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The Day the Clown Cried (1972)
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Overview
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Plot:
A circus clown is imprisoned by the Nazis and goes with Jewish children to their deaths. full summary | add synopsisUser Comments:
Not as Bad as It Sounds moreCast
(Credited cast) | Jerry Lewis | ... | Helmut Doork |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
 | Peter Ahlm | ... | 1st New Prisoner |
| Lars Amble | ... | Guard |
| Harriet Andersson | ... | Ada Doork |
| Jonas Bergström | ... | Franz |
| Claude Bolling | ||
| Tomas Bolme | ... | Adolf |
| Curt Broberg | ... | Galt |
| Bo Brundin | ... | Ludwig |
| Johnny Cacao | ||
| Anton Diffring | ... | Captain Curt Runkel |
| Pierre Étaix | ||
| Victor Fratellini | ||
| Serge Gainsbourg | ||
| Michel Garland | ||
 | Ronald F. Hoiseck | ... | Uhlmann |
| Sven Lindberg | ||
| Lars Lind | ... | 2nd New Prisoner |
| Åke Lindman | ... | Stout Prisoner |
| Michael Mansson | ... | Prisoner |
 | Sandy Mansson | ... | Prisoner |
| Armand Mestral | ||
| Fredrik Ohlsson | ... | Herman |
| Ulf Palme | ... | Johann Keltner |
| Roberto | ||
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Jerry Lewis has the only copy locked in a private vault where he vows to keep it from ever being viewed again. moreFAQ
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The Holocaust is a political hot button, and the notion of making any film with both dramatic and comedic elements about it is likely to make people recoil. Yet, "Life is Beautiful" and other films have pulled it off.
Having read the script for "The Day the Clown Cried," I can say it's doable, but the concept would fly over most people's heads. With very little action, it is a deeply introspective script, one which relies on the audience being able to identify with what's going on inside a fatally flawed character rather than the external story. American audiences, in particular, have a difficult time getting beyond the most shallow of understandings of people, preferring action over character development in films, so I don't think it would work here. It would turn on the skill of the performances to bring the nuances of internal characterization to life.
I think I understand what Jerry Lewis was trying to do -- he wanted to show the pain and darkness that underlies the character of comedic entertainers, and yet show that beneath their egos, there is heart, and that in their lives, there is great irony. He's been doing that for 40 years on his telethon, after all. But though I think the performers were eminently more qualified to act in 1972 than those today, the looser style of today's film-making would allow for a more successful film now than then.