The Comedian (1957)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This week I watched the episode The Comedian (1957) from the Playhouse 90 television series. A comedic television personality with a Mr. Hyde personality and a god-complex backstage makes life miserable for everyone around him including his manager brother. This episode was amazing in the fact that it was not edit intensive and much of the story was taped live. Surprisingly for the shooting style it remained highly engaging throughout the entire film. Mickey Rooney played the difficult personality of the comedian named Sammy Hogarth, who bullies everyone around him. The interesting thing about this viewing experience is that it seems very relatable. This is a very real personality and those of us who have experienced this can attest that Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Sammy was spot on to this personality type. The sad thing about this show is that it seems like a desperate cry for help from people in the film and television industry. It says that this abuse in the industry is overlooked and no one seems to care. This episode was actually based on a novel by Ernest Lehman and the screenplay was written by the Twilight Zone founder Rod Serling. The screenplay was very strong and I think some of its greatest strengths are that it uses the character of Sammy Hogarth as the abusive, self-inflated boss to tell a very relatable story, not just in film but in many workplaces. The weakness in this script is what I refer to as the leatherface syndrome, which was a prevalent outbreak amongst directors during the golden age of television. Sufferers of this disease would cast actors and write screenplays where old men would hook up with women who could be their granddaughters. The writers and directors minds would delude them into believing that not only would these young, attractive, 20 year old women fall for their grandfathers, but the men they would fall for would look nothing like a George Clooney or Tom Cruise. Thankfully, years later the outbreak subsided and directors and writers were no longer as prone to this disease. The episode was directed by John Frankenheimer, who would later write classics like Reindeer Games (2000). One of the strongest points of directing was the fact that this episode used very little editing (as stated earlier in this review). This appears to have taken quite a bit of contemplation and direction to pull off effectively and a part of me wonders if we still have this level of directing talent today, or if anyone really cares.

I watched this yesterday and was astounded by the performances of all, but especially Mickey Rooney. He is so natural and fluid. His performance is seamless. For those who think of Mickey Rooney as a happy-go-lucky character type, this performance will floor you. He is nasty and ruthless and heartless. The rest of the cast is similarly flawless. How much time did it take to rehearse, I wonder? Watching these old live broadcasts is also a revelation. That they were able to have such variety and density in such confined environs is amazing. While some things such as transitions and breaks are crude by today's standards, that they did all of this live is impressive. There is a montage near the end of the program with cross-fades and multiple locations. How did they do it? The writing is equally spectacular. Can one think of anything similar being done today? As another reviewer noted, the denouement does have something of a false ring to it. I won't spoil it here. I know how I would have ended it. It would be interesting to read the Ernest Lehman story on which the show is based to see if it is the same.

This is one of the teleplays included on the three DVD set from Criterion. All the plays were performed live and it's amazing how good the production values were considering they were put on week after week! Among the films in the set are some amazingly good television events--ones that went on to have expensive Hollywood remakes and in some cases they won Oscars! Such great productions as "Marty", "Requiem for a Heavyweight" and "Days of Wine and Roses" all began first on television--and in some cases this TV version is superior! The basic story idea for "The Comedian" is very, very reminiscent of several other exceptional films from the 1950s. In many ways, it's like José Ferrer's "The Great Man" (1956), Andy Griffith's "A Face in the Crowd" (1957) as well as part of the wonderful film "A Thousand Clowns" (1965) in that all three involve a megalomaniac and downright vicious beloved star--one that America just doesn't know for the jerk he really is.These stories were all were inspired by a real-life event. In the early 1950s, Arthur Godfrey was one of the most trusted and beloved TV personalities--mostly because he came off as so sweet and down to earth. However, in 1953, his anger got the best of him and he actually fired one of his acts ON AIR! And, in subsequent years, his hellish nature became apparent...and his popularity dwindled to nothing. No doubt writer Rod Serling was inspired, at least in part, by Godfrey's example.The comedian from the title is a character played by Mickey Rooney--a huge TV star who has a mean streak a mile wide and takes it out on everyone behind the scenes. He browbeats everyone--but particularly takes it out on his meek brother (Mel Tormé) who is his own personal whipping boy! Mel's wife (Kim Hunter) pressures him to quit--to be a man and stop taking the mistreatment, but his self-esteem is so low that he can't make himself do what he needs to do. In addition to Tormé, a lot of Rooney's wrath is directed to his writer (Edmund O'Brien). Something has to give...as not only these men but everyone who works with Rooney can't stand him and his boorish ways.Overall, it's a very good show--and it's amazing to watch these people doing the show live. However, I must also say that I prefer the films I listed above--they were a bit more subtle and enjoyable--particularly "The Great Man". Still, it's well worth seeing...and an amazing show.

