It was heartening to hear-about Lenny Bruce's posthumous-acquittal in 2002, but considering that our rights to free-speech are again directly-imperiled just makes this documentary of circa-1965 Lenny so chilling. Watching this documentary is akin to a snuff-film: you are watching the human-toll inflicted by Police and District Attorneys on a man who was likely the most important public, social-observer of his time. It's true, one can still see moments of Lenny's former-brilliance of only 3-4 years earlier in this performance, but it is dimmed. This document exists if only to instill in young-people, the outrage of what was committed on this great man. It is not entertainment, it is history.
This is what makes this--the one full-concert on-film--so disappointing. Not only is it shot-poorly, but copyright-owners have never done anything to locate better-prints; and like all other Lenny-material out there, no attempts at restoration or preservation seem to have been made. I know there is a dearth of Lenny-footage out there, but until the most-recent documentary, "Swear to Tell the Truth", all we have seen is recycled- footage. Archives need to open their doors to make these materials widely-available, this is our history, people.
So, since the early-70s, all we have had is this muddy-gem and "Lenny Bruce Without Tears." Bob Fosse's "Lenny" has some great-moments, and surely captures some aspects of Lenny Bruce, but isn't very probing about what made the comedian so daring for his time. I urge anyone out there who has footage of Lenny Bruce to put make it available to the public, because surely, there is much more to be seen. From Playboy's TV-show appearances that have only been shown in fragments, to press-conferences, and even newsreel-footage of shows, it's out there. It's time to re-examine this man's life in minute-detail, and researchers and fans-alike deserve access to more primary-materials. The recent "Let the Buyer Beware" box-set was an excellent-start.
