A legendary Jerry Lewis film is reportedly about to join the National Film Registry…
Jerry Lewis, the slapstick comedian popular in the 1950s, completed The Day the Clown Cried in 1972, and it's believed only seven people have ever viewed it, the Sunday Times of London said. Still the legend about the Holocaust "comedy" has spread over the years — and many film scholars now believe it's the worst film ever made.
Um…how could "many film scholars" come to that viewpoint about a movie they have never seen? I mean, forgive me for asking this question but don't you kind of have to actually view a movie for your opinion of it to have any value at all?
Also, hasn't Mr. Lewis said on several occasions that he has never considered the movie a finished work? I believe the history is that the film's financiers ran out of money so many scenes were never shot. Lewis, as I understand it, briefly tried to complete it by putting up his own money but there were problems with the underlying rights to the book and legal questions as to whether the finished film could even be released. Even if it's fair to review a movie you've never seen, is it fair to review one that its director considers incomplete and which he has never put out into the world for public exhibition?
(And while we're at it: How about that description of Jerry as "the slapstick comedian popular in the 1950s"? He was one of the biggest movie stars in the sixties too and he's still revered in many circles. It's been a long time since I thought he did anything of merit and I find most of his appearances for the last few decades to be embarrassing. But give the man his due. He's setting some sort of record for longevity in a business where some folks come and go faster than you can say "Rob Schneider.")
I'm not sure why I'm trying here to be fair to Jerry Lewis, a man who's never been particularly fair to others. Some time ago, I reached the stage where his incoherent ramblings and eruptions of ego stopped striking me as colorful or entertaining in a perverse way.
This movie triggers odd attitudes in some people. I know film buffs who are sure it stinks. They've never seen it but they're sure it's an abomination. If you want to only count folks who've actually viewed the movies they're vilifying, there are a lot more moviegoers in this world who think the new Star Wars flick is an abomination. Or Citizen Kane or Gone With the Wind or the last James Bond film or whatever won Best Picture last year.
So they think The Day the Clown Cried is an atrocity but do they praise Mr. Lewis for having the integrity to admit this and bury his failure? No, they're mad at him for not letting them see it. According to the above-linked article and other sources, Lewis has donated a copy to the National Film Registry on the condition that there be no public exhibition for ten years. I know many film scholars who will line up to view this movie they've hated since they first heard of it and they're pissed at Jer for making them wait this long, let alone another decade. Go figure.