Jerry Lewis’ son Chris Lewis has been searching for the most controversial film of his late father, a film that has never seen the light of the whole day.
In 1972, the comedian left Hollywood for Europe and wrote in “The Day of the Clown Crying”, directly with the stars. In it, the “Professor of Nuts” star plays a circus performer who was taken away by the Nazis and stands out in the concentration camp. There, he became friends with the kids before leading them into the gas chamber.
The infamous film plagued the problem and was never officially released. Only a small footage is open to the public. The collapse behind the scenes is recorded in the 2024 documentary “From Darkness to Light”.
On this day in history, on August 20, 2017, legendary comedian Jerry Lewis died in 91
When Jerry Lewis decided to take on the “Joker’s Crying Days”, he hoped to reinvent himself as an artist. (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
Chris told Fox News Numbers, “I’ve been looking for this movie for the last 30 years.” “It’s a 30-year pursuit. We’ve found some articles. Cut the final version with a rough cut of 30 minutes…I’ve made one of my personal goals, trying to find the elements of the movie and then seeing if we can enjoy the rights, or find out the rights, or find out the rights, and try to put them together.”
Comedian and filmmaker Jerry Lewis is also known for his partnership with Dean Martin. (John Springer Collection/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Lewis died in 2017 at the age of 91. Jewish late-stage stars are respected in this year’s honor Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF). Chris will attend the screening “from dark to light” on Sunday.
Chris said he received his father’s blessing to start the search.
Jerry Lewis received honors at the 2025 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. (Getty Image)
“My father gave me all the production material for the film, including his filming script,” he explained. “I’ve been archived since the 1970s. I’m like the Guardian of the Flame. I’ve read hundreds of documents, which is fascinating to me. But as decades passed, the film seems to have disappeared…but I’m determined to find the missing elements and put them together.”
Lewis’s problem started from the beginning. The film was first scripted by Joan O’Brien and Charles Denton The New York Times Report. According to media reports, the film is in production when Lewis learned that O’Brien had never paid her. The right to story rights has not been protected.
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In his memoirs, Lewis said his producers “skipped the town” without paying entitlements and other fees. The Times shared that Lewis worked hard to close the gap during the inspection. Lewis said he lost $2 million personally. A complete film never appeared due to growing litigation and debt.
At the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Chris Lewis will sign a copy of his book, Jerry Lewis Become a Man. (Britta Pedersen/Picture Alliance by Getty Images)
“Yes Involved in many legal struggles Chris said: “On three continents, it’s absolutely impossible to release it. Joan O’Brien is said to have watched the movie and she hates it. That’s not true. I have a letter that proves that she sees her crying. She’s a little disappointed that he doesn’t have more conversations.”
“The film can’t be put together,” Chris shared. “There are some negatives in France, some in Sweden. It’s a joint production in France and Sweden. From day one, the producers knocked the whole thing down. My dad, he could never let any big studio jump in when he tried to sell his 117 final film.
Only the summary and behind the scenes of some “The Clown Crying Days” were found. (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
The Times shared that Lewis retained some of the negatives. He told Chris that the rest could be in France and Sweden. Then in 2016, a 30-minute sample leaked online. The following year, French film critic Jean-Michel Frodon claimed to be part of Vanity Fair, who saw cuts in the early 2000s.
In “The Day of the Clown Crying”, Jerry Lewis plays the circus performer who is taken to concentration camp after teasing Adolf Hitler. (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
The New York Times reported that when the Library of Congress acquired Lewis’ archives in 2015, the Los Angeles Times revealed that Rob Stone, the library’s mobile image curator, said all the negatives of the library were not released until 2024.
Stone clarified that the library had only partial negatives, or 13 cans (nearly 90 minutes) of unedited camera sprints. There is also behind-the-scenes video.
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Jerry Lewis once said he personally lost $2 million in an attempt to make “the day when the clown cried.” (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
Stone also said he had contacted the person who described himself as the rights holder.
The production of “The Days of Clown Crying” is recorded in the documentary “From Darkness to Light”. (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
Chris hopes “The day the clown cried” It will eventually attract audiences.
“I always see the glass as mid-air,” he said. “I’m optimistic that if we can find any footage of video in France, it will allow us to at least put together something…but unfortunately, when the Europa movies went out of business, they were filling the bins with old movies they couldn’t recognize.”
Chris Lewis admits that the rest of the film may have been thrown away. (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
Chris admits: “My father’s final cut may have entered that bin.”
Jerry Lewis talked about the production of “The Days of Clown Crying” months before his death. (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
During his life, Lewis was about whether the movie should be watched. In 2013, at the Cannes Film Festival, Lewis said that “the days of the clown crying” were “bad.”
“It’s awful because I lost my magic,” he said. Reuters. “You never see it, no one will see it because I’m embarrassed by the bad job.”
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“[My dad] Chris Lewis told Fox News Digital that he described his childhood as “a tear of loneliness.” (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
But in Documentary “From Darkness to Light”, Filmed a few months before his death, Lewis described the “heartbroken” of not being able to complete and release the film.
Jerry Lewis filmed “The Days of the Clown Crying” in Paris on March 22, 1972. (STF/AFP via Getty Images)
“The second half of the 60s was bad for his career,” Chris said. “The entire film industry is changing, and the studio is trying to put him in a dramatic sex comedy…he struggled in the late 60s.”
Many stars speak in the documentary From Dark to Light, including Mel Brooks and Martin Scorsese. (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
Chris shared: “He’s seen the original script of the day when the clown cried. “In 1971, when it introduced him, he thought it might be the right time for him to do so in his life. This is a very meaningful script for him and the subject. And, more importantly, he is a clown. He understood the clown from the inside out. ”
The plot at that time was taboo. But every aspect of the story is nearby.
Chris Lewis said his father, Jerry Lewis, identified with the sad clown character. (STF/AFP via Getty Images)
“My father was born into a juggling family,” Chris explained. “His parents were juggling entertainers. They lived a bohemian lifestyle. So my father left it to his grandmother.
“He described his childhood as ‘the tears of loneliness’. Therefore, the clown was accepted and loved from him.
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Photos from the unreleased film The Days of the Clown Crying were presented at the Jerry Lewis auction house Jerry Lewis’s estate auction house Jerry Lewis’s auction house Jerry Lewis’s auction house Jerry Lewis on June 22, 2018 at the Jerry Lewis auction house Jerry Lewis in Las Vegas on June 22, 2018. (Gabe Ginsberg/Getty image)
“And humor [in the film] It’s for the kids,” Chris continued. “Comedy became their outlet. That’s the warm, vague blanket my dad can make his kid laugh at him. ”
Jerry Lewis has a different feeling about whether “The Days of Clown Crying” should be screened. (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
Chris said he had tried to talk to his father about the movie over the years. He faces some resistance before Lewis finally opens.
“People kept pestering him,” Chris said. “It became something he hated in private conversations…but when I told him to write my book,” he said. [‘Jerry Lewis on Being a Person’] He wanted to tell a true story about how he felt, and he thought it was a good idea. “You are the only one who can tell this story,” he said.
Jerry Lewis rarely opens the production of “The Day of the Clown Crying”. (Paramount Photo/Getty Image)
“I have been his road manager for years…he will not answer more than two questions [about the film] “Then he’ll change the subject. But over the years, I’ve really got a lot from him.”
Chris Lewis said he received his father’s blessing in search of the body of “the day the clown cried.” (Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
Today, Chris said there are still lessons learned from his father’s life.
“Laughter is very healing,” he said. “I can personally tell you stories about how my dad’s humor helped people through the hardest times of their lives that I’ve heard around the world. He would say, ‘I fell down and made faces. What are you talking about?’ I said to him, “You don’t know how you touch people.” ”
Opposite Jerry Lewis from Stella Stevens in Professor Nuts in 1963. (Screen Collection/Getty Images)
“He knew he was loved,” Chris reflected. “He knew he wanted to do more. But he was very happy with his achievements. He said, ‘I’ve done everything, I’m happy with everything I’ve done. I’m not going back to do something different.”
“From Dark to Light” will be screened at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival on Sunday, March 2. Chris Lewis will also sign his book Jerry Lewis Become a Man.
