The Balcony (DVD)

In a very special brothel known as the “Balcony,” the customers live out their wildest dreams, oblivious to a revolution that’s going on outside. Directed by the award-winning Joseph Strick (Tropic of Cancer) and based on acclaimed French avant-garde dramatist Jean Genet’s (The Maids) play, this star-studded film features Shelley Winters (He Ran All the Way) as the brothel’s madam and Peter Falk (The Brink’s Job) as her occasional lover, who enlists her help in halting the revolution. The leader of the rebels (a young Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek) falls for the madam’s executive assistant (Lee Grant, The Landlord), who longs to return to her former role as just “one of the girls.” Featuring Oscar-nominated cinematography by the great George J. Folsey, this classic satire co-stars Ruby Dee (Jungle Fever), Peter Brocco (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), Jeff Corey (Jennifer), Joyce Jameson (The Outlaw Josey Wales) and Kent Smith (The Spiral Staircase). With its insightfulness and delightfully fresh sense of humor, The Balcony continues to provide a unique view of the world’s ironies.