All language subtitles for From.Darkness.to.Light.2024.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLiSSKEN

I'd been depressed
for a long time.

I was so emotionally shattered
by the breakup

that everything else broke up.

If you do a terrible thing,
everything gets caught up in it,

and it's all terrible.

And I knew this film will take
me till the end of my days.

Jerry Lewis,
to me, is a great director.

He's more a painter
maybe than a director.

He probably doesn't even know.

That is a great --
to me,

firstly, the continuity
of the Harry Langdon and

Buster Keaton
and Chaplin tradition.

You've been shooting
a picture in Sweden?

Yes. That's right.

Yes, I completed the film
in Sweden.

I'm in the process
of cutting it now,

and hopefully, we'll release it
in the spring.

Of this year?

Yes.

Of this year.

The spring
of this year?

Yes.

I better hurry and finish the
last reel, wouldn't you think?

It's a marvelous film.

It's difficult
to make a good picture.

And he knows.

And I think he should
be supported.

And I'm one of his supporter.

"The Day the Clown Cried"
will be finish--

I hopefully will finish cutting
it the next 6 or 7 weeks.

And, uh, we've been invited
to the Cannes Film Festival,

so I think we will open it then,
in May,

then it'll be released
in America.

I think he has
a great idea.

For his last movie,

he was obliged try
to do it in Sweden.

I don't know if he succeeded.
Well, the day -- totally --

"The Day the Crown --
the Clown Cried."

And it's a picture about
in a Nazi concentration camp,

they were using a clown
to make the baby laugh

when they were going in
the gas chamber.

I think it's a -- I mean,
it's a beautiful idea.

I guess you're referring
to a film

that I think has -- it's never
been released in this country.

It's not even been produced
up to now.

He has a problem.

Oh, it's not finished.

No, it's not finished.

For me, Lewis was
always ahead of his time --

always ahead of his time --
And there's no doubt

that "The Day the Clown Cried"
is something

that was so unthinkable

that we didn't even think
the film existed.

We thought it was made up.

We thought, when we were younger
that it was a, um -- uh, a myth.

It was so modi.
It was so forbidden.

It was a myth of some kind, um,
and that nothing of it --

if it did exist,
if it had happened,

none of it was available
to be seen by anyone ever.

"The Day the Clown Cried"

is possibly the last
big movie myth out there,

because it has never been seen.

It's been discussed for 40 years
and denied and denied again.

And I think
once it's all out in the open

and in public to watch,
to my knowledge,

there aren't many other
mysteries in the film business

to solve.

There's no way
it's gonna fulfill

anybody's expectation,
or --

Yeah, it might be just boring.

Let's do a clown
Holocaust movie.

Why not? Let's follow it up.

Are we gonna ever gonna get to
see "The Day the Clown Cried"?

A kind of legendary debacle.

Is it really as bad?

"The Day the Clown Cried."
Yeah.

The controversial
and disturbing film.

Are we going to get
the Holocaust clown movie now?

There's never insights.
There's never details.

I've had enough!
This is violent!

Almost no one has ever seen it.

He basically just
remade Superman,

but with the Nazis.

There was just crazy shit
they did back then.

You make that.
Movie up in your head.

It's so much better than that.
And by better, I mean worse.

Film critics talk about it.

Movie buffs talk about it,

and actors
and everybody in the business,

but nobody has seen it.

No one's seen it. I mean,
human beings have seen it.

Not many -- I know
Harry Shearer, infamously,

is one of the very few people
has seen it.

I am one of the handful
of people.

I don't even know
if it's a handful.

It may be two fingers.

Somebody I knew
had access to a videotape copy

of the rough cut print,

and had liberated it
for a period of time.

It was like seeing
a Tijuana velvet clown painting

of the Holocaust.

This film is
like a legend.

Nobody knows.

So people have started
to invent, to talk,

to imagine, to figure out,
to whisper.

In 1980, I got a job at Europa Film,

which was the camera
and sound company

for "The Day the Clown Cried."

They went bankrupt years ago,

and they had a big clean out
sort of spring cleaning thing

where they ordered
two big containers

and they just throw away
like 20 reels.

Can you imagine that,
20-year-old Jerry Lewis

prime time thing
just thrown away?

I felt that
the actual reels were in danger.

Yes, very much so.

I felt compelled
to do something, really.

We found 8 or 9 reels there,
and, uh,

they were clearly marked
"The Day the Clown Cried"

working copy
and so forth and so on.

And in there, in the each box,

there was a copy and a separate
perforated magnetic sound tape.

I knew it was completely legal.

I knew I can get sacked,
probably get nicked,

but the will to do it
was so strong.

I'm really happy
that we saved it

because otherwise,
it would be lost.

So I felt a strong obsession
to take it

and just stash it away and say,
"Haha, you fuckers,

we'll keep it safe
under lock and key."

That's what I felt.

I was pretty sure
that in my lifetime,

somebody will knock
on my doorstep saying,

oh, you got this material.
Wonderful.

Let's, uh,
do something about it.

So it was a bit hard to keep
it secret for 30-odd-some years,

actually.

It rested very well
where it was hidden.

I think it doesn't matter
what you think it is.

It's a hell of a show to watch.

And, uh, I'm really happy
that it survived.

If you say Jerry Lewis
plays a clown

in a concentration camp
and just leave it at that,

uh, your mind will create
a pretty,

pretty bizarre image
of what's going on.

That's not Jerry Lewis.

What are you doing, Jerry?

By somebody who was
famous as director

and actor of comedy,
it was a 180 degrees change.

He went to the casino
and make a total bunco.

I mean, he risked all his career
with this film.

He wanted to make
a funny tragedy about a subject

that is the least funny thing
you can think of.

He's a clown

who's put into a concentration camp,

and his job is
to entertain the children

as they are pushed
into the gas chamber.

It's so horrible and so serious
and so sort of taboo-like,

so I don't think
any director would dare

to do it or dare to make
a suggestion even about it.

So he was ahead of his time.

