The King of Comedy (1983)

In this black comedy, De Niro, again proves himself one of America's great actors. He is compelling, funny, tragic, idiotic, clever, and clumsy as a no-talent striver who creates a national TV career through sheer persistence and a scheme that the Lavender Hill Mob would dismiss as assinine. As Rupert Pupkin, a Times Square hangabout, he dogs celebrities for autographs. In the privacy of his mother's basement, he imagines himself the greatest comic in the world, patterning himself after funnyman talk show host Jerry Lewis (who leaves no doubt that he is doing Johnny Carson). It is De Niro's blinding ambition to appear on Lewis' show and become an overnight sensation.

He ingratiates himself to Lewis by fending off autograph seekers so that Lewis can get into his car, jumping in with him. He tells Lewis he is a comedian who has worked out a terrific routine; Lewis asks him to bring some of his material to his office. He does, but a stuffy blonde producer turns down De Niro, telling him to get some club dates and build up the act first. De Niro won't take no for an answer, sitting in the network waiting room until he realizes Lewis won't see him. He later invades the offices and is physically thrown out.

Still, he deludes himself into believing that he and Lewis are good friends. He takes his black girl friend, Diahnne Abbott, to see Lewis at his country estate where Lewis insults him and kicks him out. De Niro now resorts to drastic measures. He and another groupie, Sandra Bernhard, an obnoxious status seeker with money, abduct Lewis and hold him for a strange ransom: De Niro must be allowed to do his act before he is released.

He performs the routine on TV then, under police escort, goes to the bar where Abbott is working and watches the show before being led away to jail. When released, De Niro discovers that he has become the international star he always imagined himself to be, writes a best-selling autobiography, and even hosts his own network TV talk show. This ending, like that of Taxi Driver, may be nothing more than another fantasy triumphing over the bleak reality of the hero.

De Niro carries the entire film and does it beautifully, becoming the strange offbeat character most normal people see coming down the street and instantly avoid. More than a comedy, Scorsese's movie is also a tragedy about talentless, lonely people entangled in pedestrian and vacuous dreams.

Cast:

Performer, Character

Robert De Niro, Rupert Pupkin

Jerry Lewis, Jerry Langford

Diahnne Abbott, Rita

Sandra Bernhard, Masha

Ed Herlihy, Himself

Louis Brown, Bandleader

Richard Baratz, Caricaturist

Catherine Scorsese (Marty's Mom), Rupert's Mom

Cathy Scorsese, Dolores

Liza Minnelli, Herself

Shelley Hack, Cathy Long

Dr. Joyce Brothers, Herself

Victor Borge, Himself

Fred de Cordova, Bert Thomas

Martin Scorsese, TV Director

Tony Randall, Himself

Production Credits:

Producer, Arnon Milchan

Director, Martin Scorsese

Screenwriter, Paul Zimmerman

Editor, Thelma Schoonmaker

Cinematographer, Fred Schuler

Composer, Robbie Robertson