Talk:The Day the Clown Cried (Unreleased 1972 Jerry Lewis Film)/@comment-24161934-20160424212915

He donated it it to the Library of Congress, along with his home movies and other ephemera. If the documentary says "a French movie institute," it was wrong. Lewis came to Culpeper, VA (where the LOC keeps its film vaults) to talk about the donation, and I was there when the head of the film archives made the announcement.

Also, while there is an arrangement to keep it from being publicly screened for awhile, it will probably be available to researchers much, much sooner. (The LOC does not like to accept donations that keep information out of people's hands, as it's counter to its whole purpose, and they've given indications--though not said explicitly--that that's the case with this film.)

Anyone can sign up to view films at the LOC. All you have to do is give them 2 weeks notice to pull the stuff for you. It's pretty cool to have that kind of access, and far too few people make use of it.