Liberace day with his gimmicky act, his showy but careful piano playing, his non-stop promotions, and his gaudy display of success, but he remained largely unaffected, as preserved by the famous quotation, first recorded in a letter to a critic, "Thank you for your very amusing review. After reading it, in fact, my brother George and I laughed all the way to the bank." He used a similar response to subsequent poor reviews, famously modifying it to "I cried all the way to the bank." In an appearance on "The Tonight Show" some years later, Liberace reran the anecdote to Johnny
The Day the Clown Cried film I was embarrassed. I was ashamed of the work, and I was grateful that I had the power to contain it all, and never let anyone see it. It was bad, bad, bad ... But I can tell you how it ends." At Cannes while promoting "Max Rose", Lewis was asked about "The Day the Clown Cried" and said, "It was bad work. You'll never see it and neither will anyone else." In October 2012, Australian-based film production company Traces Films recorded one of the most candid and emotional interviews with Jerry Lewis about "The Day the Clown Cried".