“Lenny” – At Film Society of Lincoln Center – 200th Post

Dustin Hoffman in "Lenny"

From November 3 – 13 the Film Society of Lincoln Center presented a film series called Hollywood’s “Jew Wave.”  The series highlighted films made between 1968 and 1977, a period during which Jewish movie stars took Hollywood by storm.  The stars included Barbra Streisand, Elliott Gould, Dustin Hoffman, George Segal, Woody Allen, Richard Dreyfus, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder and others.  The Jewish quotient was also reflected in the subject matter of the films:  “Funny Girl” (1968), “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” (1974), “Annie Hall” (1977) and “The Heartbreak Kid” (1972), to list just some of the films included in this series.

On November 9 the series showed one of my favorite movies, “Lenny” (1974), starring Dustin Hoffman and Valerie Perrine.  “Lenny” was directed by Bob Fosse and nominated for six Oscars.