Norman is that you? VHS

Item #: V153

This limp 1976 comedy, based on a flop Broadway play, deals with a pair of middle-aged African-American parents (Redd Foxx and Pearl Bailey), who are aghast to discover that their window-dresser son (Michael Warren) is gay and are ready to disown him for it. Though it's still a viable subject, it's treated here with a smirky sense that homosexuality is some kind of dirty joke. What's interesting is that, years later, the most sympathetic character is the son's stereotypically swishy boyfriend (Dennis Dugan). Shot on video and transferred to film, the movie is most noteworthy for the opportunity to see the late Pearl Bailey (if only in the final 20 minutes) and to watch the late Redd Foxx (in reality a hilariously filthy stand-up) in a sterilized PG setting. Foxx, at the height of his Sanford and Son fame when this was made, has an exquisite sense of timing and mock outrage; he actually puts some bite into the toothless jokes.--Marshall Fine