Dream Follies/Dreamland Capers

"So what was Lenny Bruce doing before he became the most groundbreaking comedian in American history in the late Fifties? Something Weird Video have unearthed one of the skeletons in Bruce's closet on this ""Tease & Please Double Feature"" DVD release, which features Dream Follies, a very low budget feature which was written by Bruce and features the comic in two small roles. Both Dream Follies and Dreamland Capers (which doesn't feature Lenny Bruce but does have a cowgirl doing rope tricks) are transferred to disc in their original full-frame ratio of 1.33:1. The transfers for both films look fine, though the source materials are a bit worse for wear (the first few minutes of Dreamland Capers are quite splice-ridden and both show brief moments of serious scratching) and the photography on Dream Follies is never going to look pristine. The audio for both films has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo (retaining the original monophonic sound mixes) and is as good as the materials permit; the dialogue is in English, with no subtitles or multiple language options included. As usual, Something Weird haven't skimped on the bonus materials; this disc includes a third feature film, Dance Hall Racket, which like Dream Follies credits Lenny Bruce as both writer and star, and the animated short subject Thank You Mask Man, which uses one of Bruce's standup routines as its soundtrack. Other bonuses include trailers for Dance Hall Racket, Girl Gang and Liz (the latter features Bruce's mother Sally Marr as a stunned patron leaving a screening of the movie), and a gallery of burlesque film publicity materials which has appeared on several other SWV releases. While these aren't two of the better burlesque films to be unearthed by Something Weird, this is an entertaining package for folks interested in Lenny Bruce's early days along the Show Biz margins, and it has been put together with the company's trademark degree of care and sense of fun."