Rupert Pupkin is a passionate yet unsuccessful comic who craves nothing more than to be in the spotlight and to achieve this, he stalks and kidnaps his idol to take the spotlight for himself.
An egotistical saxophonist and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long, up-hill climb.
Director:
Martin Scorsese
Stars:
Liza Minnelli,
Robert De Niro,
Lionel Stander
Rupert Pupkin is obsessed with becoming a comedy great. However, when he confronts his idol, talk show host Jerry Langford, with a plea to perform on the Jerry's show, he is only given the run-around. He does not give up, however, but persists in stalking Jerry until he gets what he wants. Eventually he must team up with his psychotic Langford-obsessed friend Masha to kidnap the talk show host in hopes of finally getting to perform his stand-up routine.Written by
Andrew Hyatt <dres@uiuc.edu>
When Jerry Langford is walking down the street, he is stopped by a woman talking on the telephone. When Jerry refuses to talk to someone on the phone, the lady says, "I hope you get cancer". This incident actually happened to Jerry Lewis. According to Scorsese, Lewis directed this segment himself. See more »
Goofs
The TV sets in the store display window near the end, where Jerry Langford angrily watches the end of Rupert Pupkin's TV appearance, are all tuned to channel 3. There is no TV station in New York City on channel 3 (two major stations, WCBS and WNBC, are on channels 2 and 4 respectively). However, channel 3 was (and is) commonly used for connecting video devices such as home computers and videotape recorders to TV sets. The film crew most likely rigged a videotape player to the TVs to mimic a network broadcast, thus requiring them to be tuned to channel 3--a small detail that most audience members wouldn't have noticed. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Ed Herlihy:
And now, from New York, The Jerry Langford Show! With Jerry's guests Tony Randall, Richard Dreyfuss, Rodney Dangerfield, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Lou Brown and the orchestra, and little old me Ed Herlihy. And now say hello to Jerry!
See more »
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro seem to have taken a different road to arrive to very familiar places. Forttunately we're all in for the ride. This is a bitter, dark comedy in the tradition of Pietro Germi and Mario Monicelli. In Scorsese's hands it becomes something we've never seen before. De Niro travels unknown territory with the panache of a seasoned explorer. His Rupert Pupkin is a sub Jay Leno without an agent. His hunger is as shallow as his talent. The arrival to Jerry Lewis's house without an invitation trying to impress his girl is one of the most painful studies in modern humiliation ever put on film. I found myself laughing in horror. "The King of Comedy" is ripe for a revival. Some people consider it a "minor" Scorsese. I disagree. I think it's one of Scorsese and De Niro's best.
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Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro seem to have taken a different road to arrive to very familiar places. Forttunately we're all in for the ride. This is a bitter, dark comedy in the tradition of Pietro Germi and Mario Monicelli. In Scorsese's hands it becomes something we've never seen before. De Niro travels unknown territory with the panache of a seasoned explorer. His Rupert Pupkin is a sub Jay Leno without an agent. His hunger is as shallow as his talent. The arrival to Jerry Lewis's house without an invitation trying to impress his girl is one of the most painful studies in modern humiliation ever put on film. I found myself laughing in horror. "The King of Comedy" is ripe for a revival. Some people consider it a "minor" Scorsese. I disagree. I think it's one of Scorsese and De Niro's best.