To Kill a Clown is a 1972 American psychological thriller film directed by George Bloomfield and written by George Bloomfield and I. C. Rapoport. The film stars Alan Alda, Blythe Danner, Heath Lamberts and Eric Clavering. The film was released on August 23, 1972 by 20th Century Fox.
Plot
Timothy Frischer (Heath Lamberts) is a hippie artist/painter who has been married for four years to Lily (Blythe Danner) a fellow hippie. Their marriage is shaky, so they agree to spend the summer together as a trial period at an isolated beach house on Choke Cherry Bay. They quarrel shortly after arriving and, when Lily threatens to leave, Timothy throws her suitcase into the water. Frustrated with his childish immaturity, Lily gets in the car to drive away, but Timothy jumps onto the moving vehicle, hangs onto the windshield and cajoles her into stopping. Although she is weary of his antics, she is also amused and decides to remain.
Their landlord and only neighbor for miles around is Major Evelyn Ritchie (Alan Alda), a Vietnam veteran about 10 years their senior who owns two highly trained Doberman Pinschers and walks with crutches due to one of his legs being amputated. When the Frischers meet Ritchie for the first time, Timothy fires off questions about garbage and other practicalities and repeatedly interrupts Lily. Although Ritchie chuckles at the Frischers' gentle bickering, Lily intuits that he is growing annoyed by Timothy's questioning and apologizes for their enthusiasm. Ritchie seems at first aloof, but surreptitiously watches them through their unshuttered windows. When they start to make love, he raps on the door and offers wine as a welcoming gift. Ritchie compliments the "feminine touch" within the beach house and looks troubled when Timothy takes credit for a table decoration. After Ritchie leaves, Lily scolds Timothy for his lack of hospitality and accuses him of needing to brood. Timothy admits he has a bad feeling about their landlord, but Lily disagrees with him. When Timothy tries to drive off in anger, Ritchie's dogs suddenly appear and viciously circle his car, frightening him into honking until Ritchie comes out of his house to call them off. Amused by Timothy's fear, Ritchie says condescendingly that the dogs are unfamiliar with his smell.
Another day later, as Lily and Ritchie walk along the beach, she explains that she met Timothy when he jumped out at her wearing a clown nose and made her laugh. Proudly, she explains that Timothy studied mime in Paris, art, photography and drawing. Aware of Ritchie's unspoken disapproval of Timothy, Lily adds that she hopes the beach house will bring out Timothy's good qualities. While talking, she strips down to her bikini in order to get a tan, embarrassing Ritchie. At her questioning, Ritchie admits that Timothy seems younger than his age, but evades answering her direct question of whether he thinks Timothy is immature. Lily points out that, while Ritchie feels certain about himself, Timothy "does not know who he is yet." Meanwhile, as Timothy is taking photographs of himself and the area, he encounters another bay resident, an older veteran named Stanley (Eric Clavering), who simply stares at him in amusement when he tries to start a conversation.
One night, Ritchie invites the couple to his house for dinner, where Lily and Timothy get inebriated. Lily asks Timothy to perform mime and his clown act. As Timothy prepares in another room, Lily, sensing Ritchie's disdain of Timothy and wanting his respect, tentatively explains that she is more than she may seem and makes the money in their household. Timothy then bursts into the room, with his face covered in shaving cream to imitate the white makeup of a mime and begins to perform "the definitive ape." This disappoints Lily, who prefers his clown act, but Ritchie comments that Timothy shows more concentration when he does his ape routine than he shows in the rest of his life. He points out that gorillas are usually seen behind bars and, claiming that the experience of prison focuses a person, convinces Timothy to agree to meet him at dawn for a psychological experiment.