Customer Reviews

Tiny Tim:The Last Hurrah

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Tiny Tim - The Last Hurrah" is an amateur documentary produced by associates from Tiny's final decade: his manager Gil Morse, and philanthropist friend Alan Shawn Feinstein.

This is primarily composed of interview segments with friends and associates who knew and worked with Tiny from 1986-1996. The main focus is his manager, Gil Morse, and his touring companion, country singer Robbie Lynn. We also meet about ten other characters (venue owners, friends, a bodyguard, et cetera). They share recollections of Tiny, and it is quite interesting.

The footage of Tiny performing is sparse, incomplete, and used more as a background to narration than a focus of the documentary. The footage of Tiny Tim is good to see, but it is very amateurishly shot and the audio is of a lower quality.

There is a small amount of television footage... the very beginning features about a minute of Tiny Tim performing "Livin' In The Sunlight, Lovin' In The Moonlight" on the Tonight Show in 1968; later we witness a brief snippet of Tiny renewing his vows with second wife Miss Jan, broadcast live from Spooky World in the late-80's. (Ironically, they split up a few days after the broadcast.)

The post-production is... odd. There are animated sequences that feel very out of place, and certainly contribute nothing. At one point a photo of Tiny is shown shaking back and forth, with "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Ha" by Napoleon XIV playing. This has nothing to do with the documentary and is not even relevant (i.e., if they were talking about Tiny having a breakdown, it MIGHT have made sense...) Also, footage from the horror film "Blood Harvest" (starring Tiny Tim) is shown, seemingly at random, with absolutely no explanation of what it is, or why it's there.

So, for $19.95 you get a DVD-R (this is apparently duplicated on somebody's computer) of interviews, interspersed with occasional footage of Tiny Tim performing and talking to fans. I would not recommend this for the casual Tiny Tim fan, but completists and die-hard fans will certainly find the interviews interesting, and enjoy watching the live footage.

There are no "secrets" to be learned, but overall, one gets the impression that this documentary was assembled by people who genuinely admired Tiny Tim, and the effect is that of good-intentioned sincerity.

This is, (as far as I know,) the only documentary of Tiny Tim, therefor it's importance to Tiny's fans. It is unfortunately a very amateurish effort with little to no explanation of the clips, scenes and interviews. Poor video and audio throughout. But until something better is produced this is an absolute must for anyone who has an interest in this true American eccentric talent.

For the casual listener Tiny Tim was a brief novelty act. This DVD shows that he was in fact a versatile and outstanding performer who really impressed the audience. The material here was taken mostly from the last ten years of his life when he was touring the US and Canada with Robbin Lynn and her country and western band. In addition to Tin Pan Alley songs Tiny sings bits of "You Call Everybody Darlin'" and "Then I'd Be Satisfied With Life", a truly great song written by George M Cohan and performed by Tiny on his first LP but otherwise totally unknown. A complete version of "Remember Your Name an Address" sung by Tiny at the opening of a fleamarket is another highlight. I hope they make a sequel with More Tiny Tim and less narration.

In late 2004, Unicow! Productions finished creating a documentary about Tiny Tim, the eccentric from the 60s who used to appear on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show with his ukulele. His single, Tiptoe Through The Tulips, hit big! Soon after, he disappeared...

This documentary details what his ventures were up until his death in 1996. Find out what happened; find out what he was doing; find out where he was doing what he was doing...

On a personal note, editing the movie, I had no idea who Tiny Tim was. I had no idea the cult following he had/has. It was truly amazing to hear all the great things people had to say. He was an amazing person and I will regret never meeting him. There are some huge secrets about his life and death in this documentary revealed after over 15 years and I recommend highly for any fans or anyone who'd love to know all about him and where he ended up.

Enjoy this tale and thanks for supporting us!!!

To my knowledge, the only other documentary on Tiny Tim came from Australia, something called "Street Of Dreams", a pastiche of rare clips and generally disjointed snippets, including an interview with Tiny's Mother.

Here we have a true treasure for fans, as this production covers his career from, roughly, 1985 to his passing in 1996. Gil Morse became his manager, having "rescued" him from a gig with a Traveling Circus (which TT enjoyed). Tiny became part of a touring outfit led by singer Robbin Lynn and her band. Lynn provides some very illuminative, and heartfelt commentary on someone she believed in and cared about. Morse also delivers some touching reminiscences; as do several promoters.

There's alot of music - I don't recall one *complete* song but TT historians will love the excerpts heard backstage and on-stage. At times, the visuals are not as agreeable, as the "air-brush" effect is too much, as if applied to camoulflage his age - although close-ups of the older Tim reveal a man much younger than his years (guess those years of careful cosmetic attention did the trick!).
Another slightly off-putting detail is in the occasional discordance with live performnace stuff - his band is fine but at times it sounds as if two different tunes are going at the same time - some awkwardness with an avant-guarde pop artist bering backed up with a Country group).

This Reviewer was unaware of a *second* Tonight Show "wedding" with Tiny and Miss Jan - a bittersweet occasion, from the 1990s.

The story does not end there but with a third marriage, to Miss Sue, and this film brings it all home for Tiny and his fans - he left us a happy man - finally happily married - and singing!

First class dvd about the last 10 years of Tinys life,you get to see around the Bay Queen etc.and his manager Gill Morse is a star.