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The Day the Clown Cried

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Der Clown (TV)

Original title

The Day the Clown Cried

Year

1972

Running time

90 min.

Country

United States

Director

Jerry Lewis

Screenwriter

Jerry Lewis, Joan O'Brien, Charles Denton

Cast

Cinematography

Rune Ericson

Genre

Drama | Holocaust. 1940s. Independent Film (US). Clowns

Synopsis

In this unfinished movie (Some production footage can be seen online) Helmut Doork, a once great and famous clown, is fired from the circus. Getting drunk at a local bar, he pokes fun at Hitler in front of some Gestapo agents, who arrest and send him to a prison camp. Helmut angers his fellow prisoners by refusing to perform for them, wanting to preserve his legend. As times passes, Jews are brought into the camp, with fraternizing between them and the other prisoners strictly prohibited. Eventually, Helmut is forced by the others to perform or be beaten. His act bombs and he leaves the barracks depressed, trying the routine out again alone in the prison yard. He hears laughter and sees a group of Jewish children watching him through a fence. Happy to be appreciated again, he makes a makeshift clown suit and begins to regularly perform. His audience grows, but a new prison Commandant orders Helmut to stop. When he refuses and continues to perform, he's beaten and thrown in solitary confinement. But the Nazis soon come up with a use for Helmut, keeping.

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