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Nat Wachsberger was born on 4 October 1916 in Antwerp, Belgium. He was a producer and writer, known for Starcrash (1978), That Man in Istanbul (1965) and The Mafia Wants Blood (1970). He was married to Yvette Lebon. He died on 1 February 1992 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
- Producer, Writer
- October 4, 1916
- Nat Wachsberger
- February 1, 1992
Nat Wachsberger was born on October 4, 1916 in Antwerp, Belgium. He was a producer and writer, known for Starcrash (1978), That Man in Istanbul (1965) and The Mafia Wants Blood (1970). He was married to Yvette Lebon. He died on February 1, 1992 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
- October 4, 1916
- February 1, 1992
Apr 30, 2023 · A long-running distribution battle involving Jerry Lewis and producer Nat Wachsberger is a likely cause for the film being shelved.
- Thomas Butt
- Senior Author
- The Plot
- The Role Rejectors
- Lewis' Preparation
- Production Problems
- Post-Production Drama
- Reactions to The Film
- Lewis' Motivation
- Lewis' Change of Heart
- The Award Nomination
- How Many People Have Ever Actually Seen The Day The Clown cried?
Written by Joan O'Brien and Charles Denton, the film's story told of Helmut Doork, a circus clown in Nazi Germany who has recently been fired. Doork gets drunk at a local bar, pokes fun at Hitler, and is taken to prison camp. After his act bombs with his fellow prisoners, Doork goes out alone to the prison yard and tries out his shtick. There, he o...
Dick Van Dyke, Milton Berle, and Bobby Darin had all been approached about playing Doork in the film and all had (wisely) declined. But Jerry Lewis, probably to his eternal regret, decided to take the role, and agreed to take the directing helm to boot.
To prepare himself for his role, Lewis toured the remains of both Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps in Germany in February of 1972. (The film's concentration camp scenes were actually shot in a Swedish military compound.) He also reportedly dropped 40 pounds to play Doork, going on a six-week all-grapefruit diet.
Not much is known about the actual production of the film, adding to its cloak of mystery. What we do know indicates that when Lewis' first "serious movie" began filming in Stockholm, trouble started almost from the word "Go." Film equipment was either lost or delivered late, and the necessary money was nowhere in sight. Ostensibly the film's produ...
Once production had ended, Lewis claimed (rightfully so) that Wachsberger had failed to make good on his promise of financial obligations. Incredibly, Wachsberger threatened to file a breach of contract suit against Lewis and claimed he had enough footage to finish the film without its star. The studio held the film's negative, but Lewis took a cut...
In the early 1980s, Europa Studios announced their plan to edit the negative of the film and finally release it. But O'Brien and Denton, the writers, stopped this from happening, saying it could never be released. O'Brien had seen a rough cut and declared it "was a disaster." Interestingly, Lewis has screened the film for a very select few Hollywoo...
Jerry Lewis' original motive in making the film was to make more people aware of the horrors of the Holocaust, a noble goal. But since the film was made, other movies, most notably the two multiple Oscar-winners Life is Beautiful (1997) and Steven Spielberg's now-classic Schindler's List (1992) have been released, and the purpose Lewis wanted to se...
While Lewis once thought "the Academy can't ignore this" about The Day the Clown Criedand vowed in his autobiography that "one way or another, I'll get it done," he has definitely soured on the film over the years. He keeps his copy (the only copy of the film on video cassette) locked up in his vault to this day. He refuses to discuss any facet of ...
In 1980, The Day the Clown Cried was nominated for a "Golden Turkey Award" (the precursor to today's Razzies—awards for the worst films). It was nominated in the "Worst Movie You Never Saw" category, but it couldn't even win that, losing to Billy Jack Goes to Washington, which, in contrast, was eventually released on DVD.
According to Shawn Levy, who wrote an excellent biography of Jerry Lewis (King of Comedy, 1997), the figure may be as low as 11, and may be as high as a few hundred.
Jan 12, 2024 · The film’s troubled fate unfolded when disagreements arose between Lewis and producer Nat Wachsberger post-filming, leading to the movie being shelved. Lewis, displeased with financing and alleging contractual breaches by Wachsberger, walked away with a rough cut of the film.
Dec 22, 2021 · Lewis was approached with the project in 1971 by producer Nat Wachsberger, who offered him the chance to direct and star in the picture with full financial backing.
Mar 16, 2016 · Jerry Lewis' The Day the Clown Cried is one of the most famous "never released films" in movie history. In 1971, while appearing at the Olympia theater, Jerry was approached by "producer" Nat Wachsberger. Wachsberger told Jerry of his idea for a film called The Day the Clown Cried.
