When Comedy Went to School (FILM REVIEW)
When Comedy Went to School
Film Review by Kam Williams
Borscht Belt Documentary Revisits the Rise of Legendary
Jewish Comics
What do such legendary comics as Danny
Kaye, Jerry Stiller, Sid Caesar, Jackie Mason, Don Rickles, David Brenner, Buddy
Hackett, Henny Youngman, Jerry Lewis, Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Joan
Rivers, Alan King and Rodney Dangerfield have in common? They all got their
start in showbiz doing stand-up in the Catskill Mountains
at any number of the lush farm region’s hundreds of hotel resorts.
Starting in the late Thirties, the
so-called Borscht Belt began catering to a clientele predominantly comprised of
Jewish immigrants in need of a summer retreat where they could get a break from
the sweltering tenements of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. After all, they had little interest in
vacationing in Europe, a place most were lucky
to have escaped.
So, they instead made an annual
exodus to upstate New York
for fresh air, good food and some fun in the sun. Each establishment there also
had a nightly stage show where aspiring entertainers could ply their trade,
including the aforementioned icons.
What made working the Catskills
unique was that it served as a proving ground allowing a comedian to hone his
or her skills en route to the big time, namely, movies and TV. As narrator
Robert Klein puts it, “It was a laboratory. Comics had a place to be bad.”
This slice of Jewish history is the
focus of When Comedy Went to School, an alternately informative and hilarious
documentary co-directed by Mevlut Akkaya and Ron Frank. The film features
reflections by surviving greats, as well as the insights of some members of the
next generation, most notably, Jerry Seinfeld.
Sprinkled in amidst the enlightening
history lessons are lots of one-liners preserved on vintage footage of
yesteryear’s stars of tomorrow. To wit, Alan King: “My wife takes 40 minutes to
lipstick her face because she has a big mouth.” And Joan Rivers: “I was the
last girl in Larchmont to get married. My mom had to put up a sign saying,
‘Last girl before freeway.’” And Woody Allen: “This watch I’m wearing is a
family heirloom. My grandfather, on his death bed, sold me this watch.”
Priceless!
Excellent
(4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 77 minutes
Distributor: International
Film Circuit
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