Lenny (1974) - DaaVeeDee

Lenny (1974) (DVD) (*)

~~$22.99~~ $19.98

Screened, competed or awarded at:
BAFTA Awards
Cannes Film Festival
Golden Globes
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
Australia ( PAL/NTSC/Region 0 )

Running Time:
107 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1974 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Bob Fosse

Written By:
Julian Barry

Actors:
Dustin Hoffman ..... Lenny Bruce
Valerie Perrine ..... Honey Bruce
Jan Miner ..... Sally Marr
Stanley Beck ..... Artie Silver
Frankie Man ..... Baltimore Comic
Rashel Novikoff ..... Aunt Mema
Gary Morton ..... Sherman Hart
Guy Rennie ..... Jack Goldstein
Michele Yonge ..... Nurse
Kathryn Witt ..... Girl (as Kathie Witt)
Monroe Myers ..... Hawaiin Judge
John DiSanti ..... John Santi
Mickey Gatlin ..... San Francisco Policeman
Martin Begley ..... San Francisco Judge
Mark Harris ..... Defense Attorney

Synopsis:

Adapted by Julian Barry from his own Broadway play, Lenny manages to be both brutally frank and highly romanticized in detailing the short life and career of influential, controversial stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce. The chronology hops, skips and jumps between Lenny (Dustin Hoffman) in his prime and the burned-out, strung-out performer who, in the twilight of his life, used his nightclub act to pour out his personal frustrations at great, boring length. We watch as up-and-coming comic Bruce courts his "Shiksa goddess," a stripper named Honey (Valerie Perrine). With family responsibilities, Lenny is encouraged to do a "safe," conformist act, but he can't do it. Constantly in trouble for flouting obscenity laws, Lenny develops a near-messianic complex, which fuels both his comedy genius and his talent for self-destruction. Worn out by a lifetime of tilting at Establishment windmills, Lenny Bruce died of a drug overdose in 1966. Director Bob Fosse chose to film Lenny in black-and-white, giving the film the texture of a documentary. Though a film as verbally graphic as Lenny could not have been made when the real Lenny Bruce was alive, audiences in 1974 responded, to the tune of an $11 million gross.

From his first gig as a nervous Catskills comedian, it's obvious that Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman) is a force to be reckoned with. Armed with a shocking routine and a stripper as his muse (Valerie Perrine), Lenny turns comedy, and America, on its ear with his abrasive and often offensive humour. But life in the smoke-filled bars of the comedy curcuit begins to take its toll. The drugs and arrests for his subject matter wear heavily on this maverick crusader but don't stop him from going to extremes right to his tragic and myth-making end...

Interview-style biography of controversial and pioneering stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce. The film traces Bruce from his beginnings as a Catskills comic to his later underground popularity based on his anti-establishment politics and his scatological humor.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 30 October, 2023.