(Martin Scorsese, US 1983, 109 min.)

In his fifth collaboration with director Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro plays Rupert Pupkin, a would-be stand-up comedian who believes success will come with an appearance on the late-night television show of Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). Rebuffed by Langford, Rupert hatches a plan with the demented stalker Masha (Sandra Bernhard) to kidnap the TV host and ransom him for the shot at glory. The most overlooked of the DeNiro/Scorsese pairings, The King of Comedy is a devastatingly funny dark comedy with observations on fame that place it way ahead of its time.