Product Details

• Actors: Steve Allen, Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Kenneth Tynan, Paul Krassner
• Directors: Fred Baker
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
• DVD Release Date: February 22, 2005
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0006U5V9Y
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,918 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

LENNY BRUCE WITHOUT TEARS - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tears for Bruce., July 31, 2005

By 

Bernard Chapin "Ora Et Labora!" (CHICAGO! USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lenny Bruce Without Tears (DVD)

Lenny Bruce is a name that I've heard all of my life, but I've never known much about him, which is why I saw this film. I grant that there are better works out there concerning him, but this one definitely provides an introduction to what the man stood for and why he was persecuted. It would be hard today to see Bruce as anything but the martyr that he was. There was absolutely no reason why the government had to dance all over his head and sentence him to four months in the notorious Rikers Island over obscenity charges. If you ask me, there's nothing more obscene than equating personal taste with criminality. The director, in Bruce's death scene, reveals a certain artfulness. I felt for him as he lay sprawled out in the bathroom with inspectors crawling all over his house. He was a fragile guy, and one longs to protect him-but it's far too late.

In the live segments, it is abundantly clear as to how much this man influenced future comedians. I would not be surprised if he were the first comic to make use of the "imagine so and so as a four-year-old..." motif; whereby, Bruce got to use his many impressions and caricatures in the course of his stand-up. His innovation, even if fans don't think much of the film technically, is fully on display here. Some luminous experts are brought in to discuss Lenny, such as Kenneth Tynan and Malcolm Muggeridge who were two of the most powerful cultural influences of the second half of the twentieth century. Frankly, I was taken aback that they knew him so well. Overall, I'd say that this is a valuable snapshot of the man even though its quality is far below the level we expect from documentary today.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars LENNY BRUCE, July 15, 2005

By 

Thomas Degan "Tom Degan" (Goshen, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lenny Bruce Without Tears (DVD)

This was the very first pre-recorded video I ever purchased way back in 1979. At that point in time, video stores did not even exist and I had to purchase it through the mail via a long-defunct company called, The Videotape Network. They also sold The Best of Ernie Kovacs and The Beatles Live in Tokyo. At the time I was thrilled to have actual moving images of Lenny Bruce who, due to the nature of his material, was not often in front of the camera - film, television or otherwise. In hindsight the film leaves a little bit to be desired because of the fact that Fred Baker, a good filmmaker, uses alot of unrelated material to illustrate Lenny's recorded bits - not that he had any other choice. Since then, a far superior film has been made that was shown briefly in New York City and on HBO about five or six years ago, Lenny Bruce: Swear To Tell The Truth. For some reason that film has yet to be released on DVD or VHS. Untill that happens this film is your best bet. You won't be disappointed.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's ok, could've been better, March 3, 2005

By 

laurie Atlas (geelong australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lenny Bruce Without Tears (DVD)

Lenny Bruce was way ahead of his time and like Bill Hicks who followed him he died way too young.This movie made in the early 70's is done by a friend of Lenny's and because of that assumes its audience knows too much.The whole thing is quite sad really I note with interest that he came to Australia and our government kicked him out as well.You know what would've been great if they had included as an extra on this DVD 'The Lenny Bruce Performance film' which was made shortly before he died so it could be played I gather at his next court appearance.You know something I have so many great recordings of 'Lenny Bruce' on record ,so many great live shows why don't you do yourself a favour and track these down instead then you will get value for money.It's your call but overall I was bit disappointed 'Lenny Bruce' deserves better.