A Thousand Clowns Blu-ray

Firstly, a HUGE thanks to our Patreon supporters. Your generosity touches me deeply. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance has become essential. We are always trying to expand Patron benefits... you get access to the Silent Auctions and over 5000 unpublished screen captures (in lossless PNG format, if that has appeal for you) listed HERE. Please consider helping with $3 or more each month so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. Thank you so much. We aren't going to exist without another 100 or so patrons.

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Fred Coe
USA 1965

The great Jason Robards (The Day After) recreates his Broadway role as the iconoclastic Murray Burns in A Thousand Clowns. Murray is funny, feisty, compassionate and very determined to have nothing to do with the lemming-like rush-hour world. But his resolve is tested when social workers Sandra (Barbara Harris, The War Between Men and Women) and Albert (William Daniels, The Graduate) tell him that he must shape up… or his 12-year-old nephew Nick (Barry Gordon, Body Slam) will be shipped out to a foster home. Released when workday lifestyles went largely unchallenged, this inventive comedy-drama gleefully speaks to the nonconformist in us all. Martin Balsam (After the Fox), Gene Saks (The Prisoner of Second Avenue) and John McMartin (Sweet Charity) co-star in this classic film directed by Fred Coe (Me, Natalie) with a screenplay by Herb Gardner (Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?) based on his own play. A Thousand Clowns won the 1966 Oscar for Actor in a Supporting Role (Balsam) and was nominated for three more Oscars: Picture (Coe), Adapted Screenplay (Gardner) and Score (Don Walker).

***

Twelve-year-old Nick lives with his Uncle Murray, a Mr.Micawber-like Dickensian character who keeps hoping something won't turn up. What turns up is a social worker, who falls in love with Murray and a bit in love with Nick. As the child welfare people try to force Murray to become a conventional man (as the price they demand for allowing him to keep Nick), the nephew, who until now has gloried in his Uncle's iconoclastic approach to life, tries to play mediator. But when he succeeds, he is alarmed by the uncle's willingness to cave in to society in order to save the relationship.

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 13th, 1965

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:58:03.826
Video	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 40,813,427,811 bytes Feature: 36,811,223,040 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 40,813,427,811 bytes Feature: 36,811,223,040 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Diary of a Middle-Aged Kid: NEW Interview with Co-Star Barry Gordon (15:22) • Theatrical Trailer (3:02 - SD) Blu-ray Release Date: May 5th, 2020 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 10

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (May 2020): Kino have transferred Fred Coe's A Thousand Clowns to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand New 2K Master". It looks quite good in a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. There are a few instances where the source appears compromised but generally the 1080P exhibits a clean black and white image, well-layered contrast (impressive black levels) and occasional depth.

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. The film itself has a vérité quality with some of the dialogue sounding intentionally scattered in walking throughout the city. The Dixieland-jazzy score is by Don Walker (his only film composure credit) with the 'theme' - Judy Holliday and Gerry Mulligan's "A Thousand Clowns" sung by Rita Gardner sounding quite pleasing in the lossless. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new 1/4 hour interview with co-star Barry Gordon entitled Diary of a Middle-Aged Kid. He discusses his career starting with a neighbor submitting his name to The Ted Mack Amateur Hour (first locally, then nationally) from his frequent public singing as a child (I think he said he was 4-years old). He moved to variety shows (The Jack Benny Program, The Danny Thomas Show etc.) and moves to A Thousand Clowns. It's pretty interesting. There is also an SD trailer for the film.

You can understand why A Thousand Clowns is so beloved by many people. It could be 'the best film you've never seen before'. A joyous human expression that is great to have on Blu-ray. My advice is to give this film a chance - odds are you will adore its charm. Strongly recommended!