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January 03, 2002

The Clown Who Cried


Subterranean Cinema has a page devoted to Jerry Lewis' attempt to marry his spastic slapstick with Chaplinesque pathos, THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED. Due to financial troubles and copyright imbroglios, this story about a clown who entertained children at Auschwitz as they prepared to enter the ovens was never completely finished or released, although fuzzy bootleg copies are known to exist. According to the (lucky?) few who've seen it, it defies belief. Available for download is the complete script, plus several accounts of the making and the aftermath of this weird footnote in cinema history.