The Comic

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.

"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."

I watched "The Comic" on TV when I was teen. Sure, it was not the very best movie I ever watched. But somehow it was unforgettable. Until today, I still can recall a scene when drunk Billy Bright (Dick Van Dyke) smashing neighbor's house thinking that it was his. Sad, funny, and bitterness mixed. After "The Comic", for me, Dick Van Dyke had never been funnier then.

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.

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.