Actually,
even contemplating doing a film

where a man is a clown
hired to --

he's basically leading children
into a gas chamber...

...this was something that
just went against the grain of,

I think, people in Hollywood,

and it was unthinkable,
actually,

to think that humor
could come out of that.

If he had waited 25 years,

then, yeah, he'd be bounding
over those seats,

grabbing his Oscar.

Well, the script came to me
ten years ago.

Ten years ago,
I fell in love with this idea.

And ten years ago, I was
not ready to make such a film.

I was much younger.

And this film,
you have to be a little older,

and it's very dramatic.

I needed to learn much,
much more about my work.

And in ten years,
I'm happy that I have learned

what I think is enough to go
forward with this production.

Comedy puts light
onto darkness,

you know, and darkness
can't live where there's light.

So that's why it's
important to talk about things

that are taboo,

because otherwise they
just stay in this dark place

and they become dangerous.

Springtime for Hitler
and Germany

"Springtime for Hitler."
My God.

The audience was like...

That's pretty much
what I think a lot of people

thought at the time.

It was a lot of people
going to...

Look out, here comes
the master race

But then, after a while,
you get the joke.

You understand what's funny
about it.

Today

And a few Jews, after the show,
would say, you know,

that's not in such good taste,
you know.

And I'd say, uh, I don't care.

I really don't give a shit.

I was born in Dusseldorf, and
that is why they call me Rolf.

Comics have to tell
us who we are, where we are,

and even if it's in bad taste.

We'll be going

We've got to be going

You know we'll be going
to war

You can do jokes about Nazis.

But if you say Holocaust...

Is the Holocaust funny?

No, there's nothing about
the Holocaust that is funny.

But is there ever anything
that we can't laugh about?

That's the thing --
There's tons of Nazi jokes.

It's like there's nothing
taboo about making a Nazi joke.

Stupid Hitler.

Bugs Bunny was making
fun of Nazis.

"The Three Stooges"
were making fun of Nazis.

The Marx Brothers
were making fun of Nazis.

And this is during
World War II.

Heil Hitler!

Heil myself.

Anyone who's in
a position of extreme authority

is great to make fun of
because they're pompous.

There's an arrogance
to being in that position.

Nazi jokes, easy.
Making fun of bad people, easy.

Making fun of good people
or tragedy,

that's what's hard.

So making a "Holocaust joke"
about the act

of the Holocaust in general

and the event is
really difficult.

No.
I can't go there.

The Holocaust itself is not funny.

There's nothing funny about it.

But survival
and what it takes to survive,

there can be humor in that.

Alright. Come.

After all of these years,

it was about time
to talk about the film itself.

I never spoke about it.
Why?

Because you don't run around
yelling to people, "I lost."

"Hey, I bought six tickets
in the lottery, and I lost."

Who gives a shit?

Nobody wants to know about
what you lost.

They want to know
what you think of something

you're putting out there
for the public.

I had only me to get
the answers from.

I lived with this
from the very beginning.

It was part of my bloodstream.

He even had a sense of color
and editing and surrealism.

He broke all those rules
visually.

"The Ladies Man," for example.

The house cut in half
like a --

like a wedding cake,
so to speak.

Um, when he opens the door
to the room, it's all white.

And this woman comes down
in black.

And then there's Dick Stabile
and his orche--

No, Ray Anthony,
I think, and his orchestra.

And of course, you know
"The Nutty Professor," uh,

which was totally,
uh, unexpected,

particularly because
the Mr. Hyde character

is Dean Martin.

You know, he's Mr. Hyde.

You know, he becomes Dean,
and it's extraordinary.

Aflame with such
a burning desire

That only your kiss
can put out the fire

What would I do without you?
What would I do, boy?

What would I do without you?
What would I do?

I need a partner,
you're the one

I'll be right there
when the show goes on

I'm for you, I'm for you

From California to Kalamazoo

What would I do without you
when you're gone?

When you're gone?

Well, he was coming
out of the post-war period

with him and Dean Martin.

They represented
a total freedom,

a sense of freedom and anarchy.

Um, uh, Martin was
the straight man, so to speak.

Uh, and he was the wild man.

The wild, the wild one.

Anything could happen
with Jerry.

And that was kind of a break,
I think,

from -- uh, you know,
the break from the war.

Basically, people suddenly --
just suddenly,

um, felt free
to be completely absurd

and completely out of line.

Dean had a lot
to give to his craft,

as did I, and we both
felt it was time for us to go

and just go pick our
fruit out of the large garden

and do stuff for ourselves.

Now, if Dean and I
didn't break up,

I would have never directed
a film.

That would have been terrible.

You're nobody
till somebody loves you

Every facet of show business
is based on this guy.

He was capable of anything.

And I think it's what
the world wanted at that time,

particularly America.

You may be king,
you may possess the world

He was a standup comic.
He could write music.

He could conduct orchestras,
he could perform in concert.

The world still is the same

On top of that,
he directed films.

He invented
the video assist system.

As sure as...

Plus, he did talk shows.
He did talk shows.

And I said,
well, this is all in one.

You're nobody
till somebody loves you

So find yourself somebody
to love

Visually and cinematically,

I think he really broke
new ground.

So for us, it was not only the
antics of Jerry, but his, um...

pretty much surreal, avant
garde technique of making films.

And this was a major advance,
you know,

in filmmaking, I thought.

He was in a situation
with a very successful

film career -- that was
the voice of Hollywood saying,

come on, come on, let them know.

So Jerry Lewis started off
with very successful movies,

but, you know, over the period
of years, they became worse.

The last comedy movie
he made before

"The Day the Clown Cried"
was a man-made catastrophe.

It's hard to express how,
uh, wrong he got it.

Fuhrer!

My strategists.

Kesserling?

Out, out, everybody,
out!

I want to talk
to Kesserling.

Very often, when you get
depressed, it's about the work.

You're not happy
about what you've done.

And, uh, a lot of performers
don't want to go there.

They don't want to think about
they're not doing too well.

But if you don't think about
not doing too well,

you're never going to get
better.

I wanted to be the best.

