MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 439 this week

A Thousand Clowns (1965)

7.4
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.4/10 from 1,883 users  
Reviews: 54 user | 24 critic

A middle-aged iconoclast, doggedly avoiding the tedium of employment and conventional life, faces the prospect of losing custody of his young ward.

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (play)
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 421 titles created 3 months ago
 
a list of 250 titles created 25 Apr 2011
 
a list of 457 titles created 22 Nov 2011
 
a list of 135 titles created 24 Oct 2010
 
a list of 503 titles created 8 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: A Thousand Clowns (1965)

A Thousand Clowns (1965) on IMDb 7.4/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of A Thousand Clowns.
Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

The Graduate (1967)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

Recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock is trapped into an affair with Mrs. Robinson, who happens to be the wife of his father's business partner and then finds himself falling in love with her daughter, Elaine.

Director: Mike Nichols
Stars: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A couple of high school grads spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

Director: George Lucas
Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat
Annie Hall (1977)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditsy Annie Hall.

Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.

Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Barbara Hershey, Michael Caine, Mia Farrow
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.

Director: Howard Hawks
Stars: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
Manhattan (1979)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A divorced New Yorker currently dating a high-schooler brings himself to look for love in the mistress of his best friend instead.

Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Take two rival TV reporters: one handsome, one talented, both male. Add one producer, female. Mix well and watch the sparks fly.

Director: James L. Brooks
Stars: William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

A single mother/waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is in an accident.

Director: James L. Brooks
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear
Roman Holiday (1953)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.

Director: William Wyler
Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert
The Apartment (1960)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realizing that they're falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Stars: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A million dollar Tycoon hires a tutor to teach his lover proper etiquette.

Director: George Cukor
Stars: Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford, William Holden
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
Murray
...
Sandra
...
Arnold
Gene Saks ...
Leo
...
Albert
Philip Bruns ...
The Man in The Restaurant (as Phil Bruns)
...
The Man in the Office (as John Macmartin)
...
Nick Burns / Wilbur Malcome Burns / Theodore Burns / Raphael Sabatini / Dr. Morris Fishbein / Woodrow Burns / Chevrolet Burns / Big Sam Burns / Lefty Burns
Edit

Storyline

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. Written by Warlen Bassham <wcb@zso.dec.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

...IT'S A LIFT FOR THE SPIRITS See more »

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Certificate:

Unrated | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

9 September 1966 (Finland)  »

Also Known As:

El payaso de la ciudad  »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(RCA)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two of the names Nick adopted temporarily are those of specific real people. Dr. Morris Fishbein was the very controversial editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) from 1924 to 1950. In 1947 Time Magazine described him as "the nation's most ubiquitous, the most widely maligned, and perhaps most influential medico." Rafael Sabatini was an author, and a few of his most popular novels were adapted for film. These films include Captain Blood and Scaramouche. See more »

Goofs

As Murray puts on a shirt, his toothbrush appears and disappears in his mouth between shots. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Murray Burns: [shouts at rows of houses] Neighbors, I have an announcement for you. I have never seen such a collection of dirty windows. Now I want to see all of you out there on the fire escape with your Mr. Clean bottles, and let's snap it up!
See more »

Crazy Credits

In opening credits: and introducing Barry Gordon as Nick. In the end credits, Gordon is credited to all the different names his character has tried: Nick Burns, Wilbur Malcome Burns, Theodore Burns, Raphael Sabatini, Dr. Morris Fishbein, Woodrow Burns, Chevrolet Burns, Big Sam Burns and Lefty Burns. In the film, however, he is just called Nick. See more »

Connections

References King Kong (1933) See more »

Soundtracks

"Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (The Boys Are Marching): (1864) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by George Frederick Root
In the score during the opening credits
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
I bet you didn't know comedy could be so smart & thoughtful.
18 February 2005 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

It's truly a shame that this film has escaped the attention of the last few generations of movie watchers -- not only have most people not seen this film, it's likely that only a small percentage of folks have ever even heard of it. I dare say that both the character Jason Robards portrays and this film as a whole are more relevant today than half of the comedies produced 5 or 10 years ago. The bottom line is this, if you're looking for great acting and smart dialogue, and are getting tired of the 'I've-just-wasted-the-last-couple-of-hours-of-my-life' feeling that comes over today's average TV viewer or cineplex visitor, then you simply must do yourself a favor and seek out this hidden gem.


28 of 32 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Why is it called A Thousand Clowns? AccidntlTourist
Locations Kathryn-3
How I just saw it jcoonrod
Dixieland 'Stars And Stripes Forever' In Film surf_sussman
Test for Humanity rob-774
Song that Jason Robards sang -with banjo accompaniment jacandjim
Discuss A Thousand Clowns (1965) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?