Untitled
"The Day The Clown Cried" , the unreleased 1972 Jerry Lewis production , in which he playes a washed - up German or Polish (?) hasbeen circus clown in The 30's , who's overheard by a Member of the SS , drunkenly running down Hitler and his regime. He's arrested , thrown in a prison camp , and forced to entertain the children , in an effort to get their minds off their own impending doom. Does'nt sound like a terrible epremise for a film , but , by all accounts (The pitiful few who've seen it), IT WAS. Lewis said that he believed so strongly in the project , he went so far as to say it was the film we was born to make. A handful of critics saw the film , and all agreed it was tasteless , and that Lewis' ego kept it from showing any credibility , even if , possibly , he really believed he should shed aside his comic image (Itself bordering on washed up status , by then. I guess I'm just being kind.) to do a serious picture to give the public an idea of what his people went through , what would have been only some 35 YEARS EARLIER. Even if the movie had to be about a clown. The clown in question is forced to lead the children into the ovens , then follow them to his own death. How many movies , up to that point , dealt with the Holocaust so directly? Even in such an unlikely manner?
It just had to be Jerry Lewis who'd make that early attempt .
About 8 minutes of production footage (From Flemish TV) just turned up on You Tube. It's largely of Lewis directing himself in his celebrated psuedo - Emmet Kelley Bum makeup. But , Lewis owns the only known existing copy of the entire film , and has sworn he will not let it be seen in , or after , his time. The dialogue from the documentary footage is in French , with German subtitles , but Jerry Lewis , of course , speaks in English (He mutters "Shit"at 6:00! ).Sorry I could'nt post it here , myself , but your brief search will pay off , particularly with a brief appearances by Serge Gainsbourgh and Jane Birkin , visitors to teh set. This , and another brief behind the scenes clip , just under one minute long , are all we're likely to ever see.
