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      Toots

      2006 1 hr. 25 min. Documentary List
      100% 12 Reviews Tomatometer 86% 250+ Ratings Audience Score Filmmaker Kristi Jacobson profiles her grandfather, Bernard "Toots" Shor, arguably New York City's premier restaurateur/saloonkeeper in the 1940s and 50s. Arriving in New York from South Philadelphia at the age of 18, Toots began as a speakeasy bouncer, but had his own place by 1940. Toots named his establishment after himself, and his patrons included writers, actors, athletes, politicians and mobsters. Frank Gifford, Joe Garagiola, Gay Talese and others share memories of the man and his bar. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member http://filmreviewsnsuch.blogspot.com/2012/08/toots.html Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A fascinating remembrance of mid-Century Manhattan saloon keep and man-about-town Toots Shor. Anyone who was anyone rubbed elbows and found camaraderie at the big round bar within Shor's joint on 51st Street: Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Hoffa, Jackie Gleason, Ed Sullivan, John Wayne, gangster Frank Costello, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Richard Nixon, Earnest Hemmingway, Leroy Neiman, Walter Cronkite, Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren. Sports figures looking for a night out and sports writers looking for the next morning's story. Toots' place was 20th Century Manhattan Cafe Society at its peak. And it was Toots - the folksy & magnetic pal, the backslapping and amicable wise-cracker, the generous and consummate floor host - that drew them all in, not to his bar, but to his gathering place. On meeting the Pope: "Yea we talked. Jeez, he's a helluva guy." To Toots everyone was just a regular Joe, which in no small portion was why his patrons, so diverse, all adored him and called him best friend. And Toots lived for nothing more than his patrons, his tavern, his restaurant, sixteen hours a day. Toots claimed he didn't need to be a millionaire - so long as he could live like one. And he did, as his many connections gave him the keys to the City, whether it be the front row at Madison Square Garden or the best box at the track. This retrospective brings the time & place - as well as the man's persona - back to life, through generous historical footage/stills - of both the man and the City - as well as a wide variety of personal remembrances from famous patrons in which their endearment of the man couldn't be more obvious, even decades later. Worthy viewing of a time, a lifestyle and a larger-than-life character which was once New York. RECOMMENDATION: Youse guyz shooda bin 'dere. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member This was a fantastic documentary of a man whose saloon I'd have loved to have hung out at. I have always thought