User Reviews

Adapted from Algis Budrys excellent short story "The Master of the Hounds," TO KILL A CLOWN is an oddity of revenge cinema from the early 70s. While it serviceably handles the man vs. man with dogs scenario, it unfortunately never achieves full audience involvement due to unsympathetic leads.

Despite being based on a short story, the material here is still painfully underdeveloped with major dramatic portions of the story left untouched. Director George Bloomfield has altered Budrys' source story by making Alda's character a Vietnam vet (in the short story he was a WWII POW) and the young couple hippies. This dynamic of the war monger vs. the peaceniks should have offered some interesting social commentary but Bloomfield does nothing with it. It also doesn't help that our hero Timothy (Lamberts) is a really annoying hippie prone to acting like a immature child and talking about his career path as a clown (another variation from the story and source for the odd title).

Bloomfield was also obviously inspired by the previous year's STRAW DOGS and more interested in making a film like that. Not only is his lead Lamberts a dead ringer for Dustin Hoffman from that film, but Bloomfield changes the end of the story (where the crippled Major and his dogs invade the couple's house via underground tunnels) to outside assault that segues into a fistfight where the peaceful become the punishers. But Bloomfield is no Peckinpah and the end result is not as powerful as it could be.

If CLOWN does have any merit, it is for the pre-M*A*S*H performance of Alan Alda as the deranged Vietnam vet. At first he is subtilely creepy with his awkward questions and affable laugh but as the film progresses he becomes more unhinged. The scenes where orders Timothy around like a soldier are very creepy and by the end he is just a notch below raving lunatic (his speech about how buttons are the foundation of America is a keeper). In fact, all of the acting in this is good with fine turns by Danner (who looks so much like her daughter that it is creepy) and Lamberts despite the bad characters they are saddled with. The two Doberman Pinschers are also quite good and deliver all of their lines perfectly.

Partial spoilers. It's very "arty" (largely in the self-conscious sense, I guess), it's in some ways a stereotypical early ' 70s film, it has maybe a third as much suspense most people demand in a suspense film, and in spite of the first and third things, I'm hugely attached to it. (I don't apologize for the second thing.) Alan Alda is completely believable as "Evelyn" (a strange name for a character from the kind of background you presume he has), and he's just the opposite of the Hawkeye character, who came along only about a year later (or the character in "Jenny", for that matter). Even his trademark laugh is replaced by a deep-sounding one, just what you'd expect from such a character. I don't know why it isn't even mentioned casually (as far as I know) in interviews with him, or even in an entire book about him that I looked through. Blythe Danner is just as good as "Lily", especially in the scene where she tries to seduce him, and he starts reliving the accidental prank with the "Kick Me" sign, which had one of the best lines - "You put a sign on yourself!" Followed by the "Buttons" scene, which is almost funny in a sad way. And Heath Lamberts (whom I know from very few things) is very good as "Timothy", whom you almost think of as no match for Evelyn (in spite of his handicaps), but who almost manages to be. The theme song seems to have nothing to do with the story (except maybe the line "I hurt my friend instead" connecting with the accidental prank ; I don't know), but that's another thing that never seems to bother me. Even though it uses two big clichés of early (and later) ' 70s suspense films - Vietnam vets and Dobermans - and in spite of the downbeat ending, I think it's very original, and that it mainly works.

To Kill a Clown is one of the strangest Films I've Ever Watched. Its an Odd mix of Psychology and Social Commentary on The United States and Its Post Vietnam War Hangover. The story concerns mainly 3 people living on an isolated island off the coast of New England. A hippie couple who have recently bought a holiday home to try and work on their marriage and a lonely , crippled , sad Vietnem veteran named Major Evelyn Ritchie played by Alan Alda in the most odd film role of his career. The film hints that Ritchie has lived on the island for most of his life , even as a young child through to his adult years and that his parents are now dead. He's proudly fought for his country in Vietnam and has paid the price by stepping on a land mine and being reduced to walking on crutches. His only company on the island is his 2 pet Dobermans and a Strange old man that joins him for a beer or two occasionally from time to time. The Film fails to define the old man's character and this remains a mystery. Ritchie in one scene sits with old man drinking beer and jokes at how he and his army buddies tortured Gooks and how funny and satisfying it was for him to have these experiences in Vietnam.

The Hippie Couple are just run of the mill folk who really know nothing about fighting in a war or demeaning military discipline. They are peace loving people. The Husband Timothy has a personality completely opposite to Major Ritchie and this is where the Conflict Occurs. Timothy's personality is that of a Clown , a Hippie , a laid back dude that doesn't take much in his life too seriously.

Ritchie at first is friendly to the newly arrived couple , he visits there beach house a number of times and comes across as a nice, warm friendly man. The couple feel sorry for him, particularly the wife Lily. She then decides to invite Ritchie to have dinner at her house with her and her husband Timothy one night. The evening rolls on but as Timothy gets more and more drunk , the more he gets silly and it seems to change Ritchie. Particularly when Ritchie talks of his time in the army and the strict discipline required and being a POW.

Timothy on the other hand finds Ritchie's experiences Alien to himself and talks more about being a clown. He decides to show Ritchie his clown impersonations and its makes Ritchie somewhat disgusted , annoyed. Ritchie's Fake affable laugh also makes him creepy with his interactions with the couple when he's trying to come across as friendly. Ritchie then challenges Timothy to a contest to see if he could put up with a Military way of life.

The next day Ritchie stands outside the couple's house with his 2 vicious Dobermans. He flips out and begins acting like a drill Sargent making Timothy participate in monotonous tasks and treats him like a soldier. Ritchie uses his dogs to make sure that Timothy obeys his orders. He makes Timothy move rocks all day in the scorching sun , salute like a soldier and screams at him to stand to attention. He lectures Timothy on Discipline and comes off very deranged. The couple become Hostages to Ritchie and he gets a kick out of frightening them with his Dogs and playing mind games with his hostages.

The most powerful and curious scene in the film is when Lily goes to Ritchie's House while her husband is on the beach under the guard of the Dobermans. She walks into Ritchie's bedroom finding him sitting alone on his bed. An American flag on his wall. She attempts to seduce him by taking her clothes off and sitting naked in front of him. Ritchie has this broken , sombre and lonely look in his face and begins to talk about being a Teenager and falling in love with a beautiful girl that lived near his house on the island. He tried to watch her as much as he could secretly. He mentions his cruel, strict Father and how he felt it was wrong to show emotion for the girl due to the upbringing of his Father. In fact he makes it clear that he never had the opportunity to have a relationship with her as she ended up moving away and leaving the island and he felt alone again. In his moment of storytelling you get a perception that from that point in his past he never knew how to love anything anymore and probably never had that opportunity to feel drawn to a woman ever again. The perception is that he joined the army and became devoted by mind , body and soul to be a cold Killer and he never had emotion or love for something again. The scene in the bedroom ends when Lily tries to kiss him and he slaps her in the face. Telling her to get out. He rejects her. I feel he did this due to his lack of understanding to love or that he is impotent from his land mine accident and can't sleep with a woman. Alda pulls of the scene very well and it makes you feel sorry in some ways for His character as he looks like such a twisted broken soul. Loneliness is painful , you can see his pain all over his face.

I won't give away the rest of the film but it basically is a struggle for survival. The couple tries to find a way to kill Ritchie and his dogs and get off the island. Not many people have seen this film and it is rare but its an offbeat film that is enjoyable to watch for its strange storyline and Alan Alda's deranged performance.