I would be interested in hearing the opinions of anyone who saw the made-for-TV biography of TV icon Jackie Gleason. I'm no expert on the life and career of Jackie Gleason so I don't know how accurate the movie is but I did enjoy Brad Garrett's portrayal of "The Great One". Maybe some of you pros out there would be willing to point out the inaccuracies if there were any.

I haven't seen this yet, but I'd really like to. Is it available on DVD anywhere?

I haven't seen this yet, but I'd really like to. Is it available on DVD anywhere?

The "Gleason" dvd is available. The best place to get it from is bestprices.com
and they're only charging $7.99 for it.

The "Gleason" dvd is available. The best place to get it from is bestprices.com
and they're only charging $7.99 for it.
Thanks, I'm gonna try and pick that up soon. I'll let you know what I think.

Thanks, I'm gonna try and pick that up soon. I'll let you know what I think.

Great! I checked out your Honeymooners website today~AWESOME!!!

Nobody saw this movie?

Haven't seen it yet but I can tell you what I think tomorrow.
Just bought it! The cover freaked me out a little at a quick glance Brad really does look like Jackie. I'm glad they had him do this as I think he's the only current actor with enough talent to even compare to Gleason's comic genius.

Nobody saw this movie?

I saw this, yes. There were several innacuracies and omissions in this film, mainly with time-lines. The screenwriters didn't do their homework well at all. One such flaw was showing Jackie bringing his future wife home to meet his mother, only to find that she had died. If you read Jim Bishop's bio "THE GOLDEN HAM", that is not what happened. Jackie and his friends were playing cards in the kitchen. He would periodically get up to check on her. She would shortly die while the gang played cards. One such friend was Julie Dennehy, a neighbor. Jackie had yet to meet the woman who would become his first wife.

There were others including his first TV job, which was "LIFE OF RILEY" and NOT "CAVALCADE OF STARS". His using his famous catch phrase "HOW SWEET IT IS" at the beginning of "STAGE SHOW" was a blooper. Gleason didn't start using that phrase until 1962 when he started "THE AMERICAN SCENE MAGAZINE". He first used it in the film "PAPA'S DELICATE CONDITION" which was filmed just before his return to weekly TV in '62. There's also a question of whether he really WAS fired off his first picture, "NAVY BLUES". I have never read anything to back that up over all these years, so I'll leave THAT one open for doubt. :wave:

And regardless of licenses of accuracy in certain parts of Gleason's life - and Mr. Garrett's height - Brad's voice was a bit too deep compared with The Great One. I have heard Gleason described as a baritone, voice-wise; Garrett's voice sounds more like a bass-baritone.

And regardless of licenses of accuracy in certain parts of Gleason's life - and Mr. Garrett's height - Brad's voice was a bit too deep compared with The Great One. I have heard Gleason described as a baritone, voice-wise; Garrett's voice sounds more like a bass-baritone.

W.B. you are right about Brad's voice. That's the one thing that bothered me a little while I was watching the movie.

Great! I checked out your Honeymooners website today~AWESOME!!!
Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. :)

I saw this, yes. There were several innacuracies and omissions in this film, mainly with time-lines. The screenwriters didn't do their homework well at all. One such flaw was showing Jackie bringing his future wife home to meet his mother, only to find that she had died. If you read Jim Bishop's bio "THE GOLDEN HAM", that is not what happened. Jackie and his friends were playing cards in the kitchen. He would periodically get up to check on her. She would shortly die while the gang played cards. One such friend was Julie Dennehy, a neighbor. Jackie had yet to meet the woman who would become his first wife.

There were others including his first TV job, which was "LIFE OF RILEY" and NOT "CAVALCADE OF STARS". His using his famous catch phrase "HOW SWEET IT IS" at the beginning of "STAGE SHOW" was a blooper. Gleason didn't start using that phrase until 1962 when he started "THE AMERICAN SCENE MAGAZINE". He first used it in the film "PAPA'S DELICATE CONDITION" which was filmed just before his return to weekly TV in '62. There's also a question of whether he really WAS fired off his first picture, "NAVY BLUES". I have never read anything to back that up over all these years, so I'll leave THAT one open for doubt. :wave:

Hey VIDEOWACK! Thanks for your input. I didn't realize that there were that many innacuracies. Definitely lazy screenwriters!!!

Haven't seen it yet but I can tell you what I think tomorrow.
Just bought it! The cover freaked me out a little at a quick glance Brad really does look like Jackie. I'm glad they had him do this as I think he's the only current actor with enough talent to even compare to Gleason's comic genius.

Great! I hope you enjoy watching it. I thought Brad Garrett's portrayal of Jackie Gleason was awesome.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. :)

I hope you don't mind but I definitely will have some Honeymooners questions to ask you in the near future.

