Sat. June 14, 2014
By Gregg Shapiro
For her documentarian directorial debut, actress/comedian/activist Whoopi Goldberg chose the late comedy legend Moms Mabley. Goldberg's doc, Moms Mabley: The Original Queen of Comedy (HBO Home Entertainment) begins with the premise that Mabley, who died in 1975 at 81, had a profound impact on Goldberg, and then proceeds to give examples of comedians and others on whom her effect was equally great.
Goldberg herself interviewed a wide cross-section of comedians and performers, including Kathy Griffin, Eddie Murphy, Quincy Jones, Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller, Joan Rivers, Arsenio Hall, Robert Klein, Dick Cavett, Kaye Ballard, Bill Cosby, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Debbie Allen, as well as directors Ellen Sebastian Cheng and George Schlatter, and Apollo Theater historian Billy Mitchell. Goldberg also speaks at length about Mabley, explaining how she "did Moms" in a show of her own because of how much she loved the material. Along with Mabley, Goldberg cited other comedic storytellers who influenced her including Richard Pryor, Lord Buckley, and the comedy duo Mike Nichols and Elaine May.
However, it's the vintage Mabley performance footage that does the best job of fleshing out the portrait. From her humble beginnings on the "chitlin' circuit" to her success at the Apollo theater and later on television and in film, Mabley's popularity lasted for more than 40, with her greatest successes occurring near the end of her life. A smart, risqué wordsmith, who hid how bright she was under the floppy hat and mismatched clothing costume she donned in character, which in essence gave her license to speak her mind.
The versatile Mabley got away with much in her routine, making the kinds of jokes about men that men often made about women, speaking her mind about civil rights and politics, and finding humor in pain. But perhaps the greatest revelation about Mabley occurs when retired dancer Norma Miller not only mentions Mabley's penchant for dressing in men's clothing off-stage, but also about her girlfriend and the other young women she surrounded herself with in her private life. Alternately funny and serious and extremely informative, Moms Mabley makes for good Pride month entertainment.
Did you ever read a book and think, "Gee, this sounds like someone's master's thesis"? Writer/director Cindy L. Abel's brief doc Breaking Through: Out of the Closet, Into the Halls of Power (Breaking Glass) has that similar feel to it. Featuring interviews with high profile queer politicians including former Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank, Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin and Houston Mayor Annise Parker, the doc gives voice to its subjects' early years and family life, coming out process, the adversity they faced, running for office and finally, time spent in office.
Abel's doc shines a light on ongoing issues of importance such as bullying and raises important questions, such as what attention does coming out bring to a person with political aspirations? But by the end, with its closing sequence focusing on same-sex marriage, it feels rushed and suddenly unfocused, more like a promo video than a doc short. DVD special features include both the theatrical and extended versions, an exclusive music video and more.
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