AnorakOkay, so a lot of the buried films on this list so far have been kinda inexplicable - who wouldn't wanna see a Danny Boyle sci-fi-horror film, after all? - but when it comes to this "lost" Jerry Lewis comedy-drama, its lack of release isn't at all surprising. What is surprising is that anybody thought it was a good idea in the first place, let alone that a comedy institution and household name like Lewis would not only star in but write and direct it, or that it would be fully completed before being shelved permanently once everyone involved recovered the good sense that had abandoned them for the duration of the production. So what's so bad about The Day The Clown Cried? Two words: holocaust comedy. Beating the Oscar-winning Life Is Beautiful by a good 25 years, the film was intended to smuggle a tragic depiction of Nazi war crimes under the cover of another hit Jerry Lewis comedy. We think. The few people who have actually seen the film have cited its wildly fluctuating tone as one of the most bizarre things about it, as Lewis's washed-up German circus clown being recruited to lead kids, Pied Piper-style, to their deaths in the gas chamber. The film ends with Lewis's clown accidentally ending up in the "showers" with them, fading to black on the children giggling at his antics as he realises that no miracle is going to come and save them. Good Lord, just writing that makes us feel totally hollow and disturbed, can you imagine actually seeing it? Well, keep on imagining, because The Day The Clown Cried is never getting a release. We doubt that any studio would've wanted to touch it anyway, with Lewis owning the only cut of the film and refusing to release it, with the studio holding onto the original negatives and similarly playing schtum. Which might be for the best.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
AnorakOkay, so a lot of the buried films on this list so far have been kinda inexplicable - who wouldn't wanna see a Danny Boyle sci-fi-horror film, after all? - but when it comes to this "lost" Jerry Lewis comedy-drama, its lack of release isn't at all surprising. What is surprising is that anybody thought it was a good idea in the first place, let alone that a comedy institution and household name like Lewis would not only star in but write and direct it, or that it would be fully completed before being shelved permanently once everyone involved recovered the good sense that had abandoned them for the duration of the production. So what's so bad about The Day The Clown Cried? Two words: holocaust comedy. Beating the Oscar-winning Life Is Beautiful by a good 25 years, the film was intended to smuggle a tragic depiction of Nazi war crimes under the cover of another hit Jerry Lewis comedy. We think. The few people who have actually seen the film have cited its wildly fluctuating tone as one of the most bizarre things about it, as Lewis's washed-up German circus clown being recruited to lead kids, Pied Piper-style, to their deaths in the gas chamber. The film ends with Lewis's clown accidentally ending up in the "showers" with them, fading to black on the children giggling at his antics as he realises that no miracle is going to come and save them. Good Lord, just writing that makes us feel totally hollow and disturbed, can you imagine actually seeing it? Well, keep on imagining, because The Day The Clown Cried is never getting a release. We doubt that any studio would've wanted to touch it anyway, with Lewis owning the only cut of the film and refusing to release it, with the studio holding onto the original negatives and similarly playing schtum. Which might be for the best.