I hope you don't mind but I definitely will have some Honeymooners questions to ask you in the near future.
No worries, keep 'em coming!

No worries, keep 'em coming!

Great! Thanks!!! I'm no expert and I don't have many of the books that have been written about the Honeymooners so it's good to know that there is someone I can go to for information.

I picked up a DVD copy of the "Gleason" movie with Brad Garrett this past weekend at Walmart in the $3.00 bargain bin.

I picked up a DVD copy of the "Gleason" movie with Brad Garrett this past weekend at Walmart in the $3.00 bargain bin.

Wow! Only $3.00 for the "Gleason" dvd. I'm going to check the local Wal-Mart here in Chicago to see if I can get that movie for the same price. Thanks for the tip.

Finally returned & found another copy of this movie.
It wasn't the innacuracies that bothered me it was the actor-actress they cast to play Art Carney & Audrey Meadows. The guy who played Art looked like a woman, didn't have any of the "Norton" movements even close & the woman who played Audrey was just horrible with her lines/voice. She was a decent look a like I suppose but wow her acting "skills" sucked! You could tell she was throwing that voice & it sounded horrible.

Also their reenactments of certain Honeymooner episodes were all wrong. Did anyone else find themselves thinking -there should have been a pause there, that wasn't the line & don't even get me going the on "Hello, ball" he didn't even drag out the "hellooo" :rolleyes:.- LOL okay for the record I thought Brad was good-he captured Jackie pretty well & I know I can't expect the timing, lines & delivery to be exact but it felt a little "rushed" to me & seeing as how talented Brad is I think they could have made a much better go at it.

I picked up a DVD copy of the "Gleason" movie with Brad Garrett this past weekend at Walmart in the $3.00 bargain bin.

I just picked up a copy of the "Gleason" movie at Wal-Mart for 4.99!!! :D

Well, I finally got around to watching this and I must say, I have very mixed feelings about it. I thought Brad Garrett did a pretty good job as Gleason, he had the mannerisms down pretty well, but like someone else said, he lacked the energy that Gleason had. His "bang-zooms" sounded really boring and almost forced out of him. However, the one thing that bothered me the most about his portrayal (besides his height of course) was his voice. He had Gleason's accent down pretty well, but his voice was just too deep. Oh yeah, and am I the only one that noticed that Gleason's apartment in the beginning didn't look a thing like the run-down flat with the bath tub in the kitchen that Gleason himself once described? And don't even get me started with the reenacted Honeymooners episodes...

Now, I thought the actor that played Carney/Norton resembled Carney to an extent, but he just wasn't convincing in the role. The actress that played Audrey/Alice did a pretty decent job IMO, but what were they thinking with those episode reenactments? If you're going to do famous episodes like that, at least get the lines right! And what was that first episode they were doing? That wasn't even a real episode! That whole bit about salad was just made up and if they were going by facts, which they obviously weren't, Norton should'nt have been in that first episode. As VIDEOWACK said, the writers obviously didn't do their homework. This could've been done a lot better, but overall I enjoyed it. Afterall, it was a made-for-TV movie, and I'm sure they had a certain time frame to fit all this information into, it's not like it was out in theaters like that other poor excuse for a Honeymooners movie.

Thanks for bringing this topic back up Bill..I was just going to do the same lol.

After re-watching I noticed one more thing- The way "Audrey" got the part. They did it all wrong she never came back to the studio. I mean they could have gotten that right since Audrey herself told the story over & over about how she became Alice. Oh I finally think I found what I hated the most about the guy who played Norton (besides the fact that he just didn't have "it")- He had reddish hair. Art Carney had dark hair. Could they not find a bottle of hair dye at the local Wal-Mart?!
---In the words of Norton himself "Gotta think of the small details"---

---In the words of Norton himself "Gotta think of the small details"---

I agree! It seems like the writers spent very little time checking out what the facts were.

I did enjoy this movie, even though this movie had many inaccuracies. Then again, I'm not an expert on The Great One. I think that many biographies are not always right on the money. This makes for a more interesting storyline. I don’t think we should pick apart every little detail, but I understand how some of you would like it to be more accurate. I think Garret did an excellent job. I don’t care that his voice was a little deeper, or that he was taller. I mean come on, were not talking about The Honeymooners movie (If you can call it that). I think he was the perfect choice for the main character, because nobody could ever replace The Great One anyway. I would definitely give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.

I did enjoy this movie, even though this movie had many inaccuracies. Then again, I'm not an expert on The Great One. I think that many biographies are not always right on the money. This makes for a more interesting storyline. I don’t think we should pick apart every little detail, but I understand how some of you would like it to be more accurate. I think Garret did an excellent job. I don’t care that his voice was a little deeper, or that he was taller. I mean come on, were not talking about The Honeymooners movie (If you can call it that). I think he was the perfect choice for the main character, because nobody could ever replace The Great One anyway. I would definitely give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.

