Tears of a Clown Blogathon: Dick Van Dyke in The Comic (1969) - A Guest Post By Joel

When I announced the Tears of a Clown Blogathon, a number of bloggers expressed interest. A few of them have already posted their entries. One person who said they'd post something, however, doesn't have a blog. Instead, he said he would post it in the comments section of the post I used to announce the Blogathon. For any other random commenter without a blog, I would gladly accept this offer and left it at that.

But, this is Joel.

Without having a blog of his own to promote, he has made himself part of the online community I traverse on a regular basis. On my stops at many of your sites, I come across an insightful comment from Joel, AKA joel65913, on whatever film or topic you happen to be covering that day. He even plays along with the Thursday Movie Picks meme, posting his own picks on that week's theme with in-depth analysis. He is the kind of reader we love having. He is clearly a knowledgeable film buff. Joel uses that knowledge to give us honest opinions on our drivel and will engage us in a back and forth about the matter without being a jerk. Letting his contribution to this blogathon get buried in the comments section would be a travesty.

He deserves better.

The least I could do was to let him use my blog as his platform for the day. Without further adieu, I turn the stage over to Joel and his entry.

Dick Van Dyke in “The Comic” (1969)

In between his runaway success with his first self-titled TV show and his return to television in lesser but successful vehicles Dick Van Dyke made a stab at film stardom. Starting out extremely well, despite his questionable accent, with Mary Poppins he unfortunately followed that with several comedies of variable quality all of which flopped at the box office, except for the kiddie musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which made money but performed beneath expectations.

However he was still considered a premier comedian when he teamed with Carl Reiner for The Comic which looks at the rise and fall of silent film comic Billy Bright, heavily influenced by the life story of Buster Keaton. For Van Dyke, a huge fan of the silent clowns in particular Stan Laurel, it was a dream project that he committed to fully. Always a pleaser as a performer he subsumes his innate likeability except when performing his skits to reveal a naked ambition and ruthlessness to Billy Bright that was necessary to climb out of vaudeville to the top of his profession but which becomes unbridled ego when he gets there and proceeds to cause his downfall. Throughout the film Van Dyke never shies away from the unpleasant aspects of his character, willing to be a jerk while hinting at the desperate need to be loved and admired but helpless to stop himself.

While he’s a trifle long in the tooth to be completely convincing at the start of the film where he really shines is in the final portion after Billy Bright’s fall. Ill and alone his entire physicality changes and he becomes a shuffling old man living on memories. The final scene is heartbreaking in the extreme. The film is not perfect by any means, it has that terrible look seemingly all period films made in the 60’s had with the characters outfitted in contemporary fashions rather than the proper period, the old age makeup on most everyone, except Van Dyke, is weak and Reiner’s direction is not always assured. However the supporting cast is very fine with Michele Lee, who through no fault of her own was taken to task for resembling Mary Tyler Moore-her character is even named Mary, quite touching as Van Dyke’s put upon spouse and Mickey Rooney, a particular standout, as Billy Bright’s one reliable friend. Its Van Dyke though who is the revelation showing a side to his talent that he was rarely was given a chance to display again. Unfortunately the film tanked at the box office and vanished from public view for years though it is now available on DVD.

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