"Yes, sir, that's my baby" (1925), music by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by Gus Kahn
I tried to find out more about the actors.
- Barry Gordon, who plays the young boy Nick, went into politics, ran for Congress as a Democrat, then went on to teach political science. I wonder why he stopped acting? Perhaps he was just too young when he started. I though he was pretty good, and funny.
- Jason Robards, who plays Nick's uncle Murray, continued acting in secondary roles until his death in 2000. I thought he was better than a "supporting actor" but Hollywood can be fickle. But, he had a long career including stage acting.
- Barbara Harris, the social worker who comes to take Nick away from his wayward uncle, also has had a long acting career, in theater, Broadway, film and television. But, she never became famous, although she has acted in many well-known films.
- Martin Balsam is probably the most famous actor of the group, though hardly a blockbuster star.
But, this enchanting little film was probably the bright star in their acting lives. All the actors are unique and "quirky" as the Wikipedia profile describes Barbara Harris. Maybe they were a little too quirky for Hollywood.
Here are the awards the film won:
- Martin Balsam won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
- Jason Robards was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor - Musical/Comedy
- Barbra Harris was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress - Musical/Comedy
- Herb Gardner won the 1965 WGA Award for Best Written American Comedy.
- Ralph Rosenblum was nominated for the American Cinema Editors 1966 "Golden Eddie" award for film editing.
- The film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Music (Scoring of Music, Adaptation, or Treatment), and Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) at the Oscars
The film's title A Thousand Clowns is also the title of the theme song.
A Thousand Clowns Lyrics by Judy Holliday
A thousand clowns I'll bring you
Just to make you laugh
A blue baboon
And a red raccoon
A lavender giraffe
A thousand stars I'll string you
To weave into a crown
And pale perfume
From a rose's bloom
And a peacock-feather coat
A thousand songs I'll sing you
To help you with your dreams
Of rainbow's ends
And loving friends
And sparkling silver streams
A thousand years I'll love you
Our love will never die
And when a thousand years from now
They're looking at the sky
They'll see two stars together
As close as they could be
One star will be you my love
The other will be me
I've reposted my original post below, including a video of Nick and Murray singing "Yes Sir, That's My Baby."
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A Thousand Clowns
A whacky film from NYC
Camera Lucida
March 01, 2009
"Yes, sir, that's my baby" (1925), music by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by Gus Kahn
I've always thought that there is something about black and white film that somehow makes for beautiful imagery. I think it is the glittering contrast of the light and dark, the shimmering grays, the lines (like a black and white drawing) which allows us to focus on the images than when the film is so cluttered with color.
Anyway, this funny, at times sad, film A thousand clowns made in 1965 is about the maturation of a middle-aged man who has to follow conventions in order to keep his twelve-year-old nephew with him, and not have him whisked away by do-gooders from the child welfare agency.
The film was also a lovely opportunity to see the sights of the city: the rivers and harbors, Central Park, Lincoln Center (as it was being built!), Brooklyn Bridge, brownstone buildings and the solid, stately apartment buildings whose beautiful architecture always surprises me.
There was a scene where Murray (the eccentric uncle) was sitting by the glittering river, head in hand, gulls flying around him, when he had to decide that his behavior had to change in order to keep his beloved nephew Nick. There was no sound, but the flurry of gulls' wings around him, which reflected his state of mind. The director filmed it just slightly slow-motion giving a touch of heaviness to the scene (imagine gulls taking off in "slightly slow-motion"), indicating once again Murray's burdened mind. There were many editing and filmic devices such as this that the director used to make similar symbolic or metaphoric statements.
For all his clowning around, Murray (Jason Robards) has a great voice, a little of which you can listen to in the above YouTube, where he sings the film's signature "Yes, Sir, that's my baby".