Jerry Lewis, left, jokes with actor Pierre Etaix during the shooting of the film. AFP
Jerry Lewis, left, jokes with actor Pierre Etaix during the shooting of the film. AFP
Jerry Lewis, left, jokes with actor Pierre Etaix during the shooting of the film. AFP
Jerry Lewis, left, jokes with actor Pierre Etaix during the shooting of the film. AFP

Controversial Jerry Lewis film to be given to scholars – after 52-year wait


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One of cinema’s most sought-after films will be made available for academic research later this year.

Comedian Jerry Lewis’s controversial holocaust film The Day the Clown Cried, filmed in 1972 but beset by production issues, has never been made available in any form. In the global film community, the project has become the stuff of legend.

Earlier this year, The National reported that the story was set to screen, in a potentially unfinished form, in June. This was based on a 2015 report in the New York Post, in which a film archivist told the newspaper that a screening would be held at the National Audio-Visual Conservation Centre, Virginia.

Jerry Lewis, who died in 2017, gave his footage to the Library of Congress in 2014, stipulating that it could not be screened for 10 years after the donation occurred.

However, the Library of Congress has stated it will not hold a screening, following Lewis's reported wishes, telling Indiewire that nothing is currently planned for this year.

Jerry Lewis completed production on The Day the Clown Cried 52 years ago, but the film has never been released. AFP
Jerry Lewis completed production on The Day the Clown Cried 52 years ago, but the film has never been released. AFP

The institution also confirmed it does not have a complete cut of the film. The report reveals what is in the institution's possession for the first time – the Library of Congress has several unedited scenes from the film, as well as sound reels that might not align with the footage in question.

The surviving footage will not stay in the vaults, it reveals. Rather, the materials “will be made available to scholars for research later this year”, reports Indiewire.

Additionally, while there are currently no plans for a screening, that does not preclude such an event from occurring either this year or at a later date.

The Library of Congress says it does not have a complete cut of Jerry Lewis's controversial film. Getty Images
The Library of Congress says it does not have a complete cut of Jerry Lewis's controversial film. Getty Images

What is The Day the Clown Cried about?

The Day the Clown Cried tells the story of a German circus clown who is imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp for mocking Adolf Hitler and is then forced to lure children to their deaths as punishment. Lewis played the part of the clown, Helmut Doork.

Lewis had mixed feelings about the film, only showing pieces of it to close friends. After watching it, The Simpsons star Harry Shearer said it was “a perfect object”, adding: “This movie is so drastically wrong, its pathos and its comedy are so wildly misplaced, that you could not, in your fantasy of what it might be like, improve on what it really is.”

In an interview with The New York Times in 2018, Chris Lewis, the comedian's son, said: “It was something that was very close to his heart.”

At other times, however, Lewis denounced the film. In 2013, footage of him surfaced on YouTube in which he stated: “It was bad, and it was bad because I lost the magic. No one will ever see it, because I'm embarrassed at the poor work.”

It is not known whether another surviving copy exists elsewhere, besides the footage that Lewis himself possessed.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

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Padmaavat

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh

3.5/5

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Honeymoonish
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'The worst thing you can eat'

Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.

Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines: 

Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.

Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.

Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.

Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.

Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

THE SPECS

Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)

Power: 141bhp 

Torque: 250Nm 

Price: Dh64,500

On sale: Now

The Baghdad Clock

Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld

Klopp at the Kop

Matches 68; Wins 35; Draws 19; Losses 14; Goals For 133; Goals Against 82

  • Eighth place in Premier League in 2015/16
  • Runners-up in Europa League in 2016
  • Runners-up in League Cup in 2016
  • Fourth place in Premier League in 2016/17

Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press

Meydan race card

6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh125,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,200m​​​​​​​
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m​​​​​​​
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh170,000 (D) 1,900m​​​​​​​
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m​​​​​​​
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 (D)1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m

The low down

Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films

Director: Namrata Singh Gujral

Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark

Rating: 2/5

Stree

Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5

Fines for littering

In Dubai:

Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro

Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle. 
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle

In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches 

MATCH INFO

What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Disclaimer

Director: Alfonso Cuaron 

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville 

Rating: 4/5

SERIE A FIXTURES

Saturday Benevento v Atalanta (2pm), Genoa v Bologna (5pm), AC Milan v Torino (7.45pm)

Sunday Roma v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Udinese v Napoli, Hellas Verona v Crotone, Parma v Lazio (2pm), Fiorentina v Cagliari (9pm), Juventus v Sassuolo (11.45pm)

Monday Spezia v Sampdoria (11.45pm)

New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

Updated: April 02, 2024, 2:46 PM