The King of Comedy (film) Reagan administration in contrast to other films made during the administration's early years (although the script was written well before Reagan's election, and shooting began less than five months after Reagan took office). "At a time when the film world piles on simple-minded sentiment in thick gooey gobs, a picture like "The King of Comedy" appears a frontal assault. The triumph of the 'little guy' is revealed to be nothing more than lumpen neo-Fascist blood lust." Pauline Kael of "The New Yorker" was one of the critics who disliked the film, describing the character of Rupert Pupkin as "Jake LaMotta
Robert De Niro Corleone, Carlo Rizzi, and Paulie Gatto in "The Godfather". His performance earned him his first Academy Award, for Best Supporting Actor, although Coppola accepted the award as De Niro was not present at the ceremony. De Niro became the first actor to win an Academy Award speaking mainly a foreign language. In this case, several Sicilian dialects, although he delivered a few lines in English. He and Marlon Brando, who played the older Vito Corleone in the first film, are the only actors to have won Oscars for portraying the same fictional character. After working with Scorsese in "Mean Streets",