A Thousand Clowns

1965

Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 72% · 18 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 88% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 3987 4K

library social worker fruit

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Plot summary

Twelve-year-old Nick lives with his Uncle Murray, a Mr.Micawber-like Dickensian character who keeps hoping something won't turn up. What turns up is a social worker, who falls in love with Murray and a bit in love with Nick. As the child welfare people try to force Murray to become a conventional man (as the price they demand for allowing him to keep Nick), the nephew, who until now has gloried in his Uncle's iconoclastic approach to life, tries to play mediator. But when he succeeds, he is alarmed by the uncle's willingness to cave in to society in order to save the relationship.

Director

Fred Coe Photo
Fred Coe

Top cast

Barbara Harris Photo
Barbara Harris as Sandra
Jason Robards Photo
Jason Robards as Murray
William Daniels Photo
William Daniels as Albert
John McMartin Photo
John McMartin as The Man in the Office
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
1.06 GB
1204*720
English 2.0
Approved
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 57 min
Seeds 3
1.96 GB
1792*1072
English 2.0
Approved
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 57 min
Seeds 7

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Gary T 10 / 10

One of my all time favorite films

One of my all time favorite films.
Reviewed by steve d 2 / 10

Deeply unfunny and not at all cute

Deeply unfunny and not at all cute.
Reviewed by R T 6 / 10

What promise this film had as it captured

What promise this film had as it captured New York City in all it's vibrancy and beauty and appeared to have a smart, funny screenplay that could delve into serious issues without becoming bogged down. Unfortunately while the film still boasts ample charms it doesn't achieve the greatness I initially expected it to be capable of reaching and I couldn't help feeling slightly let down when the film ended. The film's biggest issue was it's screenplay as it was based upon a play and all of the long pontificating monologues that would have worked so well on stage have not been adapted to suit the screen. For lovers of theatre this film will probably be to their taste but I wanted to feel more invested in the lives of these people and when they seemed so unnatural it was hard to care about their problems. Willfully unemployed former television writer Murray Burns, Jason Robards, lives with his precocious nephew Nick Burns, Barry Gordon, in New York City where he spends his days telling jokes and romancing women. Their quite lifestyle is interrupted when two social workers arrive at Burns' house to investigate whether the environment is safe for Nick to be living in. Burns takes a liking to one of the social workers, Dr. Sandra Markowitz, Barbara Harris, and they start a relationship despite him not getting a job as she would like him to. He decides to try and get and job when he realizes that he could lose Nick if he does not obtain one but his reservations about selling out prevent him from taking on any job. His frustrated manager and brother Arnold, Martin Balsam, lectures him about his irresponsible nature which pushes Burns to attempt to return to his former employers whom he detested. When he notices that Nick is worldly enough to live without his tutelage and returns to his old job. Possibly the most remarkable part of the film was the cinematography as it was the sort of rich black and white that you associate with Woody Allen movies, cliché I know, which complemented it's New York City setting. I was impressed by the Midnight Cowboy (1969) style shots of New Yorkers wandering the streets which we witness while Robards talks to Nick or goes off on a long monologue. We really feel the joy and excitement of being in a city so large and full of fascinating, lively people who have comical exchanges worthy of being documented. Surprisingly cinematographer Arthur Ornitz did not receive much recognition for his work as the Academy preferred to recognize the work of Burnett Guffey on King Rat (1965) who produced a markedly inferior product. Also delightful was the spirited performance of Harris who manages to be sweet, neurotic and concerned without slipping into late career Diane Keaton territory. She is so lovely and sympathetic that you wonder how a creature of such strength could settle for such a self righteous bum which is one of the biggest points that the film makes. Gordon also plays the precocious child trope well as his joke delivery and gentleness in dealing with his uncle differentiate him from your average Haley Joel Osment kid. Balsam, who won an Academy Award for his performance, really excels in one scene where he smacks some sense into his wayward brother and conveys all of the wistful sadness of Melvyn Douglas in Hud (1963). Sadly, the lead actor in the film gives a performance that really hurts the film as while he delivers almost all of the dialogue that sounds like it was copied and pasted from the play his delivery doesn't help it to sound natural. I felt myself tuning out as he plays to the back row with his loud voice and intensely ponderous dialogue. Robards has been very good in other films, notably Parenthood (1989), but he's just too much here and when Harris' characterization appears so lived in and precious it is hard to feel anything for our main character. This is still a film that I would recommend as it has it's fair share of bright spots but I couldn't help feeling as though it would have been a much better film had the screenplay been just slightly better.
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