In 1972, Jerry Lewis—the actor and filmmaker known for slapstick comedies like The Nutty Professor—took the biggest risk of his career when he decided to make a drama called The Day The Clown Cried, about a circus clown who ends up in Auschwitz. This could have been a landmark as one of the first portrayals of the Holocaust in American cinema. Instead, it became a different kind of landmark: allegedly, one of the worst movies ever.The Day The Clown Cried was never released, and only a handful of people have ever seen it. But the unbelievable concept alone has been enough to make this lost movie a holy grail for curious film buffs. In this episode of Decoder Ring, producer Max Freedman traces how The Day The Clown Cried became such a legendary disaster, why it’s impossible to see, and whether it actually deserves its rotten reputation.You’ll hear from comedian Patton Oswalt; Shawn Levy, author of <a href="https://shawnlevy.com/books/king-of-comedy-the-life-and-art-of-jerry-lewis/">King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis;</a> Henry Gonshak, author of <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442252233/Hollywood-and-the-Holocaust">Hollywood and the Holocaust</a>; Chuck Denton, whose father Charles co-wrote The Day The Clown Cried; and Jean-Michel Frodon, film critic at <a href="https://www.slate.fr/source/15525/jean-michel-frodon">slate.fr</a>.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com. Or you can also call us now at our new Decoder Ring hotline at 347-460-7281. We’d love to hear any and all of your ideas for the show.Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/decoder-ring/id1376577202">Decoder Ring</a> show page. Or, visit <a href="https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Decoder_Ring&utm_source=episode_summary">slate.com/decoderplus</a> to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

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