Your comment best describes how I feel about the movie.

I think Garret did an excellent job. I don’t care that his voice was a little deeper, or that he was taller.

Same here! There was one part in the beginning where he steps out of the limo, starts signing some autographs when he hears his mother's voice--When he turned his head to the side & looked up I couldn't believe how much he looked like Jackie! It was almost freaky. And while no one could ever come close to Jackie Gleason...Brad Garret is about as close as it can get IMO.

Did anyone else really like the part at the end where Brad is walking out of the theater-turns around..looks back at the stage & all The Honeymooner Episodes start flashing through his mind. He smiles & walks out. I loved that. Actually for some reason it made me cry but I loved it none the less lol.

Did anyone else really like the part at the end where Brad is walking out of the theater-turns around..looks back at the stage & all The Honeymooner Episodes start flashing through his mind. He smiles & walks out. I loved that. Actually for some reason it made me cry but I loved it none the less lol.

That's one of my favorite scenes. I will admit that I came close to shedding
a tear or two when I saw it for the first time. Very touching scene indeed.

Hope you don't mind my posting to this thread....I was so glad to find out this was on DVD. Even tho it's got its problems, I still think Brad Garret does one heckuva job. I must agree with the others who said the others weren't as good. I find a lot of made for TV movies about actors or TV shows are never that good. One that comes to mind is about the Three Stooges and just like with this film, some of the actors don't look like or sound like the folks they're trying to imitate. Great idea but poorly done.

Last but not least, even tho it's not the same, at least Gleason is better than the cinematic farce that dared to call itself The Honeymooners!

Hope you don't mind my posting to this thread....I was so glad to find out this was on DVD. Even tho it's got its problems, I still think Brad Garret does one heckuva job. I must agree with the others who said the others weren't as good. I find a lot of made for TV movies about actors or TV shows are never that good. One that comes to mind is about the Three Stooges and just like with this film, some of the actors don't look like or sound like the folks they're trying to imitate. Great idea but poorly done.

Last but not least, even tho it's not the same, at least Gleason is better than the cinematic farce that dared to call itself The Honeymooners!

I agree! Brad Garret was just great in this movie. You can tell Brad studied this part very well & of course he has those same expressive eyes like Jackie did. Even through all the mistakes & poor choices in some characters.. I will say I am glad someone did take the time to make a movie that honored Jackie & showed his incredible talent.

LOL, yeah next thing you know Cedric will want to re-make "Gleason" :rolleyes:.

Hope you don't mind my posting to this thread....I was so glad to find out this was on DVD. Even tho it's got its problems, I still think Brad Garret does one heckuva job. I must agree with the others who said the others weren't as good. I find a lot of made for TV movies about actors or TV shows are never that good. One that comes to mind is about the Three Stooges and just like with this film, some of the actors don't look like or sound like the folks they're trying to imitate. Great idea but poorly done.

Last but not least, even tho it's not the same, at least Gleason is better than the cinematic farce that dared to call itself The Honeymooners!

I agree with what you said. I also thought that Brad Garret did a very good job portraying Jackie Gleason. Your right about most made for TV movies not being done very well. It seems like the actors don't take the time to learn who the characters really are.

Great One, I have to wonder if the reason for that is because they are on a tight schedule or budget....then again, considering some of the crapola Hollywood has released lately, they're not much better!! LOL!

I did enjoy this movie, even though this movie had many inaccuracies. Then again, I'm not an expert on The Great One. I think that many biographies are not always right on the money. This makes for a more interesting storyline. I don’t think we should pick apart every little detail, but I understand how some of you would like it to be more accurate. I think Garret did an excellent job. I don’t care that his voice was a little deeper, or that he was taller. I mean come on, were not talking about The Honeymooners movie (If you can call it that). I think he was the perfect choice for the main character, because nobody could ever replace The Great One anyway. I would definitely give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.

Couldn't have said it better myself Pal O' Mine!... thanks to you giving me the video this past weekend, I watched it tonight, and I must say that there is NO living professional actor on this planet that could have done a better job than Garrett portraying Gleason... I think he did an awesome job, and in some parts it was just down right freaky how close he got some of the mannerisms... I would LOVE to meet Brad Garrett some day just to shake his hand and tell him how much I appreciated the passion he put into playing Gleason the way he did... NOBODY could have done a better job than him... period... and like you said, there will NEVER be another Great One, but Garrett got it as close as anyone ever could.

Great One, I have to wonder if the reason for that is because they are on a tight schedule or budget....then again, considering some of the crapola Hollywood has released lately, they're not much better!! LOL!

My guess is that it's probably because of the budget.