His run of getting
Paramount to pay for

all his movies was long over.

Now here he is saying no,
now I'm doing a non-comedy.

Stepping in this --
in this side --

I mean, was jumping
from a bridge with an elastic,

but without the elastic,
without, you know, uh, safety.

I mean, it was in the darkness,

as it was a total change
of genre for him.

To do such a challenge,
what were the motivations?

I think he wanted to do
this part

because he wanted to prove
himself in the film community.

He wanted to say,
look, I can do a serious.

I can be Hamlet.
I can put it off.

People say that comedians
can't wait to play Hamlet.

I would like to protest
against that

because comedians play
hamlet all their lives.

Dramatic actors play Hamlet only
for a certain time on stage.

It is very, very dramatic
to play a comedy.

As a child,
I used to use comedy to cover up

the torn sweater that I wore,

or the sadness
that I felt as a child, and...

uh, I found that I enjoyed
making people laugh.

And while I was enjoying
making them laugh,

I was forgetting
why I was doing it.

And then I continued to do it.

And it just stayed with me.

You know, it takes courage
to play a dramatic role

as a comedian.

Some people say it's stupidity

or you have to be a fool
to do that.

I think a comedian
making this movie is important,

but I can't wait to get
back to doing what I usually do.

If I can be good in this film,

that's going to be just
as satisfying as any good work

that we all do, and how good
we feel when we do good work.

I'm taking a very great gamble
and a big chance.

I think it takes courage
because it's so easy

to sit back and do nothing.

And the man who does nothing
makes no mistakes.

I don't want to live
without making mistakes.

I want to make a lot
of mistakes.

That means I've done a lot.

The main producer was
Nat Wachsberger.

He was the producer.

He was the man
who wanted the film done.

He was very happy
to get a big-time movie actor

like Jerry Lewis coming
to Sweden and shoot the movie.

Dear Nat, my darling,
you've been wonderful --

fun, knowledgeable
and a good partner.

I haven't always been lucky
with partners.

I'm so confident
and excited about our baby.

I can't wait to roll
the cameras.

But more than just the project,

you have been everything
you claimed you would be,

and I am happier
and more delighted

than I'm equipped to say.

Please know
that I will break my back,

my mind,
and every creative force

I have to make you proud
of our project.

I thank you for many things,
one of which

I believe is so vitally urgent
to function -- your sense

of humor and understanding.

This may appear
to be somewhat of a love letter.

Well, it is.

My father and Nat Wachsberger,

they were producers
behind the film.

They were not really

that heavily invested
in the emotional part,

maybe of the story,

but Jerry Lewis, I guess, felt
very strongly for this story.

It is the story of a clown

who was once the premier clown,

who is no more the top clown

and who is having
a difficult time handling

being just a small part
of the circus.

And because of his self pity
and...

his heartbreak,

Many things in his life change

and you will see wonderful
things happen to a human being,

because some things
happen that make him

think about others
besides himself.

And that's all
I'm going to tell you.

Hey, Jeanne.
Yes.

What would you like me
to do, darling?

I don't know.
What do you want to do?

You want some tea?

Yeah, Jeanne will get it.

I mean, how do you want to --
How do you want to do this?

Like here.

Let's see.

Yeah.

Nat Wachsberger
is the producer.

When he came to me
and said this was something

he really believed in,
it reignited my excitement.

I am going to have
a meeting with Jeanne Moreau

in Paris a week from tomorrow.

It's about the role
of the clown's wife.

But I don't know
if that's a possibility.

I'm only going to meet with her.

Nat Wachsberger
got hold of this script

and heard from Jerry Lewis
that he wanted to do this movie.

And Jerry Lewis rewrote
the script

during the nights,
and so on.

During the script
writing and the preparations,

and before he had
his final script,

he was typing from the time

he woke up until the time
he went to bed.

He had read the story, uh,

at least ten years
before he made the film.

The shooting had started
in Paris and in Stockholm,

and I think, from the start,

Jerry Lewis was very happy
to be involved in this project.

And he thought, this is
going to be a great, great movie

and I'm proud to be a part
of it.

Everything was very, very nice.

But then came this abrupt stop
of it all,

when Jerry Lewis just left
the whole shooting

and went home to America

and never to be seen
in Sweden again.

It's very hard to understand.

So something is rotten
in this state of Sweden,

at least in this part.

Gerard, I'm going
to a 25 on eighth.

25 millimeter.
Take 15 off for this shot.

25.

One day,
I get a call from Ed Mauricia,

who was a famous photographer,

and he called me to ask me

if I would consider
being assistant of Jerry Lewis

for a bunch of weeks
in Paris.

I couldn't imagine
that it was true.

Assisting Jerry Lewis
in the circus

where the filming started
was the connection

between dreams and reality.

It was a big crew.
There were several cameras.

It was an American picture.

So for us in France,
American films,

I mean, it's Hollywood.

This circus was
very convenient.

It was right
by the French studio.

I went two blocks.
I was in the circus.

And they gave me carte blanche.

Anything I wanted to do --
fliers, comics, animals.

They gave me everything
I needed.

All I had to do was to point.

Got it.

This guy is different.

You know, he's different
from everybody I've met.

And in the meantime,
focused in his thing.

It was mesmerizing.

I'll give it my blood.

But Nat has to be made
aware of a few facts

that I believe
he is overlooking.

Each man works differently.

And in my case,

I have been on this project
eight months to date,

and I loved every minute of it.

But when a man supposedly
concerned with this project

refers to a deal
because of an extra plane fare,

I'm not about to do
a sales job on any of my people.

The indignity Nat Wachsberger

and one plane fare
has really taken its toll,

calling Nat over the words
and not reaching him

and trying and trying, etc.

The costs and my manpower

that I've put
at the disposal of this project

to date has run into
a literal fortune.

Watching the man telling me
they are pressuring me.

"Jean-Jacques, you do not know.

I spent half of the night
dealing with the producers,

and they are pushing me
to the limits."

He...
I don't think he allowed himself

to let this in under his skin
during the shootings.

