Search - The Unknown: Jimmy Durante - The Great Schnozzola on DVD

He's the top, he's the schnozz on the great Durante...

Chuck Mathias | Steilacoom, WA USA | 06/08/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jimmy Durante's comic persona is one of the great inventions of the 20th century. Out of the bitterest of lemons -- gnomish stature, bald pate, Homeric nose, a voice like gravel pouring down a tin chute -- the Schnozzola concocted pure lemon gin fizz. Keaton and Chaplin may've been greater artists, Groucho had better material, and W.C. Fields was a more acute observer of the human condition, but nobody was more fun to watch than Jimmy at full throttle: that strut, that battered fedora, that passionate, if aggrieved, air of the master beset by lesser lights ("Everybody wants ta get inta de act!") -- it's all here, and if you're as susceptible to his high-voltage charm as I am, you'll be left helpless with laughter.One quibble: For a tape compiled of clips from a variety show, there's really not much variety. Delightful as Jimmy's song and dance routines are, I'd like to have seen a few complete skits, too (rather than the handful of snippets we get featuring showbiz legends like John Wayne and Frank Sinatra). And didn't anyone ever film an interview with Jimmy? Informative as the segments with his wife, daughter and Leonard Maltin are, seeing how The Schnozz comported himself offstage and out of the spotlight (no performer was ever more "on" when he was on) would've been "da piece of resistance!"Something to watch for: since it's not mentioned in the narration or on the box, the producers apparently didn't realize that one of the "Durante Girls" sitting next to Jimmy during an early production number is a very young Mary Tyler Moore!"

Finally, something from a legend

Vincent T. Lynch | Colorado Springs, Colorado | 01/29/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There are few of the early television performers from my childhood that I remember more than Jimmy Durante. He is one of a kind, and, as this retrospective points out, it's not easy to define why he was so beloved.There could be better jobs of putting a retrospective together, but, this is all we have so far of Durante's television variety/comedy years, so it will have to do. There were times I would liked to have seen a bit more of a particular bit, but this is a good taste of what those performances were like.The transfer to DVD is quite good considering the age of the kinescopes and film. If you remember Durante, you'll enjoy this video and wish there were more."

Really enjoyable

B. Kellar | Los Altos, CA United States | 06/04/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first caught this on PBS. I laughed, I cried, I ordered a copy for myself and one for my mom. Really great nostalgic stuff, many of the best numbers from Jimmy's NBC TV show from the early fifties, along with some (not too many) recent interviews and commentary from Jimmy's family and the film critic Leonard Maltin. If you are old enough to remember Jimmy Durante, black and white TV, live broadcasts with ad libs, and Inka-Dinka-Do, this is a must see."

Really enjoyable

B. Kellar | Los Altos, CA United States | 06/04/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first caught this on PBS. I laughed, I cried, I ordered a copy for myself and one for my mom. Really great nostalgic stuff, many of the best numbers from Jimmy's NBC TV show from the early fifties, along with some (not too many) recent interviews and commentary from Jimmy's family and the film critic Leonard Maltin. If you are old enough to remember Jimmy Durante, black and white TV, live broadcasts with ad libs, and Inka-Dinka-Do, this is a must see."