I suspect there were two figures, maybe three, who were the basis for the character of early television comic giant Sammy Hogarth in this drama. First there were Sid Caesar and Red Buttons, both of whom were notably difficult to write comedy for (Caesar less than Buttons, in that he was just outspoken when presented by second-rate material; Buttons made a name for himself - and a hash of his comedy variety success - by firing comic writers almost weekly in the second year of his show). The other may be Arthur Godfrey, another "beloved" television personality of the 1950s who was something less than likable in his relations with his staff (ask the unfortunate Julius La Rosa, for example).THE COMEDIAN was a drama by Rod Sterling that was revived on television by Sonny Fox in 1994 in a series showing the best surviving kine-scopes of live television shows from the golden age of television drama. The others included the original BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY, NO TIMES FOR SERGEANTS, and REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT. THE COMEDIAN starred Mickey Rooney as the energetic, dynamic, and totally lousy Hogarth, an ego-maniacal comic genius who demanded the best from everyone around him. He dominates his nervous and downtrodden brother, Lester (Mel Torme, in a surprisingly good performance as a snook who finally seems to grow claws). Kim Hunter plays Julie Hogarth, the wife of Lester, whom has had to fight off the attentions of Sammy. And Edmund O'Brien plays Al Preston, a script writer for Hogarth who is finding the comedian less and less easy to work for and less and less satisfied by his work. Preston's wife Connie (Constance Ford) is trying to convince him that despite the salary it is not worth the aggravation tied to such a creep as Hogarth. O'Brien is almost convinced, and then a disaster hits in the form of a script.Before Preston had been on the staff, another writer worked for Hogarth, and this writer had died. That was why Preston was hired. What Hogarth did not know was that the previous writer had written a full script for Hogarth, and Preston ends up in possession of the script. But the script is in the other writer's name, and if Preston uses it, and the act becomes known, it can ruin his reputation. But if it is used and nobody discovers the truth, Preston's reputation is secured.In the meantime, Hogarth does a series of jokes about noted critic Elwell (Whit Bissell). Elwell discovers all about Hogarth's relationship with his sister-in-law, and publishes it. While this is going on, the purloined script is being produced, and Hogarth is very pleased by it. But each day approaches the date of the television production, and Preston is growing worried. Is he sure he's safe, or will the truth come out to hurt him? Like the contemporary film THE GREAT MAN (also based on Arthur Godfrey), and the business in the contemporary British comedy THE NAKED TRUTH (or YOUR PAST IS SHOWING) concerning British television star "Wee Geordie" MacGregor (Peter Sellers), THE COMEDIAN showed the difference between the real world of television personalities and the final production the public loved. It strives too hard at times at being a bit philosophical (O'Brien finally demanding from Rooney what makes him tick - in real life he would not have bothered to ask). But the drama was a very good one, and certainly added to the laurels of it's five stars (Rooney, O'Brien, Ford, Hunter, and especially Torme). And it added another feather to the legend of Rod Sterling, that peerless television dramatist before the coming of THE TWILIGHT ZONE.