The Joker Is Wild

The Joker Is Wild is a 1957 American musical drama film directed by Charles Vidor, starring Frank Sinatra, Mitzi Gaynor, Jeanne Crain, and Eddie Albert, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is about Joe E. Lewis, the popular singer and comedian who was a major attraction in nightclubs from the 1920s to the early 1950s. Plot In 1929 Joe E. Lewis is a successful night-club singer in Chicago while working for the Mob during the Prohibition era. His decision to work elsewhere displeases his mob employer who has his thugs assault him by slashing his face and throat, preventing him from continuing his career as a singer. After many years he eventually recovers and turns his acerbic and witty sense of humor into an act when given a break as a stand-up comedian from singer Sophie Tucker. Soon, Lewis makes a career for himself as a comic, but heavy drinking and a self-destructive behavior leads him to question what his life has become and how he has hurt the people around him including his wife Martha and his best friend Austin. Cast Frank Sinatra as Joe E. Lewis Mitzi Gaynor as Martha Stewart Jeanne Crain as Letty Page Eddie Albert as Austin Mack Beverly Garland as Cassie Mack Jackie Coogan as Swifty Morgan Barry Kelley as Captain Hugh McCarthy Ted de Corsia as Georgie Parker Leonard Graves as Tim Coogan Valerie Allen as Flora, Chorine Hank Henry as Burlesque Comedian Sophie Tucker as herself