The Comic goes back to Hollywood’s silent years by telling the story of the fictionalised silent film star Billy Bright – played by Dick Van Dyke.
Late in the film, aged Billy Bright visits a movie theatre to watch one of his greatest films, only to inform that it will be shown next week due to a Chaplin festival. The poster of his film is between Chaplin’s The Fireman and Merry-Go-Round which is presented as Von Stroheim’s greatest film. In fact, Erich von Stroheim was fired during production and replaced by Rupert Julian, who is credited today as the director of this film.
Charles Chaplin’s The Fireman (1916) and Rupert Julian’s Merry-Go-Round (1923) in Carl Reiner’s The Comic (1969).
