scorsese	...	(Director)
Jerry Lewis, Bill Richmond	...	(Writer)
Robert De Niro	...
Jerry Lewis	...	Professor Julius Kelp
Stella Stevens	...	Stella Purdy
Del Moore	...	Dr. Hamius R. Warfield
Kathleen Freeman	...	Millie Lemmon
Med Flory	...	Football Player
Norman Alden	...	Football Player
Howard Morris	...	Mr. Elmer Kelp
Elvia Allman	...	Mother Edwina Kelp
Milton Frome	...	Dr. M. Sheppard Leevee
Buddy Lester	...	Purple Pit Bartender
Marvin Kaplan	...	Man at Nightclub
David Landfield	...	College Student
Skip Ward	...	Football Player
Julie Parrish	...	College Student
Henry Gibson	...	Gibson, College Student
Sandra Bernhard	...
Lou Brown (III)	...
Vinnie Gonzales	...

Comments: What does he become? What kind of monster?

Summary: The King of Comedy, which flopped at the box office, is actually a gem waiting to be rediscovered. Like A Face in the Crowd (a not-so-distant cousin to this film), Network, and The Truman Show, its target is show business--specifically the burning desire to become famous or be near the famous, no matter what. Robert De Niro plays the emotionally unstable, horrendously untalented Rupert Pupkin, a wannabe Vegas-style comedian. His fantasies are egged on by Marsha, a talk-show groupie (brilliantly played by Sandra Bernhard) who hatches a devious, sure-to-backfire plan. Jerry Lewis is terrific in the straight role as the Johnny Carson-like talk-show host Jerry Langford. De Niro's performance as the obsessive Pupkin is among his finest (which is saying a lot) and he never tries to make the character likable in any way. Because there's no hero and no one to root for, and because at times the film insists we get a little too close and personal with Pupkin, some will be put off. Yet it's one of Scorsese's most original and fascinating films, giving viewers much to consider on the subject of celebrity. Its inevitable climax is clever and quietly horrific. --Christopher J. Jarmick