Going to BUMP this up because I found some interesting stuff (highlighted in red);

Little article about the movie and how Brad got the part-

And away Brad Garrett goes
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
Brad Garrett just hit a comedy trifecta.

He's a star of TV's second-highest-rated comedy, Everybody Loves Raymond; he just won an Emmy for his role as Raymond's sad-sack brother, Robert; and he gets to portray comedy legend Jackie Gleason in CBS' Gleason (Sunday, 9 p.m. ET/PT).

Garrett had hoped for this kind of success, but he always kept in mind the fickle nature of show business. "Three days a week you envision it, and the other four days you hope you're not too tall to work at the Olive Garden."

At 6-foot-8, Garrett could have been too tall to play one of his heroes, the 5-foot-10 Gleason, architect of The Honeymooners and a classic comedy-variety show.

Because Garrett couldn't make himself shorter, "80% of the cast wore custom-made 7-inch boots, the furniture was built bigger and the doorway was 8 feet tall instead of 6-9, so I didn't have to duck," he explains.


If overcoming the height disparity was one challenge, Garrett also had to separate himself from his series success — the idea of him as Raymond's jealous brother — and convince CBS that he could ably portray one of the network's legends.

CBS chief Leslie Moonves "was very cordial and took my call, but I kind of knew when I hung up that he didn't see it. I heard in his voice, 'You're the brother on Raymond,' " Garrett remembers. "They were wondering if I could make that jump."

Gleason may have been a comic, but the role wasn't going to be all fun and games. The film, which shows the rise of Gleason's career leading to The Honeymooners, depicts a rough childhood in which his father abandoned his wife and son. It also shows the darker side of the adult Gleason, including alcohol abuse, womanizing and a harsh, controlling nature.

After scheduling conflicts prevented Mark Addy from taking the role (he coincidentally now stars in Still Standing, a comedy that airs after Raymond), Garrett got another chance. He used his portrayal of a bitter 1950s comic from Showtime's Clubland to show that he could play more than Robert.

Despite admiring Gleason, Garrett says, he and director Howard Deutch wanted to avoid sugarcoating a brilliant man who had some very unlikable traits.

Gleason "was a dark guy. We didn't want this to be The Honeymooners on Ice," he says. But "what made him great was what he came from and all the adversity."

Garrett acknowledges that many comics come from troubled backgrounds, but he doesn't include himself in that category. The suburban Los Angeles native, who quit college after just a few weeks to pursue a stand-up career, says he had a wonderful childhood and is happy as a husband and the father of a boy and girl. They help keep success from going to his head.

"I couldn't find the Emmy the other night," he says. "Then I hear two little kids giggling. And then the Emmy goes rolling by my office — in the Barbie Dream Car."

Garrett also is quite comfortable with his TV family, the Barones. Two other cast members won Emmys this year: star Ray Romano and Doris Roberts, who plays Raymond and Robert's mother, Marie. Patricia Heaton has won two Emmys for playing Raymond's wife, and Peter Boyle has been nominated for his depiction of the Barone patriarch, Frank.

"It's really very rare for everyone in a cast to have won or be nominated. It's such a cohesive cast," Garrett says. He says he was especially happy to see Romano, a fellow stand-up, rewarded: "He deserves it. The show is his voice."

How long the Barones go on is up to Romano, whose stand-up act inspired the series, Garrett says. He says Romano has talked about doing one more season after the current one. Garrett favors two more, but, unlike Gleason, he doesn't control his show.

"I'm the last to know everything," he says. "That's how they keep me in Robert mode."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2002-10-09-brad-garrett_x.htm


I had NO idea Mark Addy was the first pick! I think he's a good actor... but really?! I just couldn't see him playing Jackie and *IMO* his physical appearance just wouldn't have worked - face and definitely the eyes couldn't be more different than Jackie's. (Mark's height was good though)

Mark
http://i37.tinypic.com/106dcfp.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/iwi59i.jpg

Brad as Jackie Gleason
http://i37.tinypic.com/2qwer8i.jpg

I haven't seen the Gleason biopic yet, but I can remember remarking to my
sister, while watching Everybody Loves Raymond, that Brad Garrett's
facial expressions and mannerisms reminded me of Jackie Gleason. And this
was many years before he was cast as Gleason. Sadly, she passed away
before the TV-movie was made, so she never saw it either.

As for Mark Addy, his performance in "The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas"
reminded me more of Ralph Kramden than Fred Flintstone (esp. the voice).

As for Mark Addy, his performance in "The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas"
reminded me more of Ralph Kramden than Fred Flintstone (esp. the voice).

Hmm, I know I saw that movie a long time ago but I can't remember what Mark sounded like - will have to look on youtube. :)

Garrett did a great job as Gleason. It was a little difficult to hide the height factor. Kevin James did an awesome job of doing Ralph Kramden in a dream sequence on an episode of The King Of Queens