But if you know that guy is put
under very tough pressure,

it's almost impossible
to get rid of it.

No.

You were me,

what would you do?

What would you --

No, what would you do?

Scale.
Scene. Go.

What would you do?

What would you do?

Now, proceed.

Now, if you were me,

what would you do?

You're going up too soon.
What would -- together.

What would you do?

What would you do?

Now, if you were me,
what would you do?

If I were you, I clean house.

Would you take
the chance tomorrow night,

with an opening audience
of 2,000 people,

would you take the chance
of having an incompetent

destroy an entire performance?

I heard enough.

This is final.
I don't want this man.

Get me another stooge.

Don't get excited, mister.

Pierre...

My dearest friend in the world.

He was the --

He was France's Charlie Chaplin.

He was wonderful.

Wachsberger hired
French actors and technicians,

purchased raw stock from France,

shoot in French language,

and use a French
production staff.

While we were shooting in Paris,
we found out,

but not through Wachsberger,

that the French government's
seal had never been obtained,

which meant that we were,
in essence,

making an underground film.

I care about the money
a man puts up,

and still I make a film
with love, fun, harmony

and have a ball
and still come in on budget.

Jack, if Nat doesn't
really have faith in my ability,

judgment, concern for the film,

and if he is uncertain about how
I perform my responsibilities,

then maybe we better
get out now.

Okay, so that we're only
on you now

because they're all
out of the show.

With Mike?
With Mike.

Okay, so that
you then can

wait for the clowns to make
the west corn--

And the next...

And then from here.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Gustav, whatever.

I could sense his reluctance,

although he was here
to finally make the movie

that he had hesitated
to do for --

for -- for some --
several years.

I remember him saying
that to play this character

scared the hell out of him.

And from himself,

he knew about the loneliness
of the character of Helmut

and the angst
and the desperation,

but also knowing that
playing this character would be

the greatest challenge of his,
uh, artistic, uh, career.

Man, as we know him,
gets to a place in his life

where his own thoughts
are challenging him.

Those thoughts are
much better than what he said

and what she said and
what he said and what they said.

The challenge is
to do what you believe

and do it with your
full heart and soul,

even knowing it's not wonderful,

but it's the best
you can do at the time.

It's just...

I have nowhere
to explode.

I feel so lost.

So alone.

I just can't

handle the pain
of being a has-been.

Harriet Anderson, my God,
she was spectacular.

And it made me feel so good
to have her saying my words,

taking my direction.

It was wonderful.

Is it Gustav again?

When will you learn
he's afraid of you

and he knows how
vulnerable you are now?

He wants to beat you down.

Then he won't need to worry

about you coming back
to haunt him.

Gustav worry about me?

Tsk.

He's a star.

I'm a stooge.

And he just took the last bit
I had away from me

because
of a stupid accident.

But he can't take
your talent away.

That's what
makes you strong.

What the hell are
you talking about?

What talent?

You mean the talent
I had? That's gone.

I am now nothing
but a prop

to be used and reused.

You call that strong?

How do I rise
above that?

By not quitting.
Ahh!

You got to fight.

You got to fight
because you're an artist.

Human being.

Go to him.

Make him listen
to you.

Make him see the injustice

and don't let
Gustav win.

Oh, please, Helmut.

Fight.

Make our world better
by fighting for it.

You can do it.

I know you can.

I talked to Sweden's most
famous film director -- Bergman.

I called him about
the actors and actresses.

We didn't talk about
the film itself.

I talked about casting and the
actors and actresses I needed.

Will they understand my heart?

And I didn't necessarily know
their work,

but I knew what this said to me.

Then I would talk to them,
see where it's coming from.

That's it.

Klaus...

Again.

It's your funeral.

Aren't funerals
usually in autumn

when someone dies?

To you, my Fuehrer.

A better dressed version
than Herr Schmidt.

Here's to you both.

Heil Hitler and Schmidt.

Helmut.

Helmut.

Get him out of here.

If the film would have been
on the screen in the '70s,

this would have been
a unique film

and the first in a series
of films about the Holocaust

that came much, much later.

Uh, the fictional series,
uh, uh, "Holocaust,"

starring Meryl Streep
did not appear until 1978

and caused quite a stir,

especially in Germany.

And the -- the world-famous
documentary film "Shoah"

by Claude Lanzmann
was not released until 1985.

Jerry Lewis played a non-Jewish
German hero already in 1972,

way before "Schindler's List."

He really was a pioneer in that.

Well, he was he was
completely stepping into an area

that, uh, was, uh, hmm.

Uh, use the word taboo,
I guess.

But the point is that
no one had gone there before,

or at least in the --
to the heart of it.

You were shooting
off your big mouth last night

in a public place,
attacking the state.

But that --
that was a mistake,

I-I meant no disrespect.

I -- I mean, I was, uh...

I was drunk, and, uh,

I was not responsible
for my actions.

After all, it's, uh,

it's only a fair question,
isn't it?

So I'm, uh,
I'm going to repeat it again.

Why are you
not responsible?

Why?

Why?

Why are you
not responsible?

Why are you
not responsible?

Answer me!

Because I'm frightened!

Do you understand that,
Lieutenant?!

You frighten me!

I have butterflies in here
before a show.

I even felt like I would spit
up my guts from being nervous.

But I cannot ever remember
being frightened!

Alright,
you're dismissed.

That's all.

I-I can go?

Thank you.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

I will go and you will never
have any more trouble with me.

I-I knew
if you heard the truth,

everything would be
alright.

Corporal.

Potentially very
dangerous. Prison.

Prison, sir?

Yes.
Of course.

I went to Germany.

We were looking for props
and symbols

that we have to use in the film.

We found it very difficult.

I believe the history was
too close of what had happened.

So we had to search and --
and only reluctantly

did people let us open
their boxes.

I did it all.
I was in Belsen for nine days.

Don't even ask me about it.

Belsen. Dachau. Auschwitz.

I did almost 11 months'
preparation

before I started to shoot.

