Saturday, January 26, 2013

El Professore Movie Laments 'The Day the Clown Cried'


Sure there are many lost or unreleased films that ol' El Professore Movie would love to be able to take a gander at (The first filmed version of Tarzan Escapes aka The Capture of Tarzan, King Kong Appears in Edo, Bruce Lee's The Big Boss with the missing 'saw in the head' moment, the complete 160 minute version of A Better Tomorrow 2...), but none (absolutely none) have held the same perverse fascination as Jerry Lewis' unfathomably wrongminded, 'The Day the Clown Cried'.

More info after the jump.

For those who are unfamiliar, 'The Day the Clown Cried represents possibly the most "what the fuck were they thinking?!" moment in the annals of motion picture history. I'll share an article from "Film Buff Online". Reading it will surely send the uninitiated's jaw slamming to the floor:

http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2005/08/07/script-review-jerry-lewiss-infamous-the-day-the-clown-cried/

Yes, a comedy/drama about a clown that is forced by the Nazis to entertain captive kiddies and ultimately lead them pied piper-style into the gas chamber. And said clown is played by Jerry Lewis. Let that sink in...

I've struggled (and continue to struggle) to attain the correct words and phrases to properly (or even adequately) express my thoughts and feelings toward the project. Each time I try, I'm left speechless, slack jawed and head shaken. Yet El Professore is nothing if not the morbidly curious type and would gladly give my left arm (and possibly a less polite part of my anatomy) to actually see this... er, thing. Tragically, it may never see the light of day in my lifetime (or anyone's for that matter) and may have to exist only in my overactive immagination. Life can be so cruel...

Here's a clip of Harry Shearer (one of the very few who apparently actually saw the film) discussing it on Howard Stern's radio show:


And (incredibly) here's a brief clip that was just posted recently featuring the man himself, FINALLY answering THE question about his unreleased mega disaster:

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