Glorious bawd, toothless vulgarian, slyly subversive political commentator, Moms Mabley didn’t hit mainstream American audiences (and leave video-taped tv appearances) till she was 70+ after decades on the Black Vaudeville ‘Chitlin’ Circuit.’ So, while it didn’t take long for Moms to make an impression, Whoopi Goldberg had her hands tied in making this career documentary by a simple lack of material. Calling in lots of favors, the film is chock-a-block with celeb encomiums of various fatuousness. (From pre-disgraced Bill Cosby to predeceased Joan Rivers, Sidney Poitier, Stiller & Meara, Kaye Ballard; plus still living Eddie Murphy, Harry Belafonte, Debbie Allen, Arsenio Hall, Kathy Griffith, Robert Klein, et al.) All largely offering generic platitudes that miss the point of her unique ability to upset status quo simply by showing up as Moms Mabley. There had been nothing like her on America’s home screens before. Screamingly funny even with third-rate material, she’s even better when she has something to chew on. (Not necessarily so with this sort of comedian.) Once, on the old Ed Sullivan Show, probably 1970, she delivered the single funniest (and filthiest) joke ever heard on that stage. So it says all you need to know about this documentary that Goldberg includes it in here . . . delivered by Dick Cavett. Dick Cavett? Kudos to Cavett for picking that particular line, but what does the choice say about Whoopi? Thank goodness she leaves her archival finds alone in an astounding bit that sees Moms carefully having tv host Merv Griffin incriminate himself by helping her think of that cowboy fella whose name she can’t quite remember. ‘Roy Rogers?,’ Merv says helpfully. Yes! And how nice it was that they liked her so much they used the same nickname for her that they used for his horse. You know, Trigger. Then, Moms thinking again, ‘Maybe it wasn’t Trigger.’ At which point Merv turns positively purple trying to distance himself from the gag. Whoopi’s film may be an inadequate tribute, but there’s a whole world unaware of this great comic spirit, and it’s nearly all we have on her.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Goldberg’s commitment to Moms Mabley included a one-woman impersonation show. An assumption nearly as unequal to the task as her attempt at another Black stage icon, legendary Ziegfeld Follies personality Bert Williams.
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