And I'd been all over Europe
before I got ready.

I'm a very proud Jew.
Proud to be one.

Happy that I'm one
and my religion is in my heart

because I feel not only for
my people, but for all people.

And yet my ears were open.
My mind was open.

My stomach was open
to what the Germans had to say.

They were in the same boat
I was.

They had the same pain,
the same hate,

the same uncertainty about what
Hitler was doing to the country.

The saddest thing
about the Germans

was that they were in the dark
about everything.

They didn't know anything
that was going on.

And when they did,
they put it out of their mind.

I had as my technical advisor
a wonderful man

Karl Schepp -- S-C-H-E-P-P.

He worked for Hitler

and was part of the SS
that pulled the switch

that let the gas come
into the ovens.

So he was busy killing
people every day.

4,000, 8,000, 7,000.

And when he came to see me
for the job,

we talked for 15 hours.

He came to my office at noon.

We were still talking
at 3:00 in the morning.

And I hired him.

He was always begging
for forgiveness.

I said, "Karl,
you didn't do anything wrong.

You did what you were told
to do.

That's it.

Because if you didn't do it,

you'd be in the same place
they were."

A lot of people understood that.

We hated it,
but we understood it.

The fact that Jerry used as a consultant

a former prison camp guard,

I only see as a sign
of Jerry's ambition

to make things as real
as possible

as they were
in a concentration camp.

I'm not voting
for death penalty,

but some persons are sort of not
humans any longer.

They -- Some of them --

Some of the people during
this period turned to rats

and should be treated like that.

He was a human being.
He was just like me.

But he worked based on what
they were teaching him to do.

During the shooting,

I had great problems
with my business at home.

You pay, pay, pay.

The numbers just got bigger.

Jerry Lewis mini cinemas.

Well, I got all my money in it.

Am I involved? My God.

That one is known of putting
everything on the line.

A lot of people
think I only lend my name to it.

I did, but I also lent all
of my money to it.

We were gonna build 700 theaters
in 5 years.

That was our projection.

We are now projecting 4,000
in 5 years.

I went crazy a couple
of times.

Thank God it didn't stay
with me.

I'm normal now.

The most glaring flaw was
the very concept

that anyone can own a theater

and operate it
with minimal effort.

As with
far too many get-rich schemes,

all of the involved parties have
been blinded by their fantasies.

Most franchisees entered
into the venture

without the skills or experience

to properly operate
their theaters.

Lewis and company
failed to adequately prepare

or support their primarily
inexperienced cinema owners.

It was like dying because
you lost your power of thinking

and you lost your own money.

And to try to explain that
stupidity, I can't.

And because of the problems
that the production had,

your whole mindset changes
when the outcome of work

isn't what you expected.

When Nat talks to me,

he's precious and perfect
with love and care and dignity.

But when he writes a letter,
he makes me feel like a whore

he picked up
at a film festival in Tijuana.

Does he know what
I'm giving up to do this film?

This is a pre-production book
on this film,

"The Day the Clown Cried."

I could direct 10 movies
of the week in far less time,

be home with my family

and make a piss pot of loot
besides.

I want to make
this film for the right price,

but not the price
of the project.

Anyone can grind out film.

This one has my name on it
and my life as well.

Doesn't he know that?

We were 10 days away
from finished the shoot

when the producer, ah,

from France and his
Swedish counterpart turned up

and there was a conflict.

So as situation for me
was that up here,

I had a feeling
that something is wrong.

Something is really wrong.

I was holding the crew
and the actors down,

uh, waiting for what was going
to come out of the meeting.

Then I saw them just leaving.

Jerry was devastated.

I saw a broken man.

He just fell apart
getting back to the house

where we were staying.

And as I remember, he --

he just went to his room

and I didn't see him
until the next morning.

A man just leaving
the project.

You know,
I never had that happen before.

It's beyond frustration.
Beyond frus--

It's crushing. Crushing,

you know,
how he kept going after that.

The main producer, Nat Wachsberger,

let the whole project down,
including my father,

and I think that my father
had to carry a very heavy load

during the filming in Sweden,
because he was the man

who had signed a contract with
the actors and he was around.

So of course it was a very
heavy burden on his shoulders.

And it's not about
Nat Wachsberger as a person.

It's about the producer.
It could have been anybody,

but he has to take care
of his business

and obviously he didn't.

I made a big mistake
when I didn't listen to you.

You were right
about Nat Wachsberger.

Only that it was much worse
than you predicted.

I'm sorry we had
some differences,

but I'm writing this letter just
to tell you that you were right.

And -- And I was wrong.

Never in my life,
I have met the type like Nat

and I don't think there is one
word true that comes out of him.

Can I see Larsa?

Jerry Lewis had to
keep up a brave face

and continue.
-Forward! March!

Whatever Nat Wachsberger did,
they had to keep on shooting.

Jerry and my father
and the actors

and all the technical, uh, crew.

There was this
very high tension combined with,

I mean, the drama that
was going on behind the scenes.

So to say it only increased
our dedication and love

for doing what we were doing.

You are going to
make us laugh

or I'll splatter you
all over the yard!

Alright, alright!

You get paid for that?

Going without
food is bad enough.

Having to watch that,
no thanks.

You're not the clown
I saw.

I am a clown!

I...

Come back! Damn you!

Come back and listen!

Listen to the children laughing!
I am a clown!

Yeah, I think
that is better.

That's much better.

Yeah, I think
they'll like that.

Did you hear them laugh?

I mean, did you hear
them laughing and reacting?

Yes, I did.

And they said I couldn't
come up with anything new.

They? Who are they?
Well, the circus.

You know,
Schmidt and all the others.

I mean,
if they could see me now.

I really felt funny again.

It was funny, wasn't it?

The children
certainly enjoyed it.

Well, like I said,
all I needed was time.

A man needs time
to concentrate.

And I've really come up

with some terrific ideas,
Johann.

I really think
that's gonna work.

You're right.

Then came this abrupt
stop of it all,

when Jerry Lewis took
the last two or three film reels

and just left the whole,
uh, shooting.

