30 Minutes of THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED Is Now Online!

One of the most elusive and sought-after films ever made is Jerry Lewis’ unreleased – in fact suppressed – film THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED. It’s set in a concentration camp and is about a clown named Helmut Doork whose job is to lead children gleefully to their deaths. The clown is played by Jerry Lewis, who also directed the film. After he finished the movie in 1972, he decided it was not good enough to be released, also, it was probably in bad taste. The film’s negative and all prints then were placed under lock and key. Until recent developments have brought it closer to the light.

There’s more backstory in this AFS Viewfinders article from 2015, about the Library Of Congress’ acquisition of the film.

But the big new news, which we first read in this Screen Crush article, is that 30 minutes of footage from the film has now been uploaded to YouTube. See it while you can, as it might not be up for long.

Here is the video: