Controversial Holocaust movie that Jerry Lewis buried is being remade after 50 years

A controversial movie about the Holocaust that was filmed and then promptly discarded is being remade more than 50 years later.

The Day the Clown Cried is one of the most infamous unseen movies in celluloid history.

A passion project written and directed by Jerry Lewis, the film is set in a Concentration Camp during the Holocaust, and while most of the movie was shot in 1972, it went unfinished, and remains unreleased.

But a Hollywood producer has revealed he now owns the rights to the original script on which Lewis based his screenplay, and has plans to make a new movie with the material.

What is The Day the Clown Cried?

The Day the Clown Cried is the story of a clown called Helmut Doork, who entertains children in a Concentration Camp to take their minds off the horror.

Lewis starred as Doork, as well as directing and writing the script, which was based on a screenplay by Joan O’Brien and Charles Denton.

The movie shot in Sweden in 1972, but principal photography was beset by problems, most notably the money running out.

A rough cut was ultimately assembled but never completed, and copyright issues – as well as Lewis’s own apparent displeasure with the unfinished product – meant it never saw the light of day.

But The Day the Clown Cried quickly became the stuff of legend, and in 1992, The Simpsons actor Harry Shearer claimed to have actually seen the film, and had this to say about its awfulness in a 1992 issue of Spy magazine:

“With most of these kinds of things, you find that the anticipation, or the concept, is better than the thing itself. But seeing this film was really awe-inspiring, in that you are rarely in the presence of a perfect object. This was a perfect object.

“This movie is so drastically wrong, its pathos and its comedy are so wildly misplaced, that you could not, in your fantasy of what it might be like, improve on what it really is. ‘Oh, My God!’ – that’s all you can say.”

Plans for a remake

Now, producer Kia Jam plans to remake the movie, having purchased the original O’Brien and Denton script. Speaking to Deadline, Jam says he has production financing and is now searching for a director.

“I had it financed once or twice over the years, but was unable to bring on the caliber of filmmaker that this needs. You really need a master craftsman to tell his story,” he explained.

Jam also promises that this new version will be different to what Jerry Lewis crafted: “The movie that he shot was not our script, not the script that I own and control… The script that I own, the original one that was written by the writers back decades ago, is by far the most powerful script I’ve ever read.”

Jam continues: “It will be a really powerful film. It’s ultimately a redemption story. And I think with everything that’s going on in the world today, now more than ever is the time to make a movie like this.

“It’s going to be difficult. There’s a lot of misinformation out there in terms of the original movie and what Jerry did and didn’t do, and how the movie was good, or it was bad, whatever people want to say. Jerry himself has said that he wasn’t terribly pleased with the final product.

“But the script’s core is the redemption story of our lead character, somebody who lost his way and ultimately finds his purpose in life, which is bringing joy and laughter to these kids who are in this horrible, horrible, horrible situation.

“It’s what he sacrifices and ultimately what the people around him end up doing to help him, and the temporary joy and laughter that he brings to these children who need it so badly. It is not based on a true story, but as you read it, it certainly feels like it is.”

We’ll have more news on The Day the Clown Cried remake when it breaks.

For more unreleased movies, here’s our features on superhero movies you might never see. Alternatively, we’ve got new movies streaming this month, and the best movies of 2024, so far.