Review of The Comic

One of the cruelest industries is the acting profession. You could win an Oscar and within a few years after be totally forgotten. Again sitting around my house flipping the channels and fell upon this out-of-left field movie. There we see our leading lanky silver screen idol Billy Bright played by Dick Van Dyke in all his glory and fame. Making Silent pictures with his storybook Wife/actress Mary Gibson-Bright, (Michelle Lee). They have a Son, mansion, money and fame . What they don't have is a stable Marriage which falls apart quickly after the completion of their best work together Marigolds which was a box office smash. Billy is thrown out of his home and the downward spiral of the Movie Business shifts to talkies and some silent stars forbid changing with the times by putting pride in front of necessity. Billy is thrown into obscurity with his buddy Cockeye played by Mickey Rooney which brings the film forward 40 plus years. All in all this movie shows the cruelties and missed opportunities of Hollywood and it's business practices. Carl Reiner wrote this story which I took as a made for TV movie but when I learned it was an actual movie played in various theater's I was shocked. In some ways this role that Mr. Van Dyke had taken was in tribute to one of his mentors the late Buster Keaton. The story in many ways mirrors Keaton's roller-coaster career as an original silent star giant and then making bad business decisions. Then Buster trusts the Studio heads with scripts. They would make changes against Keaton's approval which cause him to drink excessively. Divorce and not being able to visit his two children were part of the fallout from grace. As far as the movie was concerned, one scene in particular caught my interest. It was the long awaited meeting of Billy Senior and his estranged fashion designer effeminate son in which Van Dyke Played dual roles. One thing I personally liked about this movie is the constant cameos by familiar actors. Pert Kelton, Isabel Sandford, Geoff Edwards, Steve Allen, Janine Riley, Gavin McCloud, Jay Novello and effervescent Fritz Feld. FUN FUN FUN POP!! This story will hold your interest if you love Hollywood history!