|
THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED
Since
first publishing Askew Reviews #1 a few years ago, I have received numerous
letters and emails concerning Jerry Lewis’ 1971 never released movie THE DAY
THE CLOWN CRIED. The emails only intensified when I put Askew Reviews online. Therefore,
I have decided to scrounge around and try to piece together some info on this
movie for Askew’s inquiring minds. I am not sure how much of what I’ve found
is accurate, so I will leave it up to you on how much you believe or not. I will
only report what I have found. Just so you know, this movie has never been
released and I can not get a copy. Rumors have it that Jerry Lewis owns the only
print, a reel to reel, and it’s locked away someplace.
In
1971, Nate Waschberger approached Jerry to direct and star in THE DAY THE CLOWN
CRIED, based on Joan O’Brien’s book by the same name. The story is about a
German clown named Helmut Dorque who is thrown into a concentration camp after
he drunkenly impersonates Hitler in front of the Gestapo. While imprisoned,
Helmut is forced to amusingly and cheerfully lead Jewish children into gas
chambers where they will die. Jerry accepted, lost 40 pounds, and shooting took
place in Stockholm, Sweden and in Paris, France. Soon thereafter, Waschberger
ran out of money and Jerry stepped in to finance the rest of the production with
his own money (reportedly $1 million). After filming concluded, Jerry learned
that he did not own the rights to the movie because Joan O’Brien was never
paid what she thought was a fair price for the script. This is where I have
heard two different stories. Some say that Joan O’Brien to this day still
refuses to accept monetary offers from Jerry for the rights, therefore the movie
can’t be released. Others say the movie is so awful, Jerry Lewis refuses to
let it see the light of day. However, I have read that Jerry himself has stated
that he will release the movie in it’s entirety (after filming a few more
scenes) or will produce a documentary using stills to detail the production and
plot.
While
editing the film, it is said (as described in Shawn Levy's biography of Jerry
Lewis, King of Comedy) Jerry became enraged when he discovered that a youngster
in the film had looked directly into the camera during a crucial dramatic scene.
Characterizing the child as "a sneaky little bitch," Lewis railed
"I told her to keep her fucking eyes to the front. That it wasn't a beauty
pageant . . .There's no room for Shirley Temple in a concentration camp."
Three
other bits of info on this subject: 1) I heard an interview with an
actor/comedian (who’s name escapes me)* who claims to have seen the movie back
in the 70s. He said it was the worst piece of tasteless trash he has ever seen.
He claimed not only is the story weak, but the production was unbelievably bad.
2) I also found a photocopy of the screenplay being auctioned off at ebay.com.
The starting bid was $19.95 and there wasn’t any higher bids or interest in
it. 3) Some say that Roberto Benigni’s 1997 movie LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL bears a
striking resemblance to THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED in more ways than one. I have
not seen Life is Beautiful, so I can't compare the two movies.
*The following comes from a reader named Bill Gibron
"The comedian in question who saw the completed film was Harry Shearer, Mr. Simpsons and Spinal Tap himself. He wrote about it in an article for Spy
Magazine a long time ago. Apparently, a friend of a friend has a bootleg copy of the film on OLD FASHIONED Video tape, and set up a screening. He indeed found the film tasteless, vulgar and totally inappropriate. His main criticism is the
Jerry-ization of the material (I can imagine the pain now)."
Here's
an online version of the screenplay
Below you will
find four pictures from the movie, the cover of the screenplay, and a screenplay
review written by Steve Puchalski, the editor and publisher of SHOCK
CINEMA magazine.
 THE
DAY THE CLOWN CRIED [Script review]
Although it's impossible
to criticize a finished film on the basis of the script alone, I've seen more
than enough Jerry Lewis films to know how badly he can stumble when starring and
directing in moments of pathos. This script, which weighs in at a whopping 164
pages (since one-page equals approximately a minute of screen time, it's longer
than THE ENGLISH PATIENT) was originally planned as a Summer '74 release, with
much of it funded by Jerry's own private cash (after his producer ran dry).
Alas, this flick has spent the last quarter-century in litigation limbo, after
it turned out that Lewis didn't actually own the script, after all. While a Good
Movie would have people clamoring to settle the case, I doubt anyone (with the
exception of Jerry and his hardcore fans) cares if this ever sees the light of
day. Scripted by Joan O'Brien and Charles Denton (with "additional
material" -uh oh- provided by Jer) and filmed in Paris and Stockholm, it's
the circa-1940's story of Helmut Dorque (more often spelled as Doork), an old
clown who's fired from a German circus. After drunkenly impersonating Hitler in
front of the Gestapo, he's tossed into a prison camp, where poor Helmut is
abused by bullying inmates and guards. Unfortunately, there's no reason to
sympathize with the character, since he's an unbearable, self-pitying sort, who
mouths off at the most inappropriate times. As years pass and WWII deepens, the
prison becomes the home of Jewish women and children, with Helmut discovering
THE CHILDREN NEED HIM AND LOVE HIM! With the help of other prisoners, he creates
a make-shift clown suit and make-up, and begins entertaining the tots. When
Helmut is beaten by a guard in front of the children, he even pretends that's
it's all part of his comedy routine. Later, Doork is used by the Nazis to keep a
boxcar full of children quietly amused, only to accidentally (oops!) winds up in
Auschwitz, where this "Judas goat" leads the smiling kids straight
into gas chambers. Proudly labeled
"A Family Film" on its intro page, this is a painfully obvious story,
overflowing with stock characters, sledgehammer discussions, and maudlin
monologues. Still, if played totally straight (and in the hands of a more
appropriate director), this had a slim chance of working. There's no chance
here, since script-notes explain how even dramatic moments (like being abused by
a guard when Helmut refuses to eat, or trying to get dressed when his clothes
are totally frozen) "will work comically as well." It's easy to
imagine Jerry doing his worn-out, slapstick schtick in the middle of a
supposedly-gritty concentration camp=97and just how embarrassing it must be.
More than simply misguided, this makes you question your own tolerance for
cinematic swill. -Steve Puchalski
   
|
