Love, Gilda

"Love Gilda" allows us to step into Gilda Radner's private world with Gilda as our guide. What a treasure to hear Gilda's voice as she narrates her journey from chubby childhood to beloved comedian, and shows us how she used her playful humor to defend, delight, distract, and develop - A joy to watch.

Lisa Dapolito's touching Documentary on SNL pioneer Gilda Radner. In many ways a typical Bio-Doc (talking heads interspersed with clips), what makes it special is that Radner left behind a treasure trove of tape recordings and personal writings that reveal her inner thoughts (the tapes were largely done for her autobiography, It's Always Something, which was released posthumously). Radner is extremely honest in those documents and provides intimate details of her entire life*.

The collection of interviews here is representative enough including her brother Michael. Most of the others have an SNL connection including cast members Laraine Newman and Chevy Chase (who, speaks mostly about himself) and writers such as Anne Beatts, Rosie Shuster and Alan Zweibel. They all provide some nice details and insights. Less successful are the cameos by present day SNL alumni such as Maya Rudolph and Bill Hader who mostly just fawn over her memory. What carries the Doc is Gilda herself - both in the film and TV clips, as well as her testimony via her trove of documents.

LOVE, GILDA can't help but be bittersweet. The tragedy of such a meteoric talent passing away at 42 can't be gotten around, no matter how sprightly the archival footage may be (her entire recorded career lasted but a decade). Radner's battle with disease inspired many (with clinics across the country still named in her honor), so her legacy remains.

* One noticeable exception in the documentary is that very few details are shared about her boyfriends and ex-husband (musician G.E. Smith) before marrying Gene Wilder. Martin Short shares some of his recollections during their relationship during their tenures with Second City Toronto. Presumably, Dapolito chose not to disclose much in that area out of deference to Radner and Wilder, but, it is a glaring omission in an otherwise honest portrayal.

I wanted to see and know more of the strange little girl and the young television sensation than this film shows. It did much better when it got it got to the mature woman, finding the love of her life, but instead of children and growing old together, it was him caring for her in sickness and early death. I'm sure there are many others like me who have not thought of Gilda in a long time because her end was so sad. I needed this reminder of what she gave us.

Gilda's story and that of Fran Dresher have many similarities. Both were the most benign of people, wanting only to bring cheer to others. Both were subjected to so much senseless suffering and loss from illnesses science has not yet conquered as to prove that there is no benevolent God in control.

Based too much on her own autobiography and diaries, without any major insights from the (very few) people who were interviewed. Gilda Radner was indeed a very talented comedian and a very interesting personality and I feel the documentary just touches the surface of that by recycling what we already know about her.

A lovely tribute to someone who died too young and only had a brief chance to do her thing. I don't know if this would make anyone new become a fan, but for anyone that remembers her from SNL, it would be well worth a watch.