From Darkness to Light (2024)

[BluBonnet]

This is a new documentary about Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Film ‘The Day the Clown Cried’ and will be shown at the Venice Film Festival

Doc on Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Film ‘The Day the Clown Cried’ Gets Venice Classics Spot

The documentary does include some footage from The Day the Clown Cried, but it is not the actual lost film itself. It is expected that the full film will be released in 2025:

Seven minutes of the film have since surfaced online, and in 2015 year Lewis donated a version to the Library of Congress with the stipulation that Clown not be screened until 2025. Lewis died in 2017, aged 91.

[BerC]

After hearing so many different things about "The Day the Clown Cried" while growing up, it would be wonderful to finally see it at last. I'm sure this documentary will be quite interesting as well.

[BluBonnet]

Martin Scorsese Traces The History Of Lost Jerry Lewis Holocaust Movie In Venice Doc ‘From Darkness To Light’

The Day the Clown Cried, an unfinished and unreleased 1972 Swedish drama directed by and starring Jerry Lewis, is one of the most famous lost films in cinema history. The mysterious feature is now the subject of a new documentary heading to Venice this week starring screen legend Martin Scorsese.

Check out a clip from the doc above.

From Darkness To Light is directed by Michael Lurie and Eric Friedler. The film’s main cast, through archive footage and new interviews, features Jerry Lewis, Martin Scorsese, Harry Shearer, Sarah Silverman, and Mel Brooks.

The synopsis reads: In 1972 the “King of Comedy” Jerry Lewis was at the peak of his career. Driven by the ambition to play a dramatic role for a change, he set out to craft a very special movie project for himself, The Day the Clown Cried. It turned out to be an epic fiasco, becoming an elusive ghost of a movie with Lewis leaving the set and never speaking about what happened. The movie was never completed and has become the ultimate Hollywood myth.

Now, after years of research, extensive materials have been found, restored, and put into their production context. This documentary tells the story as daring as the original project itself, with Lewis playing a German clown in a concentration camp long before any other director had narrated the Holocaust on the big screen in fiction. Featuring exclusive interviews with cast and crew members like Pierre Étaix, Rune Ericson, long-time friend and companion Martin Scorsese, and ultimately Jerry Lewis himself, From Darkness to Light finally uncovers the story of one of the most ambitious US-European coproduction projects of its time, the storm surrounding its shooting and the almost unbearable pressure it put on its protagonist, the “total filmmaker” Jerry Lewis.

[BluBonnet]

Debuts on TCM tomorrow at 8pm ET

[jess1581]

The Day the Clown Cried LAAAAAAADYYYYYYY!!

[Prog5000]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbZIyXNRxos&t=1s

An old doc from the BBC for those who are interested.

[Trekkie313]

The documentary was alright, surprised I recognized some YouTubers briefly shown. Marty really over-inflating the importance of Jerry Lewis, even the actual modern comedians didn't blow so hard.

[Kamdan]

Anywhere we can see this documentary? Hate when TCM just puts shit like this out and there’s only one chance to see it.

[dtenbrink]

It was streaming on the TCM website for about a week after the documentary aired. Unfortunately, it's no longer streaming there.

A couple days after the airing there was an incomplete print of the movie uploaded onto YouTube, running about 27 minutes. It's obviously not a full cut of the movie, but it gives you a gist of what to expect. I'll admit, it's not a very good movie and this is someone who's been wanting to watch it for 30 years. I do have to admit, the very last shot will chill you to the bone, especially since it's audio only.

Nighttime Video - The Day The Clown Cried
https://www.youtube.com/supported_br...tube.com/watch

A different reconstruction that I haven't watched yet.
Kurt Walker
https://www.youtube.com/supported_br...tube.com/watch

[Cinema Raiders]

Any news on when the documentary will get a blu-ray release?