The Comic

[ReelTime]

The Comic starring Dick Van Dyke is on TCM Tues. July 28th at 11pm central time. One Terrific Movie!

[Zool]

Saw it. Good movie.

[sethb]

It's been said that the film is loosely based upon Buster Keaton's trials and tribulations. But I don't think Buster had the arrogance and the ego of VanDyke's character in the movie.

I understand that a lot of Buster's problems stemmed from a bad decision to give up his independence and go to work for MGM, whose cookie-cutter assembly-line approach to movie-making didn't jibe with his style. MGM's idea to team him up with Jimmy Durante as another L & H comedy team was uninspired at best, and it didn't help that he personally insulted Louie B. Mayer. I think Buster also had problems with sound, since his voice didn't really fit his character, at least in my opinion. And there was also the alcohol issue, but it's hard to say which of these came first.

Buster might have been better off going the route of Harold Lloyd, who simply retired after he saw that sound didn't work well for him. But perhaps Buster had the need to keep on working, which he did, as a gagman for Red Skelton and other over the years. He certainly had the talent and the vision to continue to do so. And he did eventually have a full and peaceful life, and got the recognition that he deserved.

So if THE COMIC isn't Buster, does anyone else have someone else in mind? Mack Sennett and Harry Langdon come to mind, but neither of them are really tight fits, in my opinion. SETH

[boblipton]

It's been said that the film is loosely based upon Buster Keaton's trials and tribulations. But I don't think Buster had the arrogance and the ego of VanDyke's character in the movie.

I understand that a lot of Buster's problems stemmed from a bad decision to give up his independence and go to work for MGM, whose cookie-cutter assembly-line approach to movie-making didn't jibe with his style. MGM's idea to team him up with Jimmy Durante as another L & H comedy team was uninspired at best, and it didn't help that he personally insulted Louie B. Mayer. I think Buster also had problems with sound, since his voice didn't really fit his character, at least in my opinion. And there was also the alcohol issue, but it's hard to say which of these came first.

Buster might have been better off going the route of Harold Lloyd, who simply retired after he saw that sound didn't work well for him. But perhaps Buster had the need to keep on working, which he did, as a gagman for Red Skelton and other over the years. He certainly had the talent and the vision to continue to do so. And he did eventually have a full and peaceful life, and got the recognition that he deserved.

So if THE COMIC isn't Buster, does anyone else have someone else in mind? Mack Sennett and Harry Langdon come to mind, but neither of them are really tight fits, in my opinion. SETH

For someone who “simply retired after he saw that sound didn’t suit him’, Lloyd starred in a movie every couple of years until 1938, and in The Sins of Harold Dibblebock and 1947.

Bob

[s.w.a.c.]

I think Carl Reiner deliberately avoided making Billy Bright a tight fit with any particular silent comic, and instead borrowed elements of many different ones so that he could stand on his own. So there's a little Laurel, a little Langdon, a little Keaton, and perhaps personality of traits of other comedians who weren't necessarily in silent comedies.

[Salty Dog]

I don't think The Comic is meant to be based on a single film comedian. Obviously, there are aspects inspired by Keaton, such as the alcohol-racked marriage to a nurse he had, but there is no reason to think that Billy Bright personally is meant to reflect Keaton's personality. Keaton never showed Bright's self-centered egotism and Keaton did not actually fight against making sound films.

I actually think Billy Bright is not really meant to be a great comedian, just as he is not meant to be a great person; he just thinks he is. In the clips that are shown Bright is kind of a Larry Semon-esque hack, who is all about the gags, not really about a personality or point of view. When he goes for pathos in his feature Forget Me Not, it comes off as simply jumping on the Chaplin bandwagon, as Langdon was accused of.

Though, as mentioned, there has been a DVD issue already, if there was ever a special edition issue of this film, the absolute perfect extra for the disc would be fullscreen, extended versions of all the clips that were made for the Bright Studios shorts. I was always especially impressed that Reiner or his co-writer were aware enough of silent comedy to include a bit from a Lloyd Hamilton short back in 1969, the coat hanger gag from Nobody's Business. At least I assume that's where they got the gag from, I haven't seen it in any other films.

[Jim Roots]

Dick Van Dyke was well-known to idolize Stan Laurel, with whom he was great friends. John McCabe quotes Stan as saying that if they ever made a film about himself, he wanted Dick to play him. And of course, Mr. DVD did Stan imitations on his own iconic TV show. So there is probably some "Stanley" in Billy Bright, although DVD was careful to insist the contrary lest anyone question his deep respect for the legend.

Jim

[wich2]

I don't think The Comic is meant to be based on a single film comedian ... I actually think Billy Bright is not really meant to be a great comedian, just as he is not meant to be a great person; he just thinks he is.

^This.

I've always liked the film, since its TV debut, and I think that summarizes Reiner & Van Dyke's take.

- Craig

[WaverBoy]

Wow, I’m amazed by the fact that this sadly underrated and maligned film is getting some love in this thread. I can’t count the times I’ve read opinions on the film from silent film fans who just can’t get past the character flaws of the protagonist. They are missing the entire point of the film, which is of course, Billy Bright is a talented but self-destructive alcoholic hothead, who ends up destroying his own career, his marriage, and his relationship with his son. And it’s to Van Dyke’s immense credit that he manages to pull off this often unlikable character and occasionally engender a bit of sympathy for him. I’ve always loved this film. And, DR. JERK & MR. HYDE is one of the most brilliant bits of parody ever. Dick would have been a wonderful silent film comedian.