THE KING OF COMEDY (1983) C widescreen 108m dir: Martin Scorsese

w/Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard, Ed Herlihy, Louis Brown, Whitey Ryan, Doc Lawless, Marta Heflin, Katherine Wallach

De Niro plays Rupert Pupkin, a manic autograph hound who is convinced that if he only got a break he'd be the best comedian ever. The budding comic's dream is to be on the show of top TV host, Jerry Langford (Lewis, playing a character along the lines of Johnny Carson, for whom the part was originally written), and Pupkin goes to outrageous lengths to make this dream come true.

From The Movie Guide: "Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro must be the most celebrated director/star collaborators in recent American film history. Together they have produced some of the most powerful films of the last several decades --- MEAN STREETS, TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, GOODFELLAS --- but here they tried something a little different and the result is a chilling black comedy. ...

"De Niro gives a miraculous character performance, much different from the intense brooding loners for which he is renowned. He seems to disappear into this oddball, somewhat repulsive, but ultimately rather touching character. Sandra Bernhard, in her film debut, is nearly as memorable as Rupert's outrageous partner in crime. As a thoroughly demented, poor little rich girl who yearns to physically possess her favorite celebrity, Bernhard is simultaneously frightening, unconventionally sexy and very funny. THE KING OF COMEDY was a huge flop upon its release. Let's hope that future generations will hail it as the classic it truly is."