THE FILM

The documentary "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg" is tender, affectionate, and exceptionally educational. And when I write educational, I mean it: not being a student of classic radio or television, I'd never heard of Gertrude Berg before this film. After watching the documentary on her life, I never want to forget her.

Born in 1898, Gertrude Edelstein struggled to avoid a life of expected service. Ultimately finding her voice in radio performance, Edelstein (now Berg), elected to try her hand at a dramatic creation, coming up with the character of Molly Goldberg and her fussy New York City apartment-dwelling clan. A radio smash, Berg broke through untold barriers both as a woman and as a Jew as she climbed the ladder of success. Translating "The Goldbergs" to the television screen, Berg found her fame and creative powers at an all-time high, inventing the sitcom format as we know it today. But there was a price to pay for her celebrity, especially during the volatile years of the 1940s and '50s.

Directed by Aviva Kempner ("The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg"), "Yoo-Hoo" is brazen valentine to Berg and her blinding legacy as a radio and television pioneer. Fearing Berg's achievements have been paved over by industry historians (who prefer to label Lucille Ball as the first lady of the sitcom), Kempner points the spotlight on a woman who took the reins of her career and created a pop culture icon using fragments of her life as inspiration, personally crafting over 12,000 scripts for the various incarnations of "The Goldbergs," which ran off and on from 1929 to 1956.

Gathering family, living members of the "Goldbergs" cast, and celebrity admirers (including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Norman Lear, and NPR correspondent Susan Stamberg), "Yoo-Hoo" aims to construct an overall ambiance of inconceivable accomplishment. Using her gifts for writing and performing, Berg struck pay dirt with the character of Molly Goldberg, the rotund, insightful matriarch of the Goldberg clan, who greeted television viewers every episode by opening her apartment window, inviting the audience inside to observe the whirlwind neuroses and setbacks of her beloved family. The show was a smash and catapulted Berg to massive fame (cashing in on numerous endorsement deals in the process), inevitably assuming a motherly role for the public at large. Berg was even awarded the first ever Lead Actress Emmy for her efforts, solidifying her place in television history.

Outside of some creative stubbornness and flashes of moody behavior, there's not much dirt to sift through with Berg. Kempner instead focuses on what "The Goldbergs" meant to America, and how Berg tried to keep her creation afloat through the anti-Semitism of WWII and the "Red Channels" accusations of Communism, which pushed Berg's revered co-star Philip Loeb to suicide. The dark fringes of the film are useful to identify amazing perseverance on Berg's part, who kept to her vision of warmth and laughter while suits and naysayers from all sides wanted to stifle her instinctive brilliance. "Yoo-Hoo" provides a wealth of fascinating clips from "The Goldbergs" as it marched through radio, television, and even a feature film (1950's "Molly"). The show was a modest effort to put forth familial comfort food, but it ended up a classic, due in great part to Gertrude Berg and her tremendous effort to retain the heart and soul of her artistic endeavors.

THE DVD

Visual:

The full frame presentation is fitting for the documentary's classic television origins, assembling a range of film and video sources to build this tribute piece. Interview segments are wonderfully colorful and very clean, while the older footage suffers from age, but looks marvelous. Black levels are superb for all clips, creating a pleasing visual unity to the picture.

Audio:

The 2.0 Dolby Digital mix is minimal and straightforward, assuming a proper documentary stance, mixing thoughts and feelings from the interviewees with various audio sources, emerging from film, radio, and television. Everything is alert and frontal, with nothing lost as the feature wades through such a diverse sonic landscape.

Extras:

The feature-length audio commentary with director Aviva Kempner is practically a sequel to the movie. Walking through this documentary tremendously prepared, the director basically provides background information for everything onscreen, deepening the portrait of Berg without covering the same ground repeatedly. Kemper keeps it rolling the entire DVD, supplying a thrilling, informative, downright heroic track that's a required listen for any fan of the film.

"The Goldbergs" (55:43) are a series of random anecdotes from interviewees (chiefly family and admirers), covering Gertrude Berg, Philip Loeb, Eli Mintz, Larry Robinson, and Arlene "Fuzzy" McQuade. Like most of the supplements, the history here offers a more widescreen portrait of the subject, with stories supplied by enthusiastic devotees.

"Gertrude's Legacy" (6:08) takes a look at Berg's influence in the lives of her fans, including Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Susan Stamberg.

"The Episodes" provide a needed, extended look at "The Goldbergs," with "Pincus Pines" (Excerpt), "Mother-in-Law" (featuring Anne Bancroft), "Rosie's Nose," "Baby Naming," and "The Goldbergs: The World Tomorrow" (1942 Radio Episode).

"Guest Appearances" (17:41) includes a few promotional appearances from Berg's career, including "Person to Person with Edward R. Murrow," "The Steve Allen Show," and "The Ed Sullivan Show."

"Aviva's Goodies" puts forth some personal footage from the director, with family members trying out the "Yoo-hoo" greeting, a video of a promotional billboard being assembled, and a 2002 short film titled "Today I Vote for My Joey."

A Theatrical Trailer has not been included.

FINAL THOUGHTS

"Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg" is a graceful, elevating reminder of Berg's magnificent accomplishments. With any luck, this eye-opening documentary will go a long way to restoring her legacy as an entertainment pioneer, delighting old fans and making a few new ones as well.