When Todd Phillips’ Joker shook the world of comic book movies in 2019 (which is now starting to feel like a decade ago) two films kept being cited as influences: Taxi Driver (1976) and The King of Comedy (1983). Having already seen the violent Taxi Driver years ago I could see how that made sense and was curious to see how The King of Comedy also influenced the origin story of the Clown Prince of Crime. This week Amazon helped me fill in that cinematic blind spot, as I found yet another way to pass time indoors during this cold winter pandemic.
Both Taxi Driver and
The King of Comedy were directed by Martin Scorsese, star Robert De Niro
as a loner living in New York City, and play with perceptions of reality.
However, while Taxi Driver proved to be hit, The King of Comedy earned
praises but not as much box-office success. Perhaps it is because it does not
have as much violence as Taxi Driver or memorable lines, but I would
venture it is because this movie was ahead of its time. The main character is a
would-be stand-up comedian obsessed with fame and success, so much so that he harasses
a late-night host in hope of getting his big break. Having recently started
watching clips of American TV hosts every morning before work, I can imagine
how this character could be a nightmare for Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon, and company.
The thing Scorsese
seemed to understand is that when audiences see a TV personality on their
screens in their homes, they almost form a sense of ownership of this person.
They don’t call him Mr. Colbert, they call him Stephen and most likely know quite
a few details about his life. This is the case for Jerry Langford (played by comedy
icon Jerry Lewis) who cannot walk the streets of New York without being either
recognized by fans or swarmed by a mob. One encounter with a lady on the
streets starts well enough, but when Langford refuses to talk to her nephew on
the phone, she wishes Langford would get cancer. I think even for New York City
in the 1980s that is pretty rude.
One thing that seems unrealistic
about the movie is that Langford doesn’t have a personal bodyguard. That’s the
first thing I would do after being nearly stabbed by a deranged fan (Sandra
Bernard) in my own car only to be rescued by another fan. This second fan is
Rupert Pupkin (De Niro) who uses the opportunity to tell Langford he has
studied his entire career and wishes to know how to be a successful comedian. Feeling
mildly grateful, Langford tells Rupert the key is to start out slow, be
patient, and work your way up. He even tells Rupert to call his secretary so he
can listen to his material.
This is when we start
to see Rupert is not all there mentally. In Taxi Driver there is some
debate as to whether the final scene actually happened or if it was all in the
protagonist’s head. In The King of Comedy Scorsese makes it clear that
Rupert is seeing things that aren’t there. While Langford told him to call his
secretary as a way to get rid of him, Rupert sees it as a personal invitation
to go have dinner with him and discuss taking over his show for six months. Clever
editing show the audience that in reality Rupert is in a basement having a conversation
by himself while his mother (Catherine Scorsese, mother of Martin) is yelling
at him to keep it down. While on a date with a bartender (Diahnne Abbot),
Rupert shows her a book filled with autographs of celebrities, claiming Woody
Allen is a personal friend. She sees the same thing the audiences sees: Rupert
is delusional.
Not knowing how to take
a hint, Rupert escalates things by constantly waiting outside and inside
Langford’s business office, and eventually finds his way into his home. What is
particularly scary is that is all pre-Internet. Imagine what Rupert could do to
Langford if he could hack into his personal schedule, put webcams in his home,
or track his phone. Given the occasional horror stories about stalkers, some
celebrities probably don’t have to imagine it.
As disturbing as it is to see Rupert escalate his stalking of Langford and as enjoyable as it is to see De Niro sink his teeth into an interesting character, I think I would have enjoyed the movie more if Scorsese had given it more of a punchy ending. Not that every one of his movies need to end with a bloodbath like Taxi Driver, but it does feel as though The King of Comedy could have been more memorable as Rupert got closer and closer towards his desired fame. Still, this movie was quite the ride especially when viewed through the prism of today’s celebrity-obsessed culture.
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