The Joker is Wild

(1957)

★ 8.1 IMDb · 155 votes

Genres: Drama

Year: 1957

Runtime: 126 мин

Country: United States of America

Director: Charles Vidor

Cast: Фрэнк Синатра, Mitzi Gaynor, Jeanne Crain, Эдди Альберт, Beverly Garland, Джеки Кугэн, Барри Келли, Ted de Corsia, Leonard Graves, Valerie Allen

Plot

A Prohibition-era nightclub crooner has his career is cut short when his throat is slashed by a mob boss.

Frank Sinatra plays Joe E. Lewis, a famous comedian of the 1930s-50s. When the movie opens, Lewis is a young, talented singer who performs in speakeasies. When he bolts one job for another, the mob boss who owns the first speakeasy has his thugs try to kill Lewis. Lewis survives, but his vocal cords are cut and he cannot sing. Several years later, his buddy tracks him down and tries to help him with little success. That attempt, though, leads to Lewis meeting Letty Page (Jeanne Crain). They fall in love and she inspires him to follow up on an offer to become a comedian (a result of his buddy's failed attempt to rejuvenate his singing career). Lewis has problems, though. The assault that nearly cost him his life also helped turn him into an alcoholic and an inveterate gambler. These two character defects become the basis for his act and help to make him a smash success. Unfortunately, they also work to wreak havoc in his personal life.