The Telephone Book (Blu-ray + DVD Combo)

Once I Swallowed A Golf Ball...
Odd non-sequiturs and wild witty digressions delivered with soothing calm..excellent compositions, hilarious animation and a nice soft core thrill-- this is lots of fun!!

I had the good fortune to be able to produce 2 full length CDs with Nelson Lyon and Hal Willner. It's a drag that such a brilliant artist doesn't have a filmography and discography a mile long. However, I would urge anyone who enjoys this film to also check out Nelson's work with Paris Records: Dead City Radio by W.S. Burroughs and Give Me Your Hump! The Unspeakable Terry Southern Record. Like The Telephone Book, these projects are loaded with cameos from Nelson's friends--all of whom are well known stars. He took great care with his productions- in fact, his perfectionism almost drove us nuts! All the same, Nelson's production values were well worth it, and I will value his friendship for the rest of my life.

Nelson Lyon 1939-2012.. We miss you, Nels, and I know you would never want to "rest...

An Obscure Comedy that deserves a larger cult
"The Telephone Book" is about a girl who falls in love with the world's greatest obscene phone caller. Because of horrors in distribution this movie from 1971 has never received it's due as a great comedy. The movie features Barry Morse (Space:1999), Roger C. Carmel (Harry Mudd on Star Trek) and William Hickey (Prizzi's Honor) in supporting roles. But the major star is announcer Norman Rose as the obscene phone caller. At the time of the shooting, Rose was the voice of Ma Bell. Sara Kennedy is perfect as Alice, the girl hunting around Manhattan for the voice of her erotic dreams. Nelson Lyon was the father of Judd Apatow and Todd Phillips.

Buy this now, and enjoy the laughs.
Vinegar Syndrome truly surprised me this time. They're getting well known for releasing Blu-ray / DVD combo packs that are filled to the brim with bonus material for hard to find films. They're becoming the standard for releasing these films in widescreen looking better than any of them should have a right to, but they surprised me by releasing a film that could be considered to have underground cult status, and had me laughing all the way through. "The Telephone Book" is their best release yet, and a film you need to own.

The comedy stars Sarah Kennedy as Alice who looks and sounds like a blonde Betty Boop. Alice has fallen in love with the world's best obscene phone caller "John Smith" (played brilliantly by Norman Rose). John has dared Alice to try and find him by giving her two clues; his name and that his number is in the Manhattan telephone book. You should see how many John Smiths there are in the Manhattan telephone book! Not to be dissuaded, Alice agrees...

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