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The King Of Comedy
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Year: 1983
Rated: PG
Film Length: 109 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1)
Subtitles: English and Spanish
"...the name is Rupert Pupkin....and I know
the name doesn't mean much to you but it means
an awful lot to me.."
Start talking with a group of friends about some
of the most memorable characters in motion picture
History and you'll be surprised that amongst the
Dirty Harry, James Bond and Indiana Jones
replies you receive, you may find someone uttering
the words "Rupert Pupkin." Yes, that's right...I
said Rupert Pupkin, perhaps one of the most
memorable characters that Martin Scorsese and Robert
Deniro ever brought to the screen.
Robert Deniro gives a fascinating and chilling
performance as Rupert Pupkin, a deluded loser who
dreams of being a stand-up comic. Rupert has a burning
desire to become famous. Most of his time is spent
seeking autographs amongst hundreds of other fans
that hang outside of stage doors for their idols
to appear. Rupert also likes to hang out at home
in his basement pretending that he's hosting his own
late-night show, complete with life-size cutouts of
celebrity guests. His shows are often ruined by his
Mother yelling downstairs asking him to keep it quiet.
His fantasies are further egged on by Marsha, a
whacked-out talk-show groupie (Sandra Bernhard).
In an effort to try and further a career, he begins
to stalk his idol, talk show host Jerry Langford,
pleading with him to perform on the Jerry's show. When
Langord gives Rupert the runaround, he enlists the aid
of Marsha to kidnap the talk show host in hopes of
finally getting to perform his stand-up routine.
I never quite understood how The King Of Comedy
has remained one of Scorsese's most unappreciated
films. Frankly, it's one of his best. It's a black
comedy that takes a serious look at the media obsessed
world in which we all live in. The performances are
absolutely top-notch all around. DeNiro is obnoxious
and insane throughout, but we are led to believe that
this is a common man in a culture obsessed with fame.
Jerry Lewis is absolutely riveting to watch as a
celebrity dealing with his fame both on-screen and
off. The person you most need to watch is Sandra
Bernhard who gives the most stunning performance of
her career.
How is the transfer?
If memory serves me correct, this film was originally
released on VHS under the Columbia Pictures label. The
DVD packaging suggest that this was originally an
Embassy Pictures release. The original trailer
states this as a Twentieth Century Fox release. In
any event, when I learned a year ago that Fox was
obtaining this title, I was quite elated for the
mere fact that I knew the studio would do the best
possible transfer they could.
With that in mind, I was only slightly disappointed
in the overall transfer, and I'll admit up front that
I was being nit picky only because this film is a
favorite of mine. The film looks somewhat dated,
which is to be expected. Flesh colors run a little
red, and the picture is a little soft. So far, I have
no problem with any of this. The print is in very
good condition with just a few speckles of blemish
scattered throughout. The day lit scenes in New
York City look quite good with a nice clean image
and no background noise. It's the darker scenes that
suffer the most where there is a lot of film noise
introduced. You'll see this noise in a scene at the
beginning of the film where Rupert is sharing a limo
with Jerry. A scene outside a restaurant with Rupert
and Rita contains an awful amount of noise. Still,
there are certain colors (mainly red and yellow) that
manage to peak out and grab your attention such as
Rupert's tie and handkerchief and Rita's deep red
shirt. Red is a dominant color in this film, and
unfortunately, sometimes it gives off a lot of noise.
It may sound like I am giving this transfer a bad
rap. Actually, this is probably the best the film
has looked on any format to date. I just expected
it, as a fan, to look slightly better than it does.
Under the circumstances, I think Fox did a very
good job with the source material they had.
The stereo sound is quite acceptable. It was very
nice to hear some bass-heavy sounds of Ray Charles
playing through the opening credits. There is never
really a distinct sense of stereo separation here, but
the audio remains very clear with fairly nice dynamics.
Special Features
Let me begin by talking about the clever shadowbox
Menu structure that Fox has put together for this
DVD. Do yourself a favor and toggle between the
Main Menu and Language Menu to watch the 3D angle
change. You'll see another swift angle change as
you switch to the Special Features area. It's a nice
added touch that adds a significant amount of flavor
to this overall package.
What you may first find to be a bit disappointing
is the exclusion of any sort of commentary. It had
been rumored that Scorsese was interested in doing
such a commentary, but with his hands full at the
moment with Gangs Of New York, this may have
been an impossibility.
With the above in mind, it's at least kind of neat
to see the inclusion of a wonderfully produced, brand
new featurette, A Shot at the top: The making of
The King of Comedy. It begins with director
Martin Scoresese talking about how obsessed we can
become with celebrities, giving more attributes
to the person than they probably give out on the
screen. It's very easy to lose yourself in these
people. Sandra Bernhard talks about coming to this
film with no prior acting experience, working on
pure adrenaline. She also fondly talks about
Robert DeNiro, and what a change of pace it was
for this actor to shed his macho image and play
the nerdy character of Pupkin. Bernhard is not
shy to point out that she thinks Scorsese was
turned on by the fact that her character was just
as audacious as his male characters. What is very
sad to hear is Scorsese and Bernhard talk about the
reaction to the film by critics, summizing that this
was one of the last great films about our culture.
While there's no behind-the-scenes material to be
seen anywhere here, this featurette stands on its own
merits as being wonderful time spent with a director
and actress who take us through their favorite
moments and recollections of this great film.
(length: approx. 18 minutes)
I was thrilled to find the inclusion of two
deleted scenes. The first is a very short
sequence featuring Jerry walking down a NY street,
stopping at a corner, and getting into a conversation
with a husband and wife who thank him for sprucing
up their sex life. The second sequence is a real
treat for fans -- it's the originally filmed,
full-length Jerry Langford monologue that we only
see short snippets of at the beginning of the film.
The monologue runs on for just over 5 minutes, and
it's just Jerry spewing out shtick in front of his
TV audience.
A still gallery contains nearly 35 candid
images of the cast and director. Using your remote,
you can leisurely browse through this terrific
assortment of photos.
Finally, in addition to the film's original
theatrical trailer, there's a short Canadian
TV Spot.
Final Thoughts
The King Of Comedy is one of those gems that
I am hoping will be rediscovered with the DVD format.
I would dare say that this is one of the best films
ever made -- a pure delight to watch. It's very nice
to see that Fox has put together a package that will
delight fans and interest newcomers. If you have
never seen this film before, you need to.
Don't miss it!
Release Date: December 17, 2002