Ralph Nelson's Man in The Funny Suit, 1960-- perhaps his best movie

Ralph Nelson was a live television director until his breakthrough movie, “Lilies of the Field“, in 1963. This came earlier, and is one of his finest works. Previously, Ralph's most powerful television show was “Requiem for a Heavyweight“ by Rod Serling, an early production on the CBS dramatic series “Playhouse 90.“ (There have been many versions of “Requiem for a Heavyweight“ since.) “The Man in the Funny Suit“ dramatizes the making of the first “Requiem for a Heavyweight,“ especially Ralph's difficulties with comedian Ed Wynn, who was mistakenly put into the cast by the producer. Ed Wynn was a famous nonsense comedian who did not know how to act-- and learned at the last minute, as we see here. In “Man in the Funny Suit“, Ed Wynn plays himself, Keenan Wynn plays himself, Ralph Nelson plays himself, Red Skelton plays himself, and so on. (While Ralph was not officially a film director at this point, “Man in the Funny Suit“ was shot on film, and so it could count as his first film.) The first “Requiem“ may be seen at See also Wikipedia's article on “The Man in the Funny Suit“, hidden at