My Oscar Journey!

Day 98: “A Thousand Clowns”

“A Thousand Clowns” is a quirky little film based on the play by Herb Gardner, about an eccentric man named Murray Burns (played by Jason Robards) who is forced to find a job in order to keep custody of his young nephew Nick (played by Barry Gordon). The two social workers who mandate the Murray improve his living conditions for Nick are played by William Daniels (who will be familiar to most people as Mr. Feeny from “Boy Meets World) and Barbara Harris (who’s character eventually starts a relationship with Murray). The film is a little strange at times and hard to get into for about the first twenty minutes, but after the film settles and you get used to the style, it actually becomes an interesting film. Most of the cast reprises their roles from Broadway (except for Harris, who replaced Tony/Oscar winner Sandy Dennis) and they all do a fine job. Robards is great as Murray, but sometimes a little too loud and “stagey”. I loved Barry Gordon as the precocious young Nick and Harris also does a nice job with Dr. Sandra. Martin Balsam won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Murray’s brother/agent, Arnold.