official Jerry Lewis Comedy Museum
"Jerry Lewis Goes to Death Camp"
1992 ''Spy'' magazine article on ''The Day the Clown Cried'', including commentary from cast members and people who purport to have seen the rough cut
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Day The Clown Cried
Swedish drama films
French drama films
1970s English-language films
Films directed by Jerry Lewis
Films shot in Paris
Films shot in Stockholm
Films shot in Sweden
Holocaust films
Films about clowns
Films with screenplays by Jerry Lewis
1970s unfinished films
1970s French films
1970s Swedish films