Taglines: Lenny said it. “Hot Honey” did it. Together they shocked America.
Lenny movie storyline. The film jumps between various sections of Bruce’s life, including scenes of when he was in his prime and the burned-out, strung-out performer who, in the twilight of his life, used his nightclub act to pour out his personal frustrations. We watch as up-and-coming Bruce courts his “Shiksa goddess”, a stripper named Honey.
With family responsibilities, Lenny is encouraged to do a “safe” act, but he cannot do it. Constantly in trouble for flouting obscenity laws, Lenny develops a near-messianic complex which fuels both his comedy genius and his talent for self-destruction. Worn out by a lifetime of tilting at establishment windmills, Lenny Bruce dies of a morphine overdose in 1966.
Lenny is a 1974 American biographical drama film about the comedian Lenny Bruce, starring Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck, Frankie Man, Rashel Novikoff, Gary Morton, Kathryn Witt, Michele Yonge, Monroe Myers, John DiSanti, Mickey Gatlin and directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Julian Barry is based on his play of the same name.
Although nominated for six Academy Awards in 1975, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography, Lenny did not receive an award. Valerie Perrine won the award for Best Actress at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.
Lenny (1974)
Directed by: Bob Fosse
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck, Frankie Man, Rashel Novikoff, Gary Morton, Kathryn Witt, Michele Yonge, Monroe Myers, John DiSanti, Mickey Gatlin
Screenplay by: Julian Barry
Production Design by: Joel Schiller
Cinematography by: Bruce Surtees
Film Editing by: Alan Heim
Costume Design by: Albert Wolsky
Set Decoration by: Nicholas J. Romanac
Music by: Ralph Burns
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: November 10, 1974
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