Tausend Clowns (1965)

Tausend Clowns: Directed by Fred Coe. With Jason Robards, Barbara Harris, Martin Balsam, Gene Saks. A middle-aged iconoclast, doggedly avoiding the tedium of employment and conventional life, faces the prospect of losing custody of his young ward.

“I loved this movie passionately the first time I saw it, which was almost 30 years ago, and I love it every single time I watch it. Certainly aspects of it have gotten more meaningful as Iu0026#39;ve gotten older. The cast, full of people I had no idea of at the age of 10, turned out to be full of some of my all-time favorite actors (William Daniels, Barbara Harris, Jason Robards…how can you go wrong?)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI think some of the reviewers here (especially the ones giving it mixed reviews) are under the impression that the viewer is supposed to view Murray as a totally sympathetic character. Heu0026#39;s not, and I donu0026#39;t think heu0026#39;s intended to be. Murray is really fun to be around for over half the movie; youu0026#39;re rooting for him all the way. As Sandy says, u0026quot;No wonder Nick loves it here. Iu0026#39;d love to live here too if I were eleven years old!u0026quot; When itu0026#39;s really time for Murray to settle down and do something to keep Nick, he canu0026#39;t bring himself to do it, and his free-spirited ways start looking, to the objective viewer, shallow and irresponsible. Murray needs to grow up, and do it fast, and growing up means compromising. Thatu0026#39;s the lesson; not that Murray was right all along, but that you canu0026#39;t be completely free if you do in fact have something left to lose, and Murray does. But life isnu0026#39;t a black and white choice between happiness and unhappiness, itu0026#39;s a continuum, and sometimes u0026quot;doing the best you canu0026quot; is enough.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI found it truly interesting that, throughout the movie, Nick was what Murray describes as u0026quot;a middle-aged kid,u0026quot; seeming older than Murray himself. At the end, when Murray grows up, Nick seems to revert. He throws a full-scale tantrum, and thatu0026#39;s the first time in the whole movie I remembered he was actually a child. I think thatu0026#39;s a testament to Gordonu0026#39;s skill as an actor.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor anyone who read/saw the play: the director didnu0026#39;t seem to quite u0026quot;getu0026quot; the point of the play, and changed the end of the first and second (or is it second/third? I donu0026#39;t have it in front of me) to make the end of the movie more of a downer than the play. I never quite forgave him for that. The end of the play suggested that compromises have to be made, life goes on and it can even be good. The end of the movie seems to suggest that the last scene was unsubtly a u0026quot;sell-out.u0026quot; I disagree. But I still loved the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Getting back to reality…u0026quot; u0026quot;Iu0026#39;ll only go as a tourist!u0026quot;”