Lenny

Director: Bob Fosse Bob Fosse

Overview

"Bob Fosse's stark biopic of famed comedian Lenny Bruce, Lenny, comes to DVD with a pair of transfers. The widescreen anamorphic transfer preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is preferable in every way to the standard full-frame transfer. English and French soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English, French, and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials are limited to the original theatrical trailer. MGM/UA has done an acceptable if less than breathtaking job with this DVD."

Product Details

Release Date:	04/16/2002
UPC:	0027616874863
Original Release:	1974
Rating:	R
Source:	Mgm (Video & Dvd)
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen, Full Frame]
Sound:	[monaural, Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00

Special Features

Original theatrical trailer; English: mono; French: mono; English, French & Spanish language subtitles

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dustin Hoffman	Lenny Bruce
Valerie Perrine	Honey Bruce
Jan Miner	Sally Marr
Stanley Beck	Artie Silver
Rashel Novikoff	Aunt Mema
Gary Morton	Sherman Hart
Guy Rennie	Jack Goldstein
Frankie Man	Baltimore Strip Club MC
Mark Harris	San Francisco Defense Attorney
Lee Sandman	San Francisco Judge
Susan Malnick	Kitty Bruce at Age 11
Martin Begley	San Francisco Judge
Phil Philbin	New York Cop
Don Newsome	Connection
Ted Sorrell	New York Attorney
Clarence Thomas	New York Attorney
Mike Murphy	New York District Attorney
Robert Parsons	Chicago Plainclothesman
Bob Collins	New York Assistant DA
Buddy Boylan	Marty
Mickey Gatlin	San Francisco Cop
George DeWitt	Comic
Judy LaScala	Chorus Girl
Monroe Myers	Judge
Bruce McLaughlin	Judge
Glenn Wilder	Hunter
Frank Orsatti	Hunter
Michelle Young	Nurse's Aide
Allison Goldstein	Kitty at Age 1
Bridghid Glass	Kitty at Age 2
Jack Nagle	Rev. Mooney
Michele Yonge	Nurse
Kathie Witt	Girl
Monroe Meyers	Hawaiian Judge

Technical Credits

Julian Barry

Bob Fosse	Director
Marvin Worth	Producer
David V. Picker	Executive Producer
Julian Barry	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

His first non-musical film, Bob Fosse's biopic Lenny (1974) confirmed the breadth of the former hoofer's -- and his star Dustin Hoffman's -- protean talents. Detailing socially conscious pottymouth comic Lenny Bruce's trailblazing rise and self-immolating fall in a series of flashbacks, Fosse and screenwriter Julian Barry inject grim drama into an unsentimental portrait of the artist as a highly flawed man. Along with re-staging pieces of the straight-talking routines that made Bruce famous, Fosse and Hoffman relentlessly reveal his demise as a performer in an unwavering long take of Bruce's drug-addled on-stage meltdown after his obscenity trials. Bruce Surtees' rich black-and-white photography lends a note of documentary authenticity as well as an appropriately somber nocturnal atmosphere. Oscar nominee and critics' prize-winner Valerie Perrine hit her career peak as Bruce's stripper-turned-junkie wife, Honey. Hoffman's embodiment of the comic illuminates Bruce's own destructive role in his free speech martyrdom. Praised by the critics and well appreciated by a culturally savvy 1974 audience that didn't mind cinematic downers, Lenny went on to receive six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Fosse's second nod for Best Director, and Best Actor.