Joker Is Wild (The)

Genre: biographical drama (in black and white)

With: Frank Sinatra (Joe E. Lewis), Mitzi Gaynor (Martha Stewart), Jeanne Crain (Letty Page), Eddie Albert (Austin Mack), Beverly Garland (Cassie Mack), Jackie Coogan (Swifty Morgan), Barry Kelley (Captain Hugh McCarthy), Ted de Corsia (Georgie Parker), Leonard Graves (Tim Coogan)

Director: Charles Vidor

Screenplay: Oscar Saul (based on the book by Art Cohn)

Release: 1957

Studio: AMBL Productions

Rating: Approved

MBiS score: 8.3/10 

 

‟Make me laugh.”

  

QuickView

Story-line: Chicago in the mid-1920s. When Joe E. Lewis, a singer at Georgie’s 777 Club, receives an offer from the rival Valencia Club, he readily takes it because the Valencia is ‟a classy joint where they carry the drunks out instead of throwing ’em in the street”. Georgie, who doesn’t like the idea, warns him outright: his bar may be a speakeasy but employees don’t ditch him easily. As things turn out, Joe’s decision will impact his whole life.

Pluses: superb acting by Frank Sinatra, Eddie Albert, Mitzi Gaynor and a radiant Jeanne Crain, competent and well-paced direction, a thoughtful and realistic screenplay true to the mood of the times, irreproachable cinematography and fine production values (costumes especially).

Minuses: didn’t find any, baby!

Comments: Frank Sinatra − who has played in some 40 movies and won an Academy Award for FROM HERE TO ETERNITY − once mentioned that his most Oscar-worthy performance came in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM. I wouldn’t dare challenge his opinion but THE JOKER IS WILD amply demonstrates his overall range as a lead actor, playing drama impeccably, showing perfect timing as a comedian and hitting the right notes as a happy, sad, funny and frustrating character. And the movie itself is much more than a reverential show-biz biopic; in vivid, lively fashion, it tells the tragic story of an entertainer tottering between the limelight and skid row. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something in Joe’s life that approaches Frank’s times with the Rat Pack. Thus a great fit for the Chairman of the Board…

 

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