by BK MUNN
Is this the first comics academic in film? Sorrell Booke as Holly Levine in "Bye Bye Braverman" (1968, d. Sidney Lumet). In the film, about four writers trying to find their friend's funeral in Brooklyn, Holly announces that he will soon be teaching a course on pop culture, called "From Little Nemo to L'il Abner". This news invites incredulity from his fellow intellectuals, who proceed to quiz him on his comic strip knowledge, asking trivia questions about Little Annie Rooney, Winnie Winkle, The Gumps, Orphan Annie, and Don Winslow of the Navy. Holly passes with flying colours, only getting hung up on the name of the dunce character in The Rinkydinks gang (Denny Dimwit). The film has many other comics references, including mentions of Dick Tracy, Skeezix, Blondie, and Bringing Up Father. Holly has a pop art painting of The Phantom in his apartment, and a Sunday of Irwin Hasen's Dondi is glimpsed at one point. It's a charming comedy in the form of a Joycean odyssey, based on the book "To An Early Grave" by Wallace Markfield (aka "The James Joyce of Brighton Beach").