When we shoot
the last days of the film,

we reload our cameras,

and Jerry Lewis took the can
with the exposed film with him

when he went to
Los Angeles

and process --
process it there.

Very strange.

And it's just, uh,
like in a Greek drama,

if he's the hero or the villain,
it's hard to tell,

but it's even harder to tell
of his motives for doing that.

Was a huge, fantastic,
big shooting in a film,

and it ended up on a shelf

at the Rapa Films Studios
here in Stockholm.

And so Rapa Film,

who provided the studios
and all the technical equipment,

they didn't get all the money
from Nat Wachsberger.

And then the raw material

was kept by Europa Film.

Uh, they went bankrupt
anyway some years later,

and they kept
the raw material somewhere

in their film laboratories.

They -- They hope
to use to keep that one to

to pressure the producer
of money,

but it didn't help.

I had a friend
who was working with me

and I convinced him to help me.

So I told Cal
that we should do this,

and he said,
"Okay, are you sure?"

I said, "Yeah,
if we don't do this,

I'm sure it's going to be lost."

And over the weekend, I think
it was a Friday, Saturday,

Sunday night with a lot
of pizza and beer,

we took all the nine rolls and
we transfer them to one inch.

Rapa Film in the '70s by night
were copying pornographic films.

You got to bear in mind

that this was in the absolute
beginning of VHS cassettes.

We were talking really,
really first couple of years

and of course, the porno market
exploded from out of nowhere,

so the bosses didn't want
Rapa Film to --

to promote that we
were doing pornographic copies.

So they took it to night shift.

All pornographic movies
were copied

from like 9:00 in the evening
till 4:00 in the morning.

So in all the monitors
in the machine room,

we screened
the pornographic movies,

but in the background, we
were transferring Jerry's films.

This is true.

So in case
somebody would walk in,

it would be pornographic
instead of something else.

My friend and I did this,

and we have never
talked to anybody about it,

which is interesting because
secrets are hard to keep.

And, um...

uh, to my knowledge, nobody else
knows about this.

Now fewer -- More and more
people will know about it,

but it's -- it rested
very well where it was hidden.

-Hi, Jack.
-Hello, Jerry.

Hi, Ed. How are you?
Hi, folks!

Hi, Johnny.

At that time,
he was pretending

that everything went
according to plan.

He thought very highly
of the production,

at least in his
public statements.

He would go on "The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson,"

and he'd start telling
these stories to Johnny.

You've been shooting
a picture in Sweden?

Yes. That's right.

Yes, I completed
the film in Sweden.

I'm in the process
of cutting it now.

And hopefully we'll release it
in the spring.

Of this year?
Yes.

Of this year.

The spring of this year?

Yes.

I better hurry and finish the
last reel, wouldn't you think?

It's a marvelous film.

Although the whole drama
almost ripped his heart out,

he didn't want to give up.

He still wanted to finish
the film,

which was very difficult

because he would have
to reshoot

or add a few sequences.

"The Day the Clown Cried"
will be finish--

I hopefully will finish
cutting it

the next six
or seven weeks.

And we've been invited
to the Cannes Film Festival,

so I think we will
open it then in May.

Then it'll be
released in America.

And then all of a sudden,

having to find out that
the rights to make the film

on this story was not secured.

I think that would kill anybody.

It's very hard
for me to understand

that Nat Wachsberger had
the option on the script.

The shooting had started
in Paris and in Stockholm

and without anybody knowing it,

his option expired
and he didn't pay the authors.

And he obviously didn't tell
Jerry Lewis or my father.

In America and also in Europe,

you never,
ever, ever go on a project

without "secularizing"
the chain of rights.

Otherwise, you're
not a producer.

You are a criminal.
I mean, you should go to jail.

It's absurd. Absurd.

Unless you want to kill
somebody.

My producer let me down.

And it's hard to find words

to express my feelings when
I think about what happened.

But still, I was simply
not allowed to run away.

You can't commit
to something like this

and just walk away from it.

But I did.

The only reason is

I was ashamed of it
for the lack of a better word.

Ashamed. Embarrassed.

Why?

Because it was not good work.

It was bad work
on the part of the writer,

the director, the actor.

None of his work was any good.

Well, if you're
a good filmmaker,

you're entitled
to make a mistake.

You're entitled to do bad work.

If you lost your --

If you lost your power
of thinking

and committing all of these
marvelous thoughts to the work,

it's not gonna be good work.

When I came back,

I watched the footage
I brought from Sweden

and sat down
to look at what I've done,

and the last time I did
that was the last time

I looked
and only I could see it.

I had people in my company that
were saying, "It's wonderful."

I say, "You don't know what
the hell you're talking about."

It's not wonderful.

It's almost wonderful!

Almost is not there.

Almost is not good enough.

It's got to be right there,
perfect.

I cannot imagine
that it was so bad

because I saw the pictures
and I saw the footage.

So don't you think
that you --

your judgment on yourself
is maybe too hard?

Maybe. Maybe.

But I've got the only judgment
that means anything.

That would never change
my opinion of the work.

Someone will say,
"That was wonderful."

And I look at them,
"Thank you" and I move on.

Peek.

What is that
supposed to be?

What is that
supposed to be?

Well, uh, you see, sir,

one of the prisoners
used to be a circus clown.

Sometimes he gives
a sort of show for the children.

A show
for the children.

You mean the Jews?

Well,
I was in the middle

of one of the roughest
shooting days,

and I was staging a scene

where I was using
200 some prisoners

in the concentration camp.

Now, this is
your newest movie.

"The Day the Clown Cried."
"The Day the Clown Cried."

Yeah, I do know
about the film.

I was really having
a difficult time, uh,

getting it the way
I wanted it.

And I was
dealing with, uh,

Swedish actors
who did not speak English,

and I had to work
with a translator.

And still I was
quite disappointed

about the way
the actors spoke.

I should have known
that you all

have much too much energy for
the confined life you lead here!

We are going to correct that!

All rations are canceled
for the next 48 hours!

