THE COMEDY MAN

1965, UK, 82 minutes, Black and white.
Kenneth More, Dennis Price, Cecil Parker, Billie Whitelaw, Edmund Purdom, Angela Douglas, Frank Finlay, Alan Dobie, Norman Rossington.
Directed by Alvin Rakoff.

The Comedy Man is a short, bitter comedy about disillusionment. As the curtain goes down an a play, we are taken behind the scenes into the life of an aging actor who has lost his idealism but not his love for the theatre, who cannot relate well to people, and who blunders his way through his seedy existence, culminating in, for him, the utter humiliation of starring in T.V. commercials.

Kenneth More is completely convincing in a pathetic role with a hand-picked British supporting cast. Sobering adult comedy-drama.

1. How ironic was the title of the film? Judy uses the phrase.

2. How pungent, realistic and ironic was the whole film? Entertaining? Comic? Sad? Depressing?

3. Comment on the effectiveness of the musical theme, the lights in the credits, the irony of the curtain calls and Chig Byrd's comment on the leading lady. How much was communicated about him in this?

4. What kind of man was he? Did he have any character? Had he limited his life? What effect did age have an him? Did he have many interior resources? How disillusioned was he?

5. How did he contrast with Julian who was up and coming? Was he more likeable then Julian? There was talk of phonies; who was the greater?

6. What kind of women was Judy? Why could she and Chig not establish their relationship better? Who was the cause of the failure?

7. How humiliating was the commercial work and bit parts for Chig Bird the Indian sequence and the union difficulties? Why?

8. How did Faye Trubshaw come across as a person - sincere or phony? Her relationship with Chig? Love? What future as an actress did she have?

9. Comment on Tommy Morris and Rutherford Thomas as examples of the theatre world and their effect an Byrd.

10. What was the importance of Jack in the film - the birth of his child, his death and funeral, Byrd's rebuke by his wife?

11. How much truth was told to Byrd by Judy when he went to her for breakfast in borrowing money,?

12. How satirical were the Honeybreath commercials - how low in self-esteem had Byrd gone in doing them? The contrast with the visit to the theatre where he mouths the auditioner's words?

13. What was the paint of the long party sequence - how was Chig's isolation shown, the phoniness of Julian, the pushiness of Faye? What was Chig's final decision? Why? Faye's reaction?

14. Was this a truthful film about people, work, depression?