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This movie is hard to track down, but worth watching if you like Dick Van Dyke (who doesn't?), Stan Laurel, or silent film comedy in general. While the movie itself isn't the best thing Dick Van Dyke has ever done, he's very good in it. Being a big fan of silent films himself, you can tell this film meant something to him. Hopefully it well be more available to the public in future. There's some great original gags created by Dick and Mickey Rooney is fun to see as well. Don't expect this movie to change your life (unless you want to be a slapstick comedian that is), but it's entertaining to watch. Dick Van Dyke is always a joy.

With "The Dick Van Dyke Show" off the air, Carl Reiner probably wanted to show that both he and Dick Van Dyke still could do comedy, so they made "The Comic". This movie casts Van Dyke as a 1920s comedian - apparently loosely based on Buster Keaton - who hits it big only to have his obsession with fame slowly destroy him (it always does seem to happen like that, doesn't it?) as talkies take over.

In a way, there are actually two movies here. The short movies-within-the-movie are pure slapstick comedy, but the movie itself is more serious, at times grim (yes, the man known as Rob Petrie CAN actually do a serious role). It's sort of like Richard Attenborough's "Chaplin" in that sense.

All in all, this isn't a great movie or anything, but it is worth seeing. Part reminiscence (it portrays him as an old man looking back on his life), part nostalgia, and part humor, it gives us all something to think about. Even if you don't watch any other parts, you just gotta see the short films that they make. Also starring Michele Lee, Mickey Rooney, Cornel Wilde, Nina Wayne, and Ed Peck, Steve Allen, and Carl Reiner in smaller roles.

"The Comic" is one movie I could always watch again as I think it was the best thing Dick Van Dyke ever did. I always thought that Harry Langdon was the chief prototype for the Billy Bright character because of his pork pie hat that he wore. I didn't know much about his personal life but that when he decided to write, direct and produce his own films, he learned too late that he should have left that to people who knew their business. Thanks to the other bloggers on this site, I learned about Buster Keaton. Never quite understood his character, just that dead pan face of his. Mickey Rooney of course was modeled after Ben Turpin. He makes the prophetic comment that when people stopped laughing at his crooked eyes, they started killing each other. There was a cute scene where Billy and "Popeye" are walking up Hollywood Boulevard and Billy is guessing whose footprints he's stepping on. When he reaches Chaplin, he looks down and says "He never became a citizen." A comment which was made for criticism but tinged with a bit of envy. A classic, underrated movie, in the same class as "Face in the Crowd."

Supposedly loosely based on Buster Keaton's life, The Comic doesn't really have as much to do with him as you might think. It skips over his childhood and start in vaudeville, his schtick is exaggerated facial expressions rather than a "great stone face", it makes you think he never made a talking picture, and it doesn't feature his third and final marriage. However, it is about a silent movie comedian who married an actress, had a signature hat, directed his own pictures, had a drinking problem, and made a comeback with television talk shows and advertisements. On a basic level, you can see the similarities, but by admitting that the basis is only "loose", audiences should not take it as a biography.

Sprinkled into the story are obvious throwbacks to other silent era comedians, like Stan Laurel, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and even a nod to John Barrymore's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In one of the featured pictures, the love interest is a blind girl, like in City Lights. I can only imagine Dick Van Dyke had a blast making this movie, paying tribute to his early heroes, and mugging around in short comedy sketches that utilize his famous goofy facial expressions. However, this isn't your typical Van Dyke comedy written and directed by Carl Reiner. The film is set during Dick's funeral, and as he narrates and gives bitter commentary of the attendants, we see some flashbacks of his life. In the first flashback, we see him trying on different wigs to dress up as a clown. The dramatic-silly dichotomy is a little jarring at times, since it might seem like the movie doesn't know what genre it wants to fit into.

For me, the best scene in the movie was when Dick made a television appearance on Steve Allen's talk show. He's older, a has-been, desperate, but trying to retain dignity and screen presence in front of millions of television viewers. You can really see his impersonation of Buster Keaton: his gravelly voice, thinning hair, bobbing head, the cadence of his speech, and even the way he holds his mouth. I've seen Buster's tv appearances, and they're a great match.