You shouldn't get
Swedish actors

try to speak
like German officers.

It's terrible.

I mean, oh.

The Germans
always speak like this.

And they had
the highest-pitch voice.

Heil, Hitler...

Because that's the way
we're supposed to believe

movie Germans.

I love movie Germans,

but I hate Swedes who are trying
to play movie Germans.

That's sad.

And it's rude against Germans,
I think.

Shoot.

I remember one scene
where I, as an SS officer,

should show feelings.

That's all. Show's over.
Everybody clear out.

Get inside.

But for me,
that was simply not realistic.

And, you know, far from reality.

I think he --
he put a little bit too much

of emotion into the part.

Can I just ask you --

Do like I tell you,
get inside.

I don't understand.
What happened?

You know the rules.

No mixing with the Jews.

But I wasn't mixing.

The Jews?

They're children.

Listen.

I don't give the orders.

Now do as I tell you

and save yourself
a lot of grief.

Get inside.

Probably he wanted me to show
another side of this officer,

that he also was a bit human

when he saw these children
and everything.

What happened?

He said I have to stop
with the children.

I have been
expecting it.

Because they're Jews.

No.
Because of the laughing.

Why should that
bother them?

When you rule by fear,

laughter is the most
frightening sound in the world.

He was very, um, courageous
with what he was doing,

but above all,

to -- to make children happy
with the film

was the most important matter
for him.

He also wanted to make the film
for them, for the children.

Can you imagine?

He wanted to make
children laugh with this film,

which was quite absurd.

He was playing a clown,

but he didn't know
when the kids would be laughing,

that he -- he's a part
of their, um, their death.

Stay behind the man

and keep an eye out for the
guards on the other side.

Right.

Then make it quick.
They won't have much time.

Oh, one thing more.
Keep the children quiet.

We don't want trouble.

Do a trick, Helmet.
Do a trick, Helmet.

Please. Please.

I can't. Uh,
the guards won't let me.

Not now.
Maybe another day.

They are bad men.

Yes, sweetheart.
They're bad men.

Do a trick, Helmet.
Please.

I-I really can't right now,
honestly.

-Just one, Helmut.
-Just one.

Just one.
Just one.

Okay.

Helmut, hurry up!

Yeah, okay.

I was playing France,

the youngest prisoner
who was killed

because he wanted to help
Helmet the Clown.

The scenes Jerry played
were slapstick

and often simply exaggerated.

Rarely funny.

This is --
This is too much.

I was the comedian king
of comedy

doing such what he's doing.

It's not a comedy.
He's not being funny at all.

It's a totally serious piece
of work.

That's the problem.

Um, Jerry Lewis's gift,
such as it is, is in comedy,

and, uh, it is so heavy handed.

So, um...

uh, as the English say,
over-egged.

Um, that's what makes
it so hard to take.

Get up!

You wouldn't listen, would you?

Come on, get back!
You back there!

Get them out of here!

It wasn't their fault.
It was all my doing.

The children.
Not in front of the children.

I had great crew.

They thought I was nuts because
I hated everything I did.

This must have been
a very hard time

because you could
have also said, "Look,

the company doesn't pay.

I don't want
to end the film."

Why did you want to end
the film?

When you get that answer,
you can rule the world.

The answer to what
you're talking about.

You could be the president
and the king of the world.

Yes, I understand perfectly.

However, I don't see
how he can be held responsible.

Oh, no.
Our orders were very clear.

We were to have the car ready
to be picked up at midnight.

Yes. Yeah.

Of course,
I am aware that the operation --

That the operation
must be kept secret.

Yes, General.
You can leave it in my hands.

Heil...Hitler.

-Sir.
-Yes?

I think I have
the perfect method.

You think you have
a perfect method?

The clown.

Clown. What clown?

The one who makes
the children laugh.

Could we use him?

So Jerry went immediately
to contact the author

of the -- of the novel.

He tried to get back the rights
of the original story,

and when he showed
the sequences to the author,

she didn't like it.

She didn't like what she saw.

She said,
"I don't like the film.

I don't want to give
you more time."

Then it was like the --
I mean,

the whole thing was just buried
and dead.

Of course,
one can blame the producer,

but still,
I didn't want to go against him.

At the end,
I blame myself more than him

because I hated everything
I did.

The love I had for the work

was completely reverse
of what I believe it is now.

Bad work.

Just after this
chaotic situation, Europa Film

were hoping Jerry Lewis
would come up with money

and pay his way out, of course,
but he didn't.

Why should he do it?

He didn't see any sense
of doing it

because he didn't own
the rights for the story.

They thought, "Okay, let's keep
it and have him begging for it

and pay a lot of money for it."

Eventually they found
that nobody was begging for it.

They wanted to have money
or nothing at all

or just throw it away,
so to speak.

Can you imagine
what is a film

in the life of a director?

I mean, it's a tragedy.
It's -- it's a tragedy.

It's like you --

you -- you -- you lose
the manuscript of a novel.

It's not only that
"The Day the Clown Cried"

is not achieved,
but unreleased.

I mean, this film is concealed.

It's the worst thing you
can have because you never know.

It's like you're --
you go to a trial, I mean,

in court,
and there is no judgment ever.

You cannot say I am guilty
or not guilty.

You've -- you've lost
your part of your honor.

How -- How long
have they been here?

In there?

Get inside
and keep them quiet.

Listen.

You do a good job,
and I'll personally see to it

that you get a favorable
decision on your case.

Understand?

Yes, sir.

So this is
where you've been hiding.

It's Helmut!
It is!

It is!

Helmet! Helmet!

Come on!
Come on, come on!

I'm so happy to see you all.

Oh, okay. Okay.

The biggest challenge was
to just walk on the set

and make it,

because you're dealing
in touching people's hearts.

The minute I woke up with
a happy heart, it went away.

I never could bring
a happy heart to the set.

And I'm one of those performers
that has to have a happy heart

or I'm not gonna be funny.

When I say, "Roll 'em,"

I think of thousands of children
that are gonna be laughing.

