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Rating: - The best compilation yet!
MPI has produced a DVD which should win an award: the kinescopes are so clear you might think they were first generation "film" negatives, sound is fine. The clips are presented in longer form than one might expect - so many documentaries/TV Specials use short takes which emphasize alot of mugging and carrying on - sight gags, often tired and grating, in favor of the more graceful and dialogue-driven segments.
It is a pleasure that just one interviewee is present, and of course she is someone was there, professionally, and later, personally, Marilyn Taylor Gleason, still beautiful. Her dialogue is wonderful, sounding *unscripted* - yes, she must have learned from the Master. Live action and stills of her and her also-famous sister, June Taylor, capture two extraordinarily sensuous dancers, who often shared the spotlight with The Great One. As prodigious a figure as JG was, the ladies definitely added that vertical dimension (wise guy.....). Her descriptions of her husband's characters is spot-on.
A unique approach is sucessfully achieved here: the most popular character, Ralph Kramden is actually given only "equal time", meaning that there is more concentration on other Gleason characters, some actually more well-defined that the occasionally ebullient Bus Driver from Brooklyn.
The funniest sketch, in a long excerpt, is on Rudy The Rapairman, absolutely hilarious in an obviously under-rehearsed bit, involving installation of an early-era air-conditioner in a busy midday restaurant.
After assuring maitre-d' Art Carney (almost unrecognizable from his own Ed Norton and Clem Finch characters) that he'll be quietly fastidious, the total chaos comes hard and heavy. Brilliantly conceived, from the staging, to the lighting, to the live cutting. Makes modern day TV comedy look stilted and mechanical.
MPI has added a rare Jackie Gleason Show, celebrating JG's 25th year in show business, and concentrating on his many characters, as featured on his new (apparently) 10-inch album of character songs.
I hope that this is Volume One, and a future Volume contains his June 1, 1957 farewell telecast, including the last Honeymooners' sketch of the decade.

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