You'll see some old timers in the supporting cast mixed in with newcomers like Michele Lee, playing Dick's first wife: Cornel Wilde, Mickey Rooney, and even Jerome Cowan (I always appreciate seeing him even if it's only for a few seconds, and in his last movie.) If you're a Keaton fan, you might not like this movie since it's not a strict biography. But if you're a Van Dyke fan and want to see a gradual transition from comedy to drama (before you dive into heavy flicks like The Country Girl or The Morning After), you can check it out. Just get past the clown scene and it'll get better.

In Carl Reiner's The Comic, Dick Van Dyke gets to show his full range of talents especially in he art of pantomime. In homage to the the great silent screen comics like Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, and Van Dyke's own hero and mentor Stan Laurel.

Van Dyke really mst have loved working on that whole middle section of the film where we see his character Billy Bright's silent screen work.

The film is done in flashback where Van Dyke in the coffin does voice over commentary. What he says never quite matches up to what he does.

Michele Lee as the first wife and Mickey Rooney as his second banana sidekick stand out in the supporting cast. Also Pert Kelton as a prospective mother-in-law from hell and Scott James as his fashion designer grown son who has one scene and really stands out.

With James though the role is stereotypical it also meant visibility for gay people, one of the first and in the year of Stonewall.

Too bad The Comic isn't out and available. It was worth the wait to see it.

It's the funeral of forgotten silent film era comedic icon Billy Bright (Dick Van Dyke). It is lightly attended by old colleagues. The movie goes back to the beginning when he left Vaudeville to go into the moving pictures. Frank Powers is the director. Mary Gibson (Michele Lee) and Martin 'Cockeye' Van Buren (Mickey Rooney) are his co-stars.

I really love Chaplin-like melodrama during the silent era. The moustache talk is great and kidnapping the wrong son is absolute perfection. The older Billy has one main issue. Why would a young girl try to marry a poor old man? It makes a little more sense if the mom tries to marry him. At least, give the girl a drug problem or something. He could be feeding her habit. As it stands, she has nothing to gain from marrying him unless he still has money. His home certainly doesn't look like it. On the other hand, I love his relationship with Cockeye and their game on the Walk of Fame. More could have been done with the son and I'm uncertain about playing duo roles. It's a showy scene rather than a poignant scene. It needs to be a poignant scene. This is an early directing effort from Carl Reiner who also co-wrote the movie. It's really good.

A fascinating (yet flawed) film which displays obvious affection for and knowledge of the work and lives of the great silent comedians. Van Dyke, who actually knew Stan Laurel personally, is wonderful. However, director/writer Carl Reiner for some reason decided to take the worst personal problems from the lives of Chaplin (womanizing), Keaton (drinking), Langdon (ego), etc. - and bestow them all on Van Dyke's character, Billy Bright. Why this was necessary and the approach decided upon for this picture is still a mystery.

This film was obviously made to use the comic talents of Dick Van Dyke and they did. He was always pulling faces and doing pratfalls on stage and TV and has always had a strikingly strong resemblance to a young Stan Laurel. It had been said in early magazines that Van Dyke felt he was born in the wrong era. With this film he gets to fulfill his dream. Even the dialog scenes play and read like a silent movie and the comedy timing is priceless, especially in scenes with Mickey Rooney who did the eye tricks with no computer help. Michelle Lee is there, for her looks mostly, plus a lot of great cameo comedy bits by the likes of Pert Kelton, Jeannine Riley and even Carl Reiner himself. This film will not be remembered as any great classic, but it does remain a classic in capturing Van Dyke's talent and the memories of Hollywood days gone by.

This film is a tribute by Dick Van Dyke, main actor, and Carl Reiner, producer and screenwriter, together with Aaron Ruben, and also director, to the pioneers of silent cinema, particularly the successful comedians, who were forgotten, in life, by posterity, often experiencing financial and personal difficulties in old age.