There's certain
subject matter

once you start
to put yourself into it,

particularly being so personal,

it's almost horror

to such an extent that
you can't --

You can't live in it.

He's got to live in that.
You know, how can he absorb it?

-What is it?
-Are we there, Helmut?

-Where are we?
-Why are we stopping, Helmut?

Everybody up and no noise.

And let's get going.

Okay, sir.

Alright.
Get in the truck.

It's alright.
Come on.

You think the subject
Holocaust was too high for you?

Well, some things are not --

not necessarily too high,
but they get convoluted.

They get confusing.

That means that the filmmaker
hasn't got it right.

If he can leave your audience
with his film

and they go, "What was that?"

He didn't pull it off.

Now we want you to, uh...

to lead the children
quietly to, uh...

to that building
over there.

Oh, God,
not the children.

It isn't like killing
the enemy in battle.

It's far more humane.

Enemy?

Humane?

They're babies.
They're just babies!

Why?

We are fighting
tomorrow's battles now,

and we are sure to win.

Fight battles against
children?

Yes.

Oh, yes, of course.

For the adult mind
can be induced

to do anything,
like forgetting.

The children remember
everything.

Now, we don't want them, uh,
growing up remembering

and, uh, maybe one day
turning on us, do we?

When you think
about this work

and you analyze what
the problem could be,

what do you think was
the problem?

What happened
40 years ago?

I-I thought about it
a thousand times.

And it's a hell of a question.

And the thousand times
I thought about it was,

where was the comedy

in walking 65 children
into the oven?

Jews that were just gassed.

Where's the comedy?

You can find it.

If your head is right
and if your system is clean,

you can find the comedy.

You can find the comedy
in a funeral.

You have to concentrate on it.

You have to be sure
that you understand

that this doesn't diminish
what happened.

The laughter will put
a button on it.

I can't, I won't!

Not even to save your life?

I thought
you would reconsider.

General.

I wonder if I could
possibly have

a little time with them.

I'd like to do something
for them.

Yes, of course.

I'll give you half an hour.
Hmm?

It's Helmut!

Helmut!

Helmut!
You're back!

Clown.
It's time.

Just a few more minutes?

What's wrong now, Helmut?

Where are we going
this time?

We're just, uh...

We're just going to another
building, that's all.

Where we'll have
more room to play, see?

Now, I would like you all

to line up behind me, okay?

Those children followed me
around, like --

like the Pied Piper.

They were wonderful.

You had to have children
that were quiet, soft,

and then, of course, you never,
ever saw them get frightened

because I led them into the oven

and then just closed the door.

Okay.

There isn't a day in my life
when I don't think of it.

Somewhere in the day,
I'll think of it

and just get it out of my mind.

I remember

walking 65 children
into the oven.

It was very hard.

Very hard.

And the looks of the faces
of those children

drove me to the highest point
of great work.

But that great work
didn't fit in with the bad work.

In this case,
I have struck out --

you know the expression
"struck out"?

Maybe 20 times
in that film I fell apart.

Something that was very,
very much against humanity

happens over here.

And you're gonna bring it
over there

because it becomes part
of your wardrobe.

And until you recognize
that's the probability of it,

you can get in terrible trouble.

You can become
much too interested

in what you think
and what you do,

because a filmmaker
has to live

by messages he gets
through the work.

I've been depressed
for a long time.

If you do a terrible thing,
everything gets caught up in it

and it's all terrible.

I was so emotionally shattered
by the breakup

that everything else broke up.

And when it happens once
for a performer,

there's no way
he will ever forget that

for as long as he lives.

Clown.
It's time.

Why are you
not responsible?

Help!

Walk forward!

The commandant issues
the following special order.

A show for the children?

You mean the Jews?

We are fighting
tomorrow's battles now,

and we are sure to win.

Ruled by fear,

laughter is the most
frightening sound in the world.

It's damage to his soul,

and I think he had to
simply face it and say,

you know,
"Okay, I accept that I failed."

And I think that's the only way
he can get through it.

There is a term like heartbreak

where you do feel it
in your heart.

You do feel the pain,
and you feel it

in your physical makeup,
your body, you know.

It's very, very real.

It's very real,
the pain of this sort of thing,

and it's -- I don't know
how many people come out of it.

You certainly don't come out --
you don't come out of it whole,

I can tell you that.
Part of your life is gone.

Part of your --
part of who you are is gone.

You know, it's been destroyed.

Some of that, as he says, could
be his own fault, you follow?

That makes it even more
interesting and harder in a way.

But he came through.
He came through again.

When I saw the film,
slowly, I said,

"I was aware of this.
What the story is about.

My God,
it looks like Jerry's film."

I'm sure he felt that way

when Benigni came out
with "Life Is Beautiful,"

you know,
15 years later and won an Oscar.

To make a comedy

about a concentration camp

and avoid
what really went on there --

well, it's a great trick,
but it's --

I mean,
it's absolutely ludicrous.

I thought he did
a wonderful job.

He's a good comedian.

"The Day the Clown Cried."
Oh, God, yes.

Oh, I just didn't pull it off.

That happens.
It happens to all of us.

See, I like a film
with a puppy dog,

a little child,

and a bowl of orange soda,

and I would be a happy man.

Jerry, thank you
very much for your time.

Thank you, Eric.

Someone will hear this interview
and say,

"I don't want to be
in the movie business."

After
"The Day the Clown Cried,"

I wasn't part of a film
for 11 years.

And then "The King of Comedy"
brought me back to life.

I mean, that was as dramatic
as I've ever had to be.

Well, it's a great compliment

because I always wanted him
to be happy with it.

And -- And I'm glad
that he lived long enough

to know the appreciation

that the picture's received
around the world.

Every facet of show business
is based on this guy,

and so he has to be
the king of comedy in the film.

Robert De Niro,

Jerry Lewis

in a Martin Scorsese picture,

"The King of Comedy."

I would laugh so much
on the set

that I'd get an asthma attack.

He'd say, "Somebody get
a goddamn ambulance.

Get this guy outta here."