Documentary on the life and death of Lenny Bruce.Documentary on the life and death of Lenny Bruce.Documentary on the life and death of Lenny Bruce.
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Lenny Bruce
- Self
- (archive footage)
- …
Steve Allen
- Self
- (archive footage)
- …
Martin Garbus
- Self
- (archive footage)
William Glenesk
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Rev. William Glenesk)
Nat Hentoff
- Self
- (archive footage)
Frank Hogan
- Self
- (archive footage)
Paul Krassner
- Self
- (archive footage)
Malcolm Muggeridge
- Self
- (archive footage)
Jean Shepherd
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Jean Shepard)
Kenneth Tynan
- Self
- (archive footage)
Lyndon B. Johnson
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaLenny (1974) is a fictionalization of the real life person also portrayed in works such as Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth (1998), Lenny Bruce in 'Lenny Bruce' (1967), Looking for Lenny (2011), that is also mentioned as an influence in documentaries like Fuck (2005), Obscene (2007) and Hungry i reunion (1981).
- ConnectionsEdited into Looking for Lenny (2011)
Featured review
Fair Documentary
Lenny Bruce Without Tears (1972)
** (out of 4)
Somewhat stale documentary taking a look at the career of Lenny Bruce. At around 75-minutes there's really not too much going on with this documentary except giving some basic information about the comedian. We learn about his early days on the stage and how he wasn't a hit. We learn that he became famous once he started talking about more controversial subjects. We then learn that he turned to drugs, began getting arrested for his act and eventually died at a young age. If you're already familiar with Bruce then it's doubtful any of the information given here is going to take you by surprise. I'm going to guess that perhaps this here was needed back in 1972, just to remind some newer people of who Bruce was. Today this bits of information really isn't all that needed since we've got countless other documentaries, the Dustin Hoffman picture and countless other bits of media about the comedy legend. The majority of the running time is devoted to Bruce's acts as we see him at a press conference talking about the crimes being committed against him as well as his appearances on The Steve Allen Show as well as audio clips from his concerts. These here are perhaps the main reason to watch this documentary since you get to see Bruce in action, although today his material is so tame that it's almost hard to imagine anyone getting offended by it. Overall, LENNY BRUCE WITHOUT TEARS is a bit too boring and doesn't give us enough interesting information on the comic to make it worth sitting through.
** (out of 4)
Somewhat stale documentary taking a look at the career of Lenny Bruce. At around 75-minutes there's really not too much going on with this documentary except giving some basic information about the comedian. We learn about his early days on the stage and how he wasn't a hit. We learn that he became famous once he started talking about more controversial subjects. We then learn that he turned to drugs, began getting arrested for his act and eventually died at a young age. If you're already familiar with Bruce then it's doubtful any of the information given here is going to take you by surprise. I'm going to guess that perhaps this here was needed back in 1972, just to remind some newer people of who Bruce was. Today this bits of information really isn't all that needed since we've got countless other documentaries, the Dustin Hoffman picture and countless other bits of media about the comedy legend. The majority of the running time is devoted to Bruce's acts as we see him at a press conference talking about the crimes being committed against him as well as his appearances on The Steve Allen Show as well as audio clips from his concerts. These here are perhaps the main reason to watch this documentary since you get to see Bruce in action, although today his material is so tame that it's almost hard to imagine anyone getting offended by it. Overall, LENNY BRUCE WITHOUT TEARS is a bit too boring and doesn't give us enough interesting information on the comic to make it worth sitting through.
helpful•01
- Michael_Elliott
- Sep 10, 2012
Details
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
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Top Gap
By what name was Lenny Bruce: Without Tears (1972) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer