Footage from Jerry Lewis’ unreleased Holocaust film The Day the Clown Cried will screen at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
From Darkness to Light, a documentary from directors Michael Lurie and Eric Friedler about Lewis’ project, features never-before-seen footage of the legendary lost film and will screen in Venice’s Classics section devoted to documentaries about cinema.
In 1972, the American comedian-actor directed and starred in a film telling the story of a fictional German circus performer, Helmut Doork, who insults Hitler and is sent to a concentration camp, where he is ordered to entertain Jewish children headed for the gas chambers.
But the star hid all the footage, and to this day, the full project has never been seen. Lewis himself said in 2013: “It could have been wonderful, but I slipped up… I didn’t quite get it.” 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.
Now, a look at how the film was made and Lewis’ subsequent self-criticism will play in Venice, organizers have confirmed while revealing the full lineup for this year’s 81st Venice Film Festival on Tuesday.
The Day the Clown Cried began when publicist-turned-TV producer Joan O’Brien wrote the script with L.A. Examiner TV critic Charles Denton. It was picked up by producer Nathan Wachsberger, who got Lewis involved.
Venice kicks off on Aug. 28 with the world premiere of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton’s sequel to his 1988 comedy-horror hit, screening out of competition.