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The Joker Is Wild
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. After he bolts one job for another, the mob boss who owns the first speakeasy has his thugs try to kill Lewis. He 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.
15 February 1926, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
1 April 1906, Radom, Mazowieckie, Poland
21 February 1910, Manhattan, New York, USA
March 10, 1909 in Regalbuto, Sicily, Italy
26 January 1891, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
October 17, 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA
January 11, 1932 in Mecklenburg, North Carolina, USA
27 April 1899, New York City, New York, USA
