MY VIEWING DIARY: PART NINE

"Lenny" (1974)

Since he spent most of his career as a dancer and highly inventive choreographer for the stage, Bob Fosse did not have much of an opportunity to leave behind an extensive body of work once he decided to focus on film making. A driven workaholic combined with an unhealthy lifestyle, Fosse died of a heart attack by the age of sixty. 

He was an incredibly gifted director yet would only make five feature films; the movie adaptation of the stage musical-comedy, "Sweet Charity" (Fosse's film debut which he had also directed and choreographed the original Broadway show); "Cabaret", another adaptation of a Broadway musical which would win eight Academy Awards (including Best Director for Fosse); "All That Jazz", the semi-autobiographical musical-drama that was nominated for nine Oscars and won four; "Star 80", a fact-based drama on the tragic murder of Playboy playmate, Dorothy Stratten and "Lenny" which was the only film by Fosse I had not yet seen. 

This stylish bio-pic examines the life and career of Lenny Bruce, a New York comedian in the 1960's who would challenge the obscenity laws on what could be said on stage, ultimately paying a high price for his defiance. Dustin Hoffman (in one of his greatest screen performances) play Bruce, a Jewish comic who struggles trying to do the standard comedy routine. He falls hard for a stripper named Honey Harlow (Valerie Perrine, who won the Best Actress Award at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival), who he calls his "Shiksa goddess" and they marry quickly. After the couple moves to Los Angeles, Bruce begins to riff on stage invovling subjects that are not usually discussed in public with language that some considered highly inappropriate. And while he would achieve great success and popularity, Bruce would be arrested frequently for charges of obscenity. This was also when he and his wife would become severely addicted to drugs, causing them to suffer marital issues and additional legal problems.

What makes "Lenny" particularly intriguing was how Fosse assembled the film, shooting in exquisite black & white (with cinematography by Bruce Surtees) and using a non-linear story structure which was not commonly done at the time, particularly with American films. "Lenny" only highlights key moments in the chaotic life and controversial routines of the comedian, not giving us a complete picture of his importance as a historical figure. This film does reveal that while his motivations may have been self-serving and short-sighted at the time, Bruce's legal challenges for his First Amendment rights would help open the door for all performers to express themselves uncensored without fear of criminal indictment.

"The Opposite Sex" (1956)

"The Opposite Sex" is based on Clare Boothe Luce's 1936 play, "The Women" which was adapted in to a delightfully camp comedy in 1939. But this inert remake isn't much fun, having awkwardly been turned in to a musical set in the world of the theater and the physical presence of men is featured prominently throughout the film. With their attempt to open up the story, the director, David Miller and writing team of Fay and Michael Kanin has made a conventional 1950's Metrocolor rom-com with the significant altering of the structure and tone of the story not helping matters. 

The casting also leaves a lot to be desired with bland MGM musical star, June Allyson playing Kay Hilliard, a former popular nightclub performer who gave it all up for love, marriage and family. But when Kay's frenemy, Sylvia Fowler (Dolores Gray) hears the gossip that Kay's husband, Steven (Leslie Nielsen), a producer of an upcoming Broadway musical, is having an affair with a dancer in the show, Crystal Allen (Joan Collins, struggling with a wobbly American accent), she can't wait to spread this dirt. It's not long before this news reaches Kay and while she still loves her husband, sadly heads off to Reno to end her marriage. During her stay at a ranch for divorcees run by the butch, Lucy (Charlotte Greenwood), Kay befriends fellow soon-to-be-single-again gals, Gloria Dell (Ann Miller) and the Countess Lavaliere (Agnes Moorehead), avoids a clumsy seduction by the ranch hand, Buck (Jeff Richards) and has to deal with Sylvia who arrives to end her own marriage. And when Kay discovers that Crystal is being unfaithful to Steven, she decides to try and win her ex-husband back. 

That this "contemporary" version (which also features Ann Sheridan and Joan Blondell) manages to feel even more dated today than the original eighty-one year old film is actually quite a feat. And although the musical numbers fit organically in to the show-business setting, these lame songs and garish production fail to ignite any magical sparks.

"Lady of Burlesque" (1943)

"Lady of Burlesque" is a silly, musical-comedy-mystery caper about some strippers who are being strangled to death while on the job with their own g-strings. Based on the aptly titled book, "The G-String Murders", allegedly written by the world-famous strip-tease artist, Gypsy Rose Lee whose colorful life would be the basis of the classic stage musical (and later movie), "Gypsy". The only reason to even consider watching this low-budget hooey is for the dazzling star presence of Barbara Stanwyck. The actress gives her all singing, dancing and displaying her expert comedy chops but it is all sadly wasted here. 

Stanwyck plays Dixie Daisy, a new attraction at the Old Opera, a New York burlesque theater on 42nd Street. The crowd loves her and she also captures the attention of Biff Brannigan (Michael O'Shea), a comedian at the club. Daisy, who has found that comedians are better with jokes than romance, is not interested. During a raid of the theater, someone tries to strangle Dixie but she escapes her attacker. However, another dancer, Lolita La Verne (Victoria Faust) is not so lucky, ending up dead with her undergarment wrapped around her neck. After another performer has been murdered, we have plenty of possible suspects yet there never seems to be much of an urgent concern to capture the killer. Even though someone that they all work with is, um, killing their fellow co-workers and the bodies are piling up in the theater yet the show continues to go on. 

"Lady of Burlesque" is set in a world where scantily-clad ladies seductively remove what little items of clothing they have on. Yet there isn't much skin to be seen here. That is because the Hays Code was in full effect, making sure nothing objectionable ever made it on to the the big screen. So William A. Wellman (the director behind the first Oscar winner for Best Picture, "Wings" and the first version of "A Star Is Born" in 1937) winds up having to rely on uninspired musical numbers and routine comedy skits to move the story along. As the film aims for wanting to be viewed as titilating, harmless fun, "Lady of Burlesque" is actually unsettling and a little ghoulish. Oh, and forget about the mystery. This is one of those who-dun-it where there are never any actual clues dropped and everything is explained with a lengthy conversation at the end.