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
Dick Van Dyke
as Billy Bright
Jerome Cowan
as Lawrence
William Boyce
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Paul Russell
as Funeral Guest (uncredited)
Dick Winslow
as Organist (uncredited)
Nina Wayne
as Sybil Atlas
Mantan Moreland
as Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
Lillian Adams
as Old Lady (uncredited)
Ward Ramsey
as Officer (uncredited)
Suzie Kaye
as Amanda Lou Phipps (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold
as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Mark Russell
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Cornel Wilde
as Frank Powers
Leonard Frey
as Talk Show Guest (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo
as Pallbearer at Funeral (uncredited)
Barbara Heller
as Ginger
Jeffrey Sayre
as Pallbearer at Funeral (uncredited)
Jean Willes
as Denise in Film Clip (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bill Zuckert
as Prison Warden in Film (uncredited)
Mickey Rooney
as Cockeye
Jeff Donnell
as Nurse
Billy Curtis
as Lifeguard in Film (uncredited)
Luis Delgado
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Ottola Nesmith
as Housekeeper (uncredited)
Gavin MacLeod
as 1st Director
Johnny Silver
as Little Man (uncredited)
Michele Lee
as Mary Gibson
Paulene Myers
as Phoebe
Fritz Feld
as Armand
Isabel Sanford
as Woman
Calvin Coolidge
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Paul Frees
as Newsreel Narrator / Commerical Announcer / Man in Restaurant (voice)
Pert Kelton
as Mama Bell
Steve Allen
as Steve Allen
Peter Brocco
as Minister (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp
as Theatre Doorman (uncredited)
Maurice Dallimore
as Lord Faversham
Howard Morris
as Pedestrian Gag Man in 'Love Honor and Oh Boy' (uncredited)
Ed Peck
as Edwin G. Englehardt
Jeannine Riley
as Lorraine Bell
Jay Novello
as Miguel
William H. O'Brien
as Funeral Guest (uncredited)
Johnny Weissmüller
as Jungle Jim (archive footage) (uncredited)
Carl Reiner
as Al Schilling
Jack Berle
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Irene Tedrow
as Billy's Mother in 'Forget Me Not' (uncredited)