LOVE, GILDA (2018)
Like many in my generation who grew up watching the first golden seasons of Saturday Night Live, comedic genius Gilda Radner was IT for me. She was a loveable, gifted and guileless comedienne; effervescent, intelligent, unpredictable, kind, vulnerable, versitile, pretty, and humble. Love, Gilda, a documentary on her life, generously shares these attractive Gilda qualities with us. It is pure joy, with poignant hearbreak at the end.
The Not Ready For Prime Time Players, (many who came from the comedy improv club Second City, and some who had gone on to National Lampoon's radio program), have presence in this film.
As Gilda developed on SNL, she had an aptitude for developing likeable, flawed characters such as Emily Litella, Lisa Loopner, Roseanne Roseanadanna, Judy Miller, Candy Slice, Baba Wawa, and more. What a gift to reunite with them and their creator in Love, Gilda through show outtakes, home movies, audio tapes narrated by Gilda, diary outtakes, and interviews with friends.
Part of this film is a light, joyous look back on Gilda's life in which she began performing as a chubby young girl. The boyant blush of the comedy rush was evidently early; she grew up to become a bold, honest, outspoken risk taker.
In 1985, Radner had chronic fatigue and suffered from pain in her upper legs on a movie set in the UK. She sought medical treatment for ten months; various doctors in Los Angeles, gave her several wrong diagnoses. This was during her marriage to fellow comedienne, soul-mate, Gene Wilder, who Gilda loved the smell of. In 1986, Radner was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer; this was shocking news for a healthy woman, who finally found her love, Gene.
I felt badly for Gilda at this stage in her life. When I read her autobiography back in the 80's, I remember learning she got hooked up with people who may have meant well; but went overboard and indoctrinated her into thinking the, "As you think and believe, so shall it be," dogma. It seemed as though she felt like a failure because she couldn't pray, visualize, or "create" a cure for for cancer through her thinking; she and others blamed her for not "manifesting" a miracle. Gilda's "Answer to Cancer: Healing the Body with Mind and Heart" program sprang from this and provides ongoing support for many.
Before her death, Radner said, "If it wasn't for the downside, having cancer would be the best thing and everyone would want it." Following her death, her husband Gene Wilder said, "That might be true, if it wasn't for the downside."
Like many in my generation who grew up watching the first golden seasons of Saturday Night Live, comedic genius Gilda Radner was IT for me. She was a loveable, gifted and guileless comedienne; effervescent, intelligent, unpredictable, kind, vulnerable, versitile, pretty, and humble. Love, Gilda, a documentary on her life, generously shares these attractive Gilda qualities with us. It is pure joy, with poignant hearbreak at the end.
The Not Ready For Prime Time Players, (many who came from the comedy improv club Second City, and some who had gone on to National Lampoon's radio program), have presence in this film.
As Gilda developed on SNL, she had an aptitude for developing likeable, flawed characters such as Emily Litella, Lisa Loopner, Roseanne Roseanadanna, Judy Miller, Candy Slice, Baba Wawa, and more. What a gift to reunite with them and their creator in Love, Gilda through show outtakes, home movies, audio tapes narrated by Gilda, diary outtakes, and interviews with friends.
Part of this film is a light, joyous look back on Gilda's life in which she began performing as a chubby young girl. The boyant blush of the comedy rush was evidently early; she grew up to become a bold, honest, outspoken risk taker.
In 1985, Radner had chronic fatigue and suffered from pain in her upper legs on a movie set in the UK. She sought medical treatment for ten months; various doctors in Los Angeles, gave her several wrong diagnoses. This was during her marriage to fellow comedienne, soul-mate, Gene Wilder, who Gilda loved the smell of. In 1986, Radner was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer; this was shocking news for a healthy woman, who finally found her love, Gene.
I felt badly for Gilda at this stage in her life. When I read her autobiography back in the 80's, I remember learning she got hooked up with people who may have meant well; but went overboard and indoctrinated her into thinking the, "As you think and believe, so shall it be," dogma. It seemed as though she felt like a failure because she couldn't pray, visualize, or "create" a cure for for cancer through her thinking; she and others blamed her for not "manifesting" a miracle. Gilda's "Answer to Cancer: Healing the Body with Mind and Heart" program sprang from this and provides ongoing support for many.
Before her death, Radner said, "If it wasn't for the downside, having cancer would be the best thing and everyone would want it." Following her death, her husband Gene Wilder said, "That might be true, if it wasn't for the downside."