Lenny Bruce, fearless fighter for free speech, tragically passed away on this day, August 3, 1966.
One of our heroes. See our previous postings on Lenny – here and here – and here
We’re featuring today Robert Weide‘s riveting 1998 documentary on Lenny, Swear To Tell The Truth
Weide on the movie:
“From the time I commenced production on Lenny Bruce: Swear To Tell The Truth, until it received its premiere broadcast on HBO, thirteen years had come and gone. My standard joke was that I didn’t know whether to release the film or have it Bar Mitzvah’d.”
Read more of Weide on Swear To Tell The Truth – here
A selection of reviews of the movie:
Peter Keepnews in The New York Times
Paul Brownfield in the LA Times
Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle
Michael Sragow in San Francisco Weekly
& more
Lenny, Lenny. In these times of hypocrisy and censorship, you were a trailblazer and a pioneer, we need you more than ever.
Lenny was that voice in the night that showed us what freedom of speech really meant. Too bad we have forgotten that lesson and now you can be indited and prosecuted for that.