A Thousand Clowns

	A Thousand Clowns
	Year:	1965 - MGM
	Director:	Fred Coe
	Screenplay:	Herb Gardner
	Starring:	Jason Robards, Barbara Harris, Martin Balsam, Barry Gordon, Gene Saks, and William Daniels

"You've gotta own your own days and name 'em! Each one of 'em, every one of 'em! Or else the years go right by, and none of them belong to you."

A Thousand Clowns is a great example of the slacker character as hero in American cinema. Based on Herb Gardner's play, it is the story of an unemployed television writer, Murray Burns (Jason Robards), who lives in New York in a one bedroom apartment with his twelve-year old nephew, Nick (Barry Gordon). Murray has been unemployed for five months by his own choice. His nephew, who was abandoned by Murray's sister, attends a school for gifted children. When Nick writes an essay on the benefits of the unemployment system, it causes his school to investigate his home environment. Confronted by investigators for the Child Welfare Bureau, Murray is given the option of finding a job or losing custody of his nephew. Along the way Murray charms and seduces the young psychologist assigned to Nick's case, Sandra (Barbara Harris). Although Murray tries to avoid returning to work, in the end, he must swallow his dignity and surrender to his greater responsibilities. By choosing to go back to work for a man he loathes, he ultimately loses the respect of the nephew he so highly prizes.

At the time of its release, the famous film critic Pauline Kael called this comedy "romantic crackpotism" and "harmless American nonconformity". Indeed, nonconformist heroes have been a staple in American movies; from John Wayne to Frank Capra's films. Perhaps one of the most memorable films to celebrate crackpotism was You Can't Take It With You where there is a whole family of eccentrics. In A Thousand Clowns unlike the Capra films, circumstances finally conspire against the hero causing his eventual surrender to conformity. Instead of allowing Murray to assail conformists in this film unchallenged, Gardner's script allows the working stiffs to plead their cases. Martin Balsam, who plays Murray's brother, Arnold, has a great scene late in the film where he explains the difference between himself, the successful talent agent who knows how to play the game, and his brother Murray, the talented but tortured free spirit.

Jason Robards, in one of his first movie roles after spending over a decade on the New York stage, is terrific as Murray Burns. His comic timing is flawless, and his silent brooding really conveys the distress his character feels about the prospect of rejoining the workforce. Murray doesn't choose to be unemployed because he is lazy; he knows working at a dull, tedious job robs him of his dignity and self esteem. He has worked all of his life and at the age of forty he realizes he has been letting his life slip away. Murray would much rather spend his days kite flying in Central Park, seeing off ships in New York harbor, buying eagles from junk dealers, yelling at the neighbors about the sad state of their garbage, and sight-seeing with his nephew, than humbly submitting to boorish bosses. His humor, tenacity, and lust for life is what people love about him. Unfortunately, those qualities make him terribly unsuited for conventional society. As his brother points out, Murray does not have the gift of surrendering. Arnold shows Murray that not everyone who doesn't see things as Murray does are the bad guys or dupes. There are many people like Arnold who thrive in modern society and take pride in, as Arnold puts it, "being the best possible Arnold Burns."

Murray very cleverly avoids confrontations where he does not have the advantage. He uses humor to change the subject and then catch his victim off guard with witty jabs. His talent is demonstrated hilariously on the two representatives from the Child Welfare Bureau, turning one against the other during their visit to Nick and Murray's disheveled apartment. The case worker Sandra explains to Murray how serious the situation is with Nick. In response, Murray half-heartedly attempts to find work with the help of his brother. Although, at first victorious over his adversaries, eventually Murray agrees to see his former boss about coming back to work. Murray was previously employed as the head writer for a kids show. "Chuckles The Chipmunk" (Gene Saks), Murray's old boss, is a obnoxious idiot and Nick tells him so. To the dismay of Nick, Murray placates Chuckles and agrees to come back to work. Out of his love for Nick, Murray sacrifices his self-respect, and in the process, loses some of the respect of the one he loves.

The supporting cast in the film is outstanding. Martin Balsam won an Academy Award for his supporting role. Barbara Harris is adorable as the big-hearted child psychologist who cares too much about her cases. And Nick's portrayal by a talented young Barry Gordon is a wonder. Gene Saks' Chuckles is absolutely one of the most annoying characters you will find in any movie.

As a film, A Thousand Clowns is not much more than a filmed play. There is a good scene at the beginning of the movie where the camera captures the bustle and chaos of everyone heading off to work in Manhattan. Other than a few exterior scenes of Murray wandering around New York when looking for work, or sightseeing with Sandy or Nick, the camera does not add much to the play. One very annoying aspect of the film is the blaring soundtrack. The music at times will have you reaching for the remote if you watch this film on video.

I highly recommend this film. It was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and lost against a very strong field of movies. The movie is very funny and has some memorable and poignant scenes. Robards and Balsam have the gift of delivering monologues that don't sound like they are reciting monologues. Although this material is over thirty years old, it still says much about the struggle to keep ones identity while finding a niche in society.

The Internet Movie Database: