The comic who made cops say 'obscenity' 37 times in court—why'd Fosse fall so hard?
Lenny Bruce's depiction on film did not start or end with Bob Fosse's Lenny (1974). Through these other often offbeat cinematic incarnations, this essay piece considers how Lenny Bruce was the perfect Bob Fosse subject, and how Fosse's focus on the lives of performers invigorated his portrait of the controversial, trail-blazing comic.
Direction
Kremer's essayistic voice treats Bruce like a ghost haunting cinema.
Editing
Rapid-fire archival cuts that mirror Bruce's own chaotic rhythm.
Writing
Dense narration assumes you've done the homework.
Director
Daniel Kremer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bruce's actual obscenity trial transcripts were used as dialogue in Fosse's film—Dustin Hoffman read real court records.
Kremer's title references 'Dead Stars,' a Bruce routine about celebrities surviving their own deaths through image—eerily self-aware for 2023.
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