The idea would have come up during an episode of the Dick Van Dyke show, a highly successful sitcom in the 60s, created by Carl Reiner and where he also acted and wrote scripts for some episodes, in which Stan Laurel participated. Both, Reiner and Van Dyke, were shocked by the hardships and abandonment to which this aging movie star was subjected.

But Billy Burke, the film's main character, seeks inspiration not only from Laurel, but also from Harold Lloyd and especially from Buster Keaton, also abandoned and given over to alcoholism, at the end of his life.

It's a fair and heartfelt evocation, which at times manages to be entertaining, although not especially elaborate. More than a tribute, it is a reminder of the "good old days", of silent cinema and the (apparent) simplicity of the humor of that time, in contrast to the difficulties that life would have in store for many of its protagonists.

I have seen this movie only twice, and it was decades ago, but I still remember every scene. In 2003, I had to opportunity to meet Dick Van Dyke when he was in a nearby town visiting a relative. He looked approximately the same age as the character in "The Comic" during the final scenewhen the young VanDyke was 'aged' to portray Billy Bright as a lonely old man. Mr. Van Dyke and I exchanged a few pleasantries, then I said, "By the way, Mr. VanDyke, you're looking more like Billy Bright every time i see you." He did a double-take, then smiled and said, "Oh my gosh! You saw that picture?!?!" I assured him that I had and it was one of my favorites; he replied, "I think you and I are the only people who saw that one. But I'm glad you enjoyed it." Very nice man, a great,under-appreciated movie.

PLEASE release it on DVD.

The rise and fall of Billy Bright (Dick Van Dyke), launched upon Hollywood to become a much loved silent comic movie star. He falls in love and marries Mary Gibson (Michele Lee) but he is hampered by a vast ego, a strong belief in himself and that he knows better than everyone else. He also has a great fondness for other women.

Manages quite nicely to capture the period plus its recreation of the popular two reelers is impressive. Van Dyke is spot in and ideally cast as the beloved, selfish fool with Mickey Rooney nice and for once restrained as his tolerant friend and film sidekick. It is certainly a drama, and quite a sad one, rather than a comedy, but features some astute, funny and dark ideas and a few decent one liners. Quite touching really.

Reminiscences of a 1920s silent comedy star, old and ill before death in the present day--and, in a possible nod to "Sunset Blvd.", speaking to us from his own coffin. Co-writer/co-producer/director Carl Reiner doesn't use the pie-in-the-face humor for dumb yuks; he's underscoring the era of silent comedy with motifs (such as a mechanical wind-up toy of our star). Dick Van Dyke comes through with an interesting characterization here; his Billy Bright isn't seen falling out of favor with audiences due to the changing times--he is, in fact, offered the chance to move into talkies--but instead, he's debilitated by the womanizing and alcoholism that wrecked his marriage. Reiner throws us some curveballs, a few of which pay off: Billy threatening to kidnap his own son from ex-wife Michele Lee, only to grab the wrong youngster; Billy in a wheelchair on hospital grounds visited by his now-grown fop son (also Dick Van Dyke). In support, Mickey Rooney (as comedy partner Cockeye, who was born cockeyed!) isn't allowed to mug, which is a blessing, and Lee keeps her cool as Billy's put-upon co-star and spouse. There's no overwhelming reason to see the picture, however; it looks terrible in TV-styled Technicolor and it has no center (basically a downer, the movie has no hope of building momentum except for a brief comeback with a TV commercial). The snippets of Billy Bright's silent shorts and one successful feature are well-enough accomplished, and Reiner is able to pull off the pathos inherent in the final scene. That commercial also provides a nice touch of social commentary: Isabell (sic) Sanford pitching Whitee White detergent (it's a race joke cut from the same cloth as "Watermelon Man", but this time tossed at us nonchalantly). **1/2 from ****

