{"id":38025,"date":"2024-12-21T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/?p=38025"},"modified":"2024-12-19T17:52:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T22:52:11","slug":"38025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/?p=38025","title":{"rendered":"“From Darkness to Light” written & directed by Eric Friedler, Michael Lurie \/ Z-View"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Director: \u00a0Eric Friedler, Michael Lurie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Screenplay: Eric Friedler, Michael Lurie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stars: Jerry Lewis, Mel Brooks, Martin Scorsese, Harry Shearer <\/strong>and Sarah Silverman<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tagline: None.<\/p>\n

The Plot…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In 1971, producer Nat Wachsberger, approached Jerry Lewis about directing and starring in an adaption of THE DAY THE CLOWN DIED by Joan O’Brien.\u00a0 Lewis knew the story of Helmut, a once famous clown now a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp.\u00a0 Nazis see Helmut entertaining the children.\u00a0 The Nazis then use Helmut to lead the kids to the gas chamber.\u00a0 Lewis was intrigued.\u00a0 It would be a fine line to walk — finding humor in a dark story and at the same time present a film that said something about the human condition.\u00a0 Lewis was told he could tweak the script and would have full control of the film.<\/p>\n

Lewis agreed.\u00a0 He lost 35 pounds preparing for the role.\u00a0 Lewis cleared his schedule and threw himself fully into the project.\u00a0 With just a couple of weeks of filming left, Lewis learned the producer’s rights to the film ran out.\u00a0 The producer couldn’t (or wouldn’t) come up with money to re-secure the movie rights. Further money to complete the film wouldn’t be coming.\u00a0 Lewis reportedly paid $2 million of his own money to cover costs.<\/p>\n

The Day the Clown Cried<\/em> became a thing of legend.\u00a0 Never completed. Never released.\u00a0 A rough cut was seen by just a very few people.\u00a0 In fact, most folks didn’t know the story behind the story… until now.<\/p>\n

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

I always wondered if The Day the Clown Cried<\/em> would be released.\u00a0 Now I know why it wasn’t.\u00a0 Lewis was questioned about the movie from 1972 to his death.\u00a0 He refused to show footage and would only say he wasn’t happy with the job that he did.<\/p>\n

In August 2015, it was reported that Jerry Lewis donated a copy of The Day the Clown Cried<\/em> to the Library of Congress.\u00a0 Lewis stipulated that the unfinished film not be screened until 2024.\u00a0 In August 2024, a limited screening was held.<\/p>\n

From Darkness to Light<\/em> is a wonderful documentary.\u00a0 With vintage interviews, footage and stills from the film, viewers are treated to answers to the many mysteries of The Day the Clown Cried<\/em>.<\/p>\n

From Darkness to Light <\/i>(2024) <\/em><\/strong>rates 5 of 5 stars.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Director: \u00a0Eric Friedler, Michael Lurie Screenplay: Eric Friedler, Michael Lurie Stars: Jerry Lewis, Mel Brooks, Martin Scorsese, Harry Shearer and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,17,72,53,54,65,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-celebs","category-history","category-horror","category-movies","category-trivia","category-z-view"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38025"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38028,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38025\/revisions\/38028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}