Trivia / The King of Comedy

• Acclaimed Flop: Although (mostly retrospectively) applauded by critics, the studio publicity machine (and the distributor) were at a loss to know how to market this picture. After suffering through strikes and rumors of a troubled production, it was finally released only to find itself up against E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial which exemplified the contemporary public preference for childish feel-good fantasy. Audiences didn't know what to make of it at the time, and as a result few saw it during its initial run (although it fared better in the UK).
• Actor-Inspired Element: Jerry Lewis suggested that the brief scene where Jerry Langford is accosted by an old lady for autographs, who screams "You should only get cancer" when Lewis politely rebuffs her, was based on a real-life incident that happened to Lewis.
• Box Office Bomb: The film only grossed $2.5 million on a $19 million budget.
• Cast the Expert:
  • Jerry Langford's lawyer was played by Martin Scorsese's real life lawyer.
  • Bert Thomas, Jerry's producer, was obviously inspired by longtime The Tonight Show producer Fred de Cordova. He's portrayed by...Fred de Cordova (which could be seen as subtle Approval of God of the film by Johnny Carson).
• Creator Couple: Robert De Niro's then-wife Diahnne Abbott plays Rita, the girl Rupert takes to Jerry's house on a date.
• The Danza: Jerry Lewis as Jerry Langford. The character was originally scripted as Robert Langford, but Jerry Lewis suggested a name change because they were going to film some scenes on the streets of New York City and he knew passers-by would disrupt filming by yelling "Jerry!"
• Deleted Role:
  • Liza Minnelli filmed a scene where she played herself on Jerry Langford's talk show and sang "New York, New York" but it didn't make the final cut. Minnelli only appears in the finished film as a life-size cardboard cutout, a guest on Rupert Pupkin's basement talk show.
  • William G. Schilling filmed a role in the scene where fans approach Jerry as he walks down the street. But his scene was deleted.
• Development Hell: The screenplay (by film critic Paul Zimmerman) was written in the early 1970s. It took two attempts, several years apart, for Robert De Niro (who'd liked the script enough to buy it) to convince Scorsese to shoot it.
• Directed By Castmember: Jerry Lewis directed the scene with Jerry and the old lady and also some of the television comic scenes.
• Enforced Method Acting: Disputed. Jerry Lewis would later claim that between takes, Robert De Niro made anti-Semitic comments within earshot of the Jewish Lewis, but that Lewis later found out that they were made to create a more realistic friction between their characters. However, the only source for this claim is Lewis, who made these comments to a magazine during production, yet later in an interview with Peter Bogdanovich, he claimed that he actually had a smooth working relationship with both Scorsese and DeNiro, and Lewis' biographers note that Jerry had a tendency to say outrageous stuff to nosy publicity reporters during production.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: Sandra Bernhard was allowed to improvise most of her lines, as she had no formal acting training and Martin Scorsese wanted her to be as natural as possible. Although considering Bernhard's maniacal performance, it might be more accurate to say "Harpo Does Something Fucking Terrifying".
• Method Acting: Robert De Niro prepared for Rupert Pupkin's role by developing a "role reversal" technique, consisting of chasing down his own autograph-hunters, stalking them and asking them many questions. As Martin Scorsese remembered, he even agreed to meet and talk with one of his longtime stalkers:
  The guy was waiting for him with his wife, a shy suburban woman who was rather embarrassed by the situation. He wanted to take him to dinner at their house, a two-hour drive from New York. After he had persuaded him to stay in Manhattan, [De Niro] asked him, "Why are you stalking me? What do you want?" He replied, "To have dinner with you, have a drink, chat. My mom asked me to say hi".
  • De Niro also spent months watching stand-up comedians at work to get the rhythm and timing of their performances right. Fully in phase with his character, he went as far as declining an invitation to dinner from Jerry Lewis because he was "supposed to be at his throat and ready to kill him for [his] chance".
  • According to an interview with Lewis in the February 7, 1983, edition of People magazine, he claimed that Scorsese and De Niro employed method acting tricks, including making a slew of anti-Semitic epithets during the filming in order to "pump up Lewis' anger".
• Playing Against Type: For both of the lead characters - Jerry Lewis of all people is the Straight Man, while Robert De Niro, best known for playing tough guys, plays a ridiculous geek.
• Real-Life Relative: Martin Scorsese's mother provides The Voice of Rupert's mom and his father is the First Man at Bar where where Rupert Pupkin is watching his own performance on the television. His then-teenage daughter also appears as a fan named Dolores in one of Rupert's fantasies.
• Reality Subtext:
  • Jerry Lewis had more experience with fame than both Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro and contributed a few suggestions to the script. The scene of the old woman shouting "you should get cancer" was based on a real incident that had happened to him, he also directed the actress to get the timing right.
  • Similarly, Sandra Bernhard said her working relationship with Jerry Lewis was a bit frigid, as Jerry Lewis grew up in more of a boys' club environment and didn't think much of women in comedy.^note Infamously, he'd later say that he didn't think much of women as anything but "[baby] producing machines", and while female comedians didn't offend him, he considered it bizarre and unnatural. It helped with Lewis' character's disgust towards Sandra's character.
  • Scorsese said that he identified with both the main characters. As a young boy, he wanted to be a film director and relentlessly sought out every film he could see. Yet, at the time he made The King of Comedy he had become like Jerry Langford, a Consummate Professional who had Seen It All. Sergio Leone, on seeing the film, told Scorsese, that it was "a mature film".
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: Filmed in the summer of 1981, then sat on the shelf for over a year after it scored horribly with test audiences.
• Short Run in Peru: The film debuted in Iceland of all places two months before its official premiere in the US. Wikipedia uses this as the basis for listing the film as having actually come out in 1982, rather than its US premiere year of 1983.
• Spared by the Cut: Jerry Lewis suggested that his character be killed by Rupert at the end of the film but Martin Scorsese rejected his idea.
• Throw It In!:
  • Much of the scene where Rupert shows up at Jerry's house was improvised. Kim Chan improvised his lines when Jonno calls Jerry. The part where Jonno has troubling opening the front door was not planned. Chan really could not open the door and Jerry Lewis improvised his reaction.
  • Lewis improvised his "I'm just a human being..." monologue to Rupert. Lewis and Sandra Bernhard mostly improvised the scene in which they are alone together.
• Vindicated by Cable: After its failure in theaters, it gained an audience from regular HBO airings.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Orson Welles were considered for Jerry Langford. Carson was the only one that was actually offered the role before Lewis but he turned it down.
  • Meryl Streep turned down the role of Masha. Annie Potts auditioned for the role:
  There I was, nine months pregnant, trying to play this scene, being observed by the actor I was supposed to be playing the scene with, acting the scene with this woman - playing the part of a man - who had a lateral lisp. Someplace in the middle of the scene, reality, or the lack of it, kind of shifted..."Why am I here? What am I doing?" At that moment, my sweatpants fell down - in front of De Niro, who was sitting back on the couch like... I mean, honestly, he could have been on another planet. I just pulled up my sweatpants and walked out.
  • Michael Cimino was first proposed as director but eventually withdrew from the project because of the extended production of Heaven's Gate. Bob Fosse briefly considered directing the film and suggested Andy Kaufman as Rupert Pupkin, Sandra Bernhard as Masha and Sammy Davis Jr. as Jerry Langford. Ultimately, Fosse passed on the film in favor of directing Star 80 instead.
  • In the original script, when Rupert and Rita meet in the diner, there is a stranger sitting behind Rupert who flirts with Rita; later this stranger propositions her successfully. Although he is glimpsed in the film, it is not clear what he is doing. Another change is that in the script, when Rupert is being interviewed by the authorities who are looking for Jerry, Rupert is beaten, this does not happen in the film.

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