This is actually a "lost" film from the porn-grindhouse circuit in the 1970s. Some people have speculated that it doesn't even really exist, but was just some sort of outrageous attempt at marketing, for some reason.
But there were contemporaneous reviews of it at the time, and it seems to have been about a guy who had sexual fantasies about Jesus. It got a mention in Variety and a review in Screw. No one, it seems, has seen it since its initial release, and there may have been only 1 or 2 prints.
It's probably in the Top 10 Most Sought-After Lost Cult Films. Not quite up there with "The Day the Clown Cried" but close.
There is a workprint of "The Day the Clown Cried." Harry Shearer was allowed to go to a super-top-secret screening under circumstances that made it sound like he was watching Marilyn Monroe being personally snuffed by Bobby Kennedy.
Shearer said the movie outdid his wildest expectations. And Jerry Lewis STILL won't talk about the experience of filming it.
it's an unreleased film about a clown who entertains children as he takes them to the gas chambers of Nazi Germany. I am not fucking kidding (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Clown_Cried). And not only did Lewis star in it, he directed it too and apparently had a large say over the script as well.
See also here (http://www.subcin.com/clowncried.html).
The mere thought of this film makes me sick to my stomach.
I've read that Lewis pushed hard to get the film made in the first place and thought it would be a masterpiece of sorts.
People have tried to draw parallels between it and Life Is Beautiful, but from the stills and commentary that've leaked out about Clown, the similarities were minor.
I sincerely doubt it. I'm sure if a big name star like Dafoe had been involved, this project would be more well known, like the early porn film Sly Stallone did. He was, however, born in 1955, so this project would have featured 19 year old Dafoe. However, if so, he would have avoided acting from 1974 until 1980 when he was an extra in Heaven's Gate. That being said, I sincerely doubt that Dafoe was ever involved in this project, though it is kind of funny to imagine him in that role, especially since he played Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ as well.
Yeah, I thought of that. I thought maybe that's why he decided to be Jesus in the Scorsese film - to erase what he was doing back in the day! It does look like him though...
He's one of my favorite actors. I just watched him again in "The Life Aquatic..." He can be holy, creepy, goofy, funny, scary, passionate - love him.
Good grief, after I asked about the Clown film, I went and did some research - what a f*cking mess!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:22 pm (UTC)Most Unerotic Concept in Pornography: Him, a porn film about a priest with a sexual fixation on Jesus Christ.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-03 12:36 am (UTC)But there were contemporaneous reviews of it at the time, and it seems to have been about a guy who had sexual fantasies about Jesus. It got a mention in Variety and a review in Screw. No one, it seems, has seen it since its initial release, and there may have been only 1 or 2 prints.
It's probably in the Top 10 Most Sought-After Lost Cult Films. Not quite up there with "The Day the Clown Cried" but close.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-03 01:03 am (UTC)Was The Day the Clown Cried ever actually finished?
icon love, by the by
no subject
Date: 2008-06-03 02:53 am (UTC)Shearer said the movie outdid his wildest expectations. And Jerry Lewis STILL won't talk about the experience of filming it.
Like your icon, too :-)
intrigue!
Date: 2008-06-03 05:56 am (UTC)Re: intrigue!
Date: 2008-06-04 05:40 am (UTC)See also here (http://www.subcin.com/clowncried.html).
The mere thought of this film makes me sick to my stomach.
Re: intrigue!
Date: 2008-06-04 05:40 pm (UTC)People have tried to draw parallels between it and Life Is Beautiful, but from the stills and commentary that've leaked out about Clown, the similarities were minor.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-03 05:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-04 05:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-04 03:14 pm (UTC)He's one of my favorite actors. I just watched him again in "The Life Aquatic..." He can be holy, creepy, goofy, funny, scary, passionate - love him.
Good grief, after I asked about the Clown film, I went and did some research - what a f*cking mess!
no subject
Date: 2008-06-04 05:38 pm (UTC)On an unrelated note, you get bonus points for having a Carl Kolchak avatar.