The Comic
Comedy
Drama
A funny new motion picture that tells Hollywood like it was!
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.
1969-11-19
en
Cast
Director
Carl Reiner
Dick Van Dyke as Billy Bright
Michele Lee as Mary Gibson
Mickey Rooney as Cockeye
Cornel Wilde as Frank Powers
Nina Wayne as Sybil Atlas
Pert Kelton as Mama Bell
Steve Allen as Steve Allen
Barbara Heller as Ginger
Ed Peck as Edwin G. Englehardt
Jeannine Riley as Lorraine Bell
Gavin MacLeod as 1st Director
Jay Novello as Miguel
Paulene Myers as Phoebe
Fritz Feld as Armand
Jerome Cowan as Lawrence
Isabel Sanford as Woman
Jeff Donnell as Nurse
Carl Reiner as Al Schilling
Maurice Dallimore as Lord Faversham
Mantan Moreland as Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
Rex Benson as Minor Role (uncredited)
Jack Berle as Minor Role (uncredited)
William Boyce as Minor Role (uncredited)
Peter Brocco as Minister (uncredited)
Calvin Coolidge as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Billy Curtis as Lifeguard in Film (uncredited)
Luis Delgado as Minor Role (uncredited)
Paul Frees as Newsreel Narrator / Commerical Announcer / Man in Restaurant (voice)
Leonard Frey as Talk Show Guest (uncredited)
Suzie Kaye as Amanda Lou Phipps (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp as Theatre Doorman (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Howard Morris as Pedestrian Gag Man in 'Love Honor and Oh Boy' (uncredited)
Ottola Nesmith as Housekeeper (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien as Funeral Guest (uncredited)
Ward Ramsey as Officer (uncredited)
Mark Russell as Minor Role (uncredited)
Paul Russell as Funeral Guest (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo as Pallbearer at Funeral (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre as Pallbearer at Funeral (uncredited)
Johnny Silver as Little Man (uncredited)
Irene Tedrow as Billy's Mother in 'Forget Me Not' (uncredited)
Johnny Weissmüller as Jungle Jim (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jean Willes as Denise in Film Clip (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dick Winslow as Organist (uncredited)
Bill Zuckert as Prison Warden in Film (uncredited)