All this talk about comedy bio-pics the other day sent me on a spur-of-the-moment search for the following, one of the very few movies about or featuring Lenny Bruce that isn't haphazardly slung together, tawdry, or just plain depressing. Honest about his personal troubles without descending into Albert Goldman lip-smacking, appreciative of his innovations without shrieking "GENIUS!" in your face, unflinching about his downfall without indulging in he-died-for-our-sins hyperbole (not to mention a title so brilliantly clever it drives me insane), this is about as good as it gets. (No real surprise, since the writer/producer/director is Robert B. Weide, who has to his credit excellent biographies of Mort Sahl, W.C. Fields and the forthcoming American Masters episode on Woody Allen. And he directed the "Beloved Aunt," "The Doll," "Krazee-Eyez Killa," "The Car-Pool Lane" and "Palestinian Chicken" episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm [among others], which means he's probably, quite frankly, funnier than Lenny Bruce ever was.) If you're a comedy fan-addict, you owe it to yourself to check out Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth:
(You may need some damn codec or something in order to watch this. You should be able to get what you need right here.)
What? Embed some related stuff, you say? Sure. What the hell, beats writing...
The networks missed out on a good thing by not making this a Saturday morning series:
From the debut episode of Playboy's Penthouse, 1959 (the show's host has recently been classified a "Viagra zombie" by the Federal government and should be avoided at all costs):
And from one doomed junkie (actually two, counting composer Tim Hardin) to another:
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