Release Date: 11/18/2008
Label/Distributor: Catalyst Films / Indiepix
Retail Price: $24.95
Genre: Biography Cast: Walter Cronkite,Nicholas Pileggi,Mike Wallace,Frank Gifford,Joe Garagiola
Director: Kristi Jacobson
Running Time: 84
DVD Video Options: NTSC
DVD Audio Options: English;Unknown
DVD Extras: commentary, interviews, timeline
UPC Code: 718122355211
Toots Shor is many things to many people, said Edward R. Murrow of the legendary Manhattan saloonkeeper in 1955. A friend to the famous, a crook to the feds, father, brother, gambler, bum, but most of all Toots Shor was the owner of America s greatest saloon. Directed by his granddaughter, TOOTS is a provocative, loving and unmistakably authentic portrait of the selfmade, unapologetic and quintessentially American man who became the unlikely den-mother to the heroes of America s golden age. Politicians and gangsters, sports heroes and movie stars -- Sinatra, Gleason, Dimaggio, Ruth, Costello, Eisenhower, Nixon, Warren -- for 30 years, they all found their way to Toots eponymous saloon on New York s West 51st Street for food and drink, served up with a heaping side of insults and put downs. From its post-WW II heyday to its devastating decline in the 1970s, this film reveals as much about the city Toots loved as it does about the man and his enduring legacy.
Toots
By Ed Grant -- Video Business, 11/3/2008
INDIEPIX |
Street: Nov. 18
Prebook: now
> Affectionate toast to Manhattan bar owner Toots Shor.
The golden age of Manhattan nightlife is recalled in this affectionate portrait of celebrated restaurateur-barkeep Toots Shor. Director and Shor's granddaughter Kristi Jacobson wisely emphasizes the parade of notables—entertainers, sports heroes, newspapermen and gangsters—who frequented Shor's establishment, which he described as a “clean, well-lit saloon.” The film moves smoothly from Shor's hard-scrabble Philadelphia childhood to his salad days in the '50s and '60s and his final years, when the changing times and his debts forced him to close up shop. Shor speaks via TV appearances and an in-depth interview from the '70s, while a host of talking heads (Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace, Yogi Berra, Frank Gifford) offer reminiscences. But the nicest moments come from archival interviews with Shor's close friends Jackie Gleason and Frank Sinatra.
Shelf Talk: Toots provides a real-life look at the hard-drinking, hard-smoking, unrepentantly macho '50s. Rat Pack fanatics, New York history buffs and sports addicts pining for the days when players weren't zillionaires will be eager to learn about Shor's honorable “crumbum”-filled existence.
Documentary, B&W/color, NR (mature themes), 85 min., DVD $24.95Extras: commentary, interviews, interactive timeline
Director: Kristi Jacobson
First Run: DVD premiere
