This year at the Cannes Film Festival, Robert De Niro, who received an honorary Palme d’Or, has a rich history with the Croisette. Back in 1983, the acclaimed actor teamed up with director Martin Scorsese and co-star Jerry Lewis to debut The King of Comedy. This black comedy was De Niro’s fifth collaboration with Scorsese, following his best actor Oscar win for their previous project together, Raging Bull, in 1980.
In King of Comedy, De Niro portrays Rupert Pupkin, an aspiring comedian grappling with mental health issues who develops an unhealthy obsession with a late-night talk show hosted by his idol, Jerry Langford (Lewis). The script for the film was written over a decade earlier by Paul D. Zimmerman, a former critic for Newsweek. Initially, Michael Cimino was set to direct, but he was delayed due to his work on Heaven’s Gate. When Scorsese came aboard, he aimed to cast Johnny Carson as Langford, but the real-life talk show host declined by jokingly saying, “You know one take’s enough for me.
During the filming of King of Comedy, Scorsese was battling health issues. He had been hospitalized due to exhaustion and pneumonia, having filmed multiple movies in quick succession. Despite this, first-time producer Arnon Milchan urged him to start shooting King of Comedy a month early because of an impending directors’ strike. In his 2004 book, Scorsese on Scorsese, the director mentioned that one particularly challenging scene involved Pupkin visiting Langford’s home, stating it took two weeks and was incredibly difficult due to its intense nature.
The film was released by 20th Century Fox in theaters on February 13, 1983. Critics were impressed with the movie, with THR labeling it as a significant accomplishment for everyone involved. However, the grim film didn’t perform well at the box office, earning only $2.5 million ($8.4 million in today’s currency). Scorsese later commented that American audiences found The King of Comedy confusing and saw De Niro as a mannequin. But he believed it was De Niro’s finest performance ever.
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2025-05-13 14:24