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The King of Comedy
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Arnon Milchan
Written by	Paul D. Zimmerman
Starring	Robert De Niro Jerry Lewis Sandra Bernhard Diahnne Abbott
Cinematography	Fred Schuler
Editing by	Thelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	February 18, 1983 (USA)
Running time	109 min.
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000
IMDb profile

The King of Comedy is a feature film made in 1981, and released on February 18, 1983 by 20th Century Fox.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Trivia 3 Reviews 4 Critic's Lists 5 DVD release 6 Notes 7 External links

Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro), an aspiring stand-up comic, is determined to get invited to appear on a popular evening television talk show hosted by his idol Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). He finally meets with Langford, but is dismissed. Pupkin, however, is the type who refuses to take "No" for an answer, so he resorts to stalking, and finally to more drastic measures, to achieve his goal of becoming the person described by the film's title.

• Director Martin Scorsese has a cameo as "Man in Van." He later appears as the Jerry Langford show director, assuring Tony Randall that his cue cards are funny.

• Scorsese's mother plays Pupkin's (unseen) mother.^[1]

• Real life film and television producer Edgar Scherick has a cameo role as the producer of Jerry Langford's television show.

• Scorsese's first choice as the talk show host was Johnny Carson. He also considered Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin before selecting Lewis.^[2]

• Mick Jones, Joe Strummer, and Paul Simonon of The Clash appear as "Street Scum" in the movie.

• While the film brought in the Scorsese's worst box office return, critics consider it a powerful satire on the cult of celebrity, with strong performances, and among the director's best. Scorsese has stated that De Niro's performance is his finest under his direction.^{[citation needed]}

• In the biography/overview of his work, Scorsese on Scorsese, Scorsese had high praise for Jerry Lewis, stating that during their first conversation before shooting, Lewis was extremely professional and had assured him prior to shooting that there would be no ego clashes or difficulties on Lewis' end. Scorsese also stated that he felt Lewis' performance in the film was vastly underrated and deserved more acclaim.

• Along with Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, this movie forms an unofficial trilogy of films by Scorcese and De Niro portraying obsessive characters.

• All Movie Guide link
• Empire link
• Filmcritic link

• Halliwells Top 1000 #180
• 1001 Movies You Must See Before you Die
• Jonathan Rosenbaum : 1000 Essential Films
• The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made link

December 12, 2002

1. ^ Noted by Scorsese in The King of Comedy DVD "making of" feature
2. ^ Schoell, William. Martini Man: The Life of Dean Martin. Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing 1999. ISBN 0-87833-231-6

The King of Comedy at the Internet Movie Database

Films directed by Martin Scorsese

What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? • It's Not Just You, Murray! • The Big Shave • Who's That Knocking at My Door • Street Scenes • Boxcar Bertha • Mean Streets • Italianamerican • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore • Taxi Driver • New York, New York • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince • The Last Waltz • Raging Bull • The King of Comedy • After Hours • The Color of Money • The Last Temptation of Christ • New York Stories • Goodfellas • Cape Fear • The Age of Innocence • Casino • Kundun • My Voyage to Italy • Bringing Out the Dead • Gangs of New York • The Aviator • No Direction Home • The Departed • Shine a Light