Themes: Fighting the System, Creative Block, Midlife Crises
Main Cast: Jason Robards, Jr., Barbara Harris, Martin Balsam, Gene Saks, William Daniels
Release Year: 1965
Country: US
Run Time: 118 minutes
Plot
Jason Robards Jr. superbly re-creates his Broadway role in this 1965 film version of Herb Gardner's play. Robards plays Murray Burns, head writer of TV's popular Chuckles the Chipmunk show. Fed up with the rat race, Murray quits his job and retreats to his cluttered Manhattan apartment, where he carries on a nonconformist, laissez-faire existence with his 12-year-old nephew Nick (Barry Gordon). Though they're as close as father and son, Robards has never gotten around to legally adopting Nick, which brings him to the attention of social workers Sandra (Barbara Harris) and Albert (William Daniels). While Albert is disgusted by Murray's irreverence, Sandra falls in love with the free-spirited writer. Teaming up with Nick, Sandra tries to convince Murray to get another job. Arnold Burns (Oscar-winner Martin Balsam), Murray's agent-brother, is amused by his sibling's independence, but can find no work for him. Desperate not to lose Nick to the authorities, Murray offers to go back to Chuckles the Chipmunk -- aka Leo (Gene Saks), a neurotic bug who bullies his staff and hates kids. Young Nick is disillusioned by Murray's willingness to conform, and he throws an uncharacteristic temper tantrum. But the boy comes around to Murray's sudden realization that compromise is sometimes necessary if it's for the sake of someone you love. While the central message of A Thousand Clowns may grate on some viewers, the film is saved by the exuberance of the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Based upon Herb Gardner's hit Broadway play of the same name, A Thousand Clowns retains the static, one-room feel of the stage version in order to convey the inspired inertia of its lead character, disaffected ex-writer Murray Burns (Jason Robards). Robards played the role on Broadway, and he translates the relentlessly offbeat Murray to screen with equal measures of mania and dejection. Among the other players, Martin Balsam makes a memorable impression as Murray's sympathetic brother, and Barbara Harris, in her screen debut, lends a uniquely dizzy compassion to the film. The stellar cast -- rounded out by Gene Saks, William Daniels, and child actor Barry Gordon -- all do their part to make Gardner's philosophical, quirky one-liners and monologues sing. Balsam won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role; it would be the only nomination of the under-appreciated actor's career. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Herb Gardner - Associate Producer, Ralph Rosenblum - Associate Producer, Ruth Morley - Costume Designer, Fred Coe - Director, Ralph Rosenblum - Editor, Don Walker - Composer (Music Score), Judy Holliday - Songwriter, Gerry Mulligan - Songwriter, Irving Buchman - Makeup, Ruth Morley - Makeup, Arthur Ornitz - Cinematographer, Fred Coe - Producer, Herb Mulligan - Set Designer, Herb Gardner - Screenwriter, George DeTitta, Sr. - Set Decorator, Walter Donaldson - Featured Music, Gus Kahn - Featured Music, Herb Gardner - Play Author
A Thousand Clowns was first presented at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City on April 5, 1962, with Jason Robards in the role of Murray Burns. Herb Gardner's first full-length play, it was nominated for the Tony Award for best play and was so successful commercially that Gardner, named the most promising playwright of 1961 – 62, was able to turn to playwriting full time. A few years later, Gardner wrote the prize-winning screenplay for a film adaptation of A Thousand Clowns, also starring Robards.
The play tells the story of Murray Burns, a cheerful eccentric raising his nephew, a twelve-year-old genius, in New York City. Murray believes in living life fully, even if that means going to the movies instead of looking for a job. When social workers from the Bureau of Child Welfare come to investigate, he must decide whether to accept some level of conformity in order to show himself a fit guardian. The play is episodic and funny, as Murray meets all challenges to his lifestyle with irreverent humor. The text is available in Herb Gardner: The Collected Plays, published in paperback in 2001 by Applause Books.
A Thousand Clowns is a 1965film which tells the story of a young boy who lives with his eccentric uncle Murray, who is forced to conform to society in order to keep custody of the boy. The movie was adapted by Herb Gardner from his 1962 play, and directed by Fred Coe. Gardner based the Murray Burns character on his friend, Jean Shepherd, who is said not to have appreciated the gesture.[citation needed]
Unemployed television writer Murray Burns (Jason Robards), lives in a cluttered New York City one-bedroom apartment with his 12-year-old nephew, Nick (Barry Gordon). Murray has been unemployed for five months after walking out on his previous job, writing jokes for a children's television show called "Chuckles the Chipmunk". Nick, the illegitimate son of Murray's sister, was left with Murray seven years earlier.
When Nick writes a school assignment on the benefits of unemployment insurance, his school sends social workers to investigate his living conditions. Confronted by investigators for the Child Welfare Board, Sandra Markowitz (Barbara Harris) and her superior and boyfriend Albert Amundson (William Daniels), Murray is threatened with removal of the child from his custody unless he can prove he is a capable guardian of Nick.
Murray charms and seduces Sandra, who convinces Murray to obtain employment. They begin a relationship. Although Murray tries to avoid returning to work, he finds himself in a dilemma: if he wishes to keep his nephew, he must swallow his dignity and go back to work; on the other hand, he can't let go of Nick until he thinks the boy has shown some backbone; he "wants a little guts to show." In a confrontation with his brother and agent Arnold (Martin Balsam), Murray states his nonconformist worldview. Arnold rejoins that his own goal, by contrast, is to be "the best possible Arnold Burns".
Murray realizes that he must get a job, and after walking out on several interviews, he agrees to meet his former employer the detested "Chuckles" host, Leo Herman (Gene Saks). Leo insults Nick, but Murray refuses to do anything, upsetting Nick. But Nick stands up to Leo, telling Leo he is the fool that he so obviously is, and Murray sees the boy has finally grown a backbone; the guts have shown. At that point Murray becomes able to join the crowds of people heading to their jobs. He knows Nick has come of age.
