The Comic
The Comic
Release: 1969-11-19
·Runtime: 95m
·★ 5.9
Comedy
Drama
An account of the rise and fall of a silent film comic, Billy Bright. The movie begins with his funeral, as he speaks from beyond the grave in a bitter tone about his fate, and takes us through his fame, as he ruins it with womanizing and drink, and his fall, as a lonely, bitter old man unable to reconcile his life's disappointments. The movie is based loosely on the life of Buster Keaton.
Production Countries
United States of America
Production Companies
Acre Enterprises
Trailers & Videos
Cast
Mickey Rooney
as Cockeye
Cornel Wilde
as Frank Powers
Steve Allen
as Steve Allen
Paul Frees
as Newsreel Narrator / Commerical Announcer / Man in Restaurant (voice)
Leonard Frey
as Talk Show Guest (uncredited)
Ed Peck
as Edwin G. Englehardt
Jack Berle
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Michele Lee
as Mary Gibson
Mark Russell
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Jay Novello
as Miguel
William Boyce
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Paulene Myers
as Phoebe
Carl Reiner
as Al Schilling
Howard Morris
as Pedestrian Gag Man in 'Love Honor and Oh Boy' (uncredited)
Dick Van Dyke
as Billy Bright
Barbara Heller
as Ginger
Jeff Donnell
as Nurse
Ottola Nesmith
as Housekeeper (uncredited)
Ward Ramsey
as Officer (uncredited)
Fritz Feld
as Armand
Lillian Adams
as Old Lady (uncredited)
Suzie Kaye
as Amanda Lou Phipps (uncredited)
Calvin Coolidge
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Billy Curtis
as Lifeguard in Film (uncredited)
Luis Delgado
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp
as Theatre Doorman (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo
as Pallbearer at Funeral (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre
as Pallbearer at Funeral (uncredited)
Nina Wayne
as Sybil Atlas
Ethelreda Leopold
as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Paul Russell
as Funeral Guest (uncredited)
Jerome Cowan
as Lawrence
Isabel Sanford
as Woman
Irene Tedrow
as Billy's Mother in 'Forget Me Not' (uncredited)
Bill Zuckert
as Prison Warden in Film (uncredited)
Jeannine Riley
as Lorraine Bell
William H. O'Brien
as Funeral Guest (uncredited)
Pert Kelton
as Mama Bell
Mantan Moreland
as Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
Jean Willes
as Denise in Film Clip (archive footage) (uncredited)
Gavin MacLeod
as 1st Director
Peter Brocco
as Minister (uncredited)
Johnny Weissmüller
as Jungle Jim (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dick Winslow
as Organist (uncredited)
Johnny Silver
as Little Man (uncredited)
Maurice Dallimore
as Lord Faversham