Carl Reiner's 1969 comedy about a Chaplinesque silent film star contemplating his life from beyond the grave. Starring Dick Van Dyke (who Reiner worked w/on their groundbreaking sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show) as a vaudevillian performer who makes the transition from stage to the silver screen & hitting pay dirt in the process. He marries his frequent co-star, played by Michelle Lee (who I remember growing up on Knots Landing), has a kid & all seems to be going fine except for his predilection for chasing tail which eventually ruins his marriage. When sound comes into the picture (quite literally!) Van Dyke is reluctant to cash in & is soon relegated to the pile of forgotten 'who's' Hollywood has a tendency to brush aside. Quite daring for the time to showcase a story starring an actor who made his career being a consummate nice guy, Van Dyke plays a heel for the first time in his career (the only other conflicted character I remember him playing was in 1990's Dick Tracy) & I wish I could say the dividends were ample & rewarding but being such a downbeat story w/an unlikable character as its lead, may've turned off more audiences than impress them. We also have some troubling depictions of homosexuals (including Van Dyke playing his own son as an adult) which may make audiences wince. Co-starring Mickey Rooney as Van Dyke's other co-star, Carl Reiner as his agent, Cornel Wilde as the director who gives him a break, Gavin MacLeod (from the Love Boat & the Mary Tyler Moore Show) as another director Van Dyke works with, Isabel Sanford (from the Jeffersons) as a commercial actress & Steve Allen pops up to play himself interviewing Van Dyke in the film's bottom half.

Carl Reiner's 1969 film, "The Comic," like Elia Kazan's 1957 movie, "A Face in the Crowd," is a cautionary tale about fame and Hollywood. Both deserved more attention, and truth to tell, some awards (or at least some nominations), and gained notoriety years after their release as fans and film aficionados discovered the works amid new appreciation for earlier eras. "The Comic" is arguably one of the most overlooked films of the inside-Hollywood genre, probably because it came along in a period when the film industry was convulsing into a grittier, more realistic phase (indeed a year when John Wayne in "True Grit" competed against both stars of the X-rated "Midnight Cowboy," with Wayne winning best actor and "Cowboy" winning best picture _ talk about a mixed cinematic metaphor). In "The Comic," a roman a clef which was written, produced and directed by Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke plays the fictitious silent film star Billy Bright (the film's initial title was the name) _ a character that in itself has caused some debate as to who it was really based on, with many saying it's a composite of Harry Langdon, Buster Keaton and Stan Laurel, the latter Van Dyke's hero and friend. Others also have seen shades of Harold Lloyd. Having interviewed Van Dyke some years later when he spoke fondly of Laurel and how they met, describing how he delivered the eulogy at Laurel's funeral, and how anxious he was to discover the whereabouts of the comedian's famed bowler hat that he said he had been promised but never received (I was pretty sure I knew the guy who had it and shared the information), I find it difficult to believe he would have based the character on someone about whom he cared so deeply. At any rate, as a denizen of Hollywood and a fan of the silents who grew up at a time when many of the old comics were still around and re-emerging, I can say without hesitation that Van Dyke got it right and hit a home run in what is perhaps the best work of his career (Van Dyke doesn't get enough credit for the fine work he did in films, largely because he came along at a time when the division between TV and film was great and the film people still looked down upon their TV counterparts, and again, film was in the midst of a great transition). Reiner (known to later generations as Rob Reiner's Dad, but to many of us as the brilliant second banana on Sid Caesar's early-TV "Show of Shows" and one half of the 2000-year-old man comedy team with his friend Mel Brooks) constructs the film beautifully from the opening sequence at Billy's funeral. The latter, an absolute hoot, contains an overhead shot of cars driving on the way to the burial plot that will have you struggling to keep a straight face at every funeral you attend from here on out, and while that isn't a humorous thing, it demonstrates the power and the rightness of the moment. One of the more fascinating elements of the film is a Hollywood story-within-a-story, how Carl Reiner's pacing and sense of comedic irony laced with sadness and the sense of smiling through the tears influenced his own son Rob's acting and directing style. Now there's a subject for a future film. "The Comic" is a keeper and deserves to be seen and more widely discussed, if only to shed more attention on the silent era lest it be forgotten in a time of pyrotechnic overkill.

I remember my mom pointing out an old man sitting on a park bench in Santa Monica in the early 60's and telling me, "that's half of Laurel & Hardy sitting over there." Being 6 or so, I didn't appreciate the brush with destiny, but I heard Dick Van Dyke did. Mr. Laurel was actually listed in the Santa Monica phone book. Anyhow, this imperfect movie is an homage of sorts to Stan, with nods to Keaton and Langdon (I omit the litigious Harold Lloyd since he was still alive at the time), made during Mr. Van Dyke's late & post-TV series movie heyday. There was a 6-year period there where he had his run of Hollywood. To his credit, he started out with a bang (Bye-Bye Birdie then Mary Poppins) and defied being pigeon-holed, choosing projects he felt strongly about. Unfortunately Van Dyke's tastes didn't jive with the public's at the time. The problem is, excluding those early hits, none of his later films are really all that good (see Fitzwilly or Cold Turkey) and are barely remembered today. At least The Comic is his most personal. Like many "period" films made in the 1960's (women's hair styles in Doctor Zhivago or practically everything about Harlow and The Carpetbaggers) it feels false. D.V-D. tries to morph personality elements of those real silent stars into one unsatisfying tragic composite character. James Coco did a better job as a thinly veiled Langdon a few years later in the also-flawed The Big Party. The best that can be said about The Comic is that it makes W.C. Fields and Me seem strangely watchable by comparison. Mr. Van Dyke, your medium is television and you reigned there and you had few equals.

Brilliantly realized tragicomedy in a Citizen Kane framework, obviously based on Buster Keaton. A tour de force for Dick Van Dyke, whose film work was inconsistent at best. But he nails Billy Bright from word one, and Carl Reiner's concise script gives him room to run. Reiner's no slouch, either; check the restaurant meeting for some biting wit on the Let's Do Lunch mentality. A boxoffice flop in '69-'70, tossed away on the lower half of double bills, or sent directly to subrun houses, this is a semi-classic that should be seen by all who love, or study, films.

After seeing The Comic again after many years, I realize that Dick Van Dyke's character Billy Bright is actually an amalgam of at least three silent comedians: Harry Langdon (who the character resembles), Charlie Chaplin (for the womanizing) and Buster Keaton (for the drinking problem).

One tries to sympathize with Billy Bright over the years, but his ego is his downfall in Hollywood. Like Buster Keaton, Billy Bright is again thrust into the temporary limelight in his later years.

This is probably Dick Van Dyke's best role ever--he was a big fan of silent comedy films and was a good friend of Stan Laurel in the 1960s.

Also look for some great cameo appearances by Mantan Moreland and Jerome Cowan.

Reiner's film is a very superficial concoction. It doesn't even scratch the surface of helping us understand or enjoy or care about its main character, Billy Bright.

The script presents the fictional Bright as a self-serving egotist, an unrepentant alcoholic, an unfaithful husband, and an absentee father. Meantime, the viewer is told ad nauseum that Bright is a brilliant silent-screen clown. The problem with the last claim is that we are exposed to many examples of Bright's onscreen "brilliance," and they are woefully unfunny. Please, watch the original films featuring the original clowns. All of Bright's antics are merely lifted from original silent-screen comedies. One of Bright's onscreen bits of business consist of correcting his blind girlfriend's (later his wife's) attentions using dog whistles or violent head twisting! Funny? NO! Not funny even in the '20s. See Chaplin's "City Lights" for a funny, respectable treatment of blindness.

Also, the film contains many weak stereotypes about Hollywood itself. Stereotypes that credible filmmakers should be loath to perpetuate.

One thing missing from the treatment a the "work" angle. You are never given a sense of the very hard work, and many long hours that were devoted to making silent movies. Bright leaves vaudeville, spends a few days making his first film short, beds his leading lady, gets married and then incorporates a motion picture production company featuring himself and his wife!!!!! WOW!!! It took Chaplin, Pickford, Hart, Lloyd, and Ray years, and years, and years, and...you get the message.

Van Dyke works hard throughout the film, and I'm confident his heart and soul are devoted to the subject, but the result is mere pablum. Lee is fine as the suffering wife. Her character might have been a better movie subjet. Rooney is simply one of the many stereotypes.