USCCB - (Film and Broadcasting) - Joker Is Wild, The

Joker Is Wild, The

Alphabetical Listing of Movie Reviews

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Joker Is Wild, The -- Overlong, painful biography of singer Joe E. Lewis (Frank Sinatra) whose vocal chords were slashed by Chicago mobsters in the late 1920s but who reemerges in 1937 as an acerbic nightclub comic with the aid of a socialite (Jeanne Crain) whom he shabbily discards to wed a showgirl (Mitzi Gaynor) whom he treats even more shabbily. Director Charles Vidor does best with the period re-creations but the portrayal of Lewis as his own worst enemy is repetitious enough to tax one's patience. Stylized violence, alcoholism and unstable relationships. A-III (br) ( 1957 )

These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

A-I -- general patronage;
A-II -- adults and adolescents;
A-III -- adults;
L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
O -- morally offensive.

Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.