A Thousand Clowns

"... IT'S A LIFT FOR THE SPIRITS"

Sep 9 1966 Approved 1h 58m
Comedy, Drama, Romance

Twelve-year-old Nick lives with his Uncle Murray, a Mr.Micawber-like Dickensian character who keeps hoping something won't turn up. What turns up is a social worker, who falls in love with Murray and a bit in love with Nick. As the child welfare people try to force Murray to become a conventional man (as the price they demand for allowing him to keep Nick), the nephew, who until now has gloried in his Uncle's iconoclastic approach to life, tries to play mediator. But when he succeeds, he is alarmed by the uncle's willingness to cave in to society in order to save the relationship.

Plot

12-year-old Nick lives with his Uncle Murray, a Mr. Micawber-like Dickensian character who keeps hoping something won't turn up. What turns up is a social worker who falls in love with Murray and a bit in love with Nick. As the child-welfare people try to force Murray to become a conventional man (the price they demand for allowing him to keep Nick), the nephew, who until now has gloried in his uncle's iconoclastic approach to life, tries to play mediator. But when he succeeds, he is alarmed by the uncle's willingness to cave in to society in order to save the relationship.

Written by

Herb Gardner

Directed by

Fred Coe

Cast

Jason Robards, Barbara Harris, Martin Balsam

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

Harrell

Languages

English

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 7 nominations total

Trailers
A Thousand Clowns (1965) - Theatrical Trailer
Scores
# of Votes
3,938
Average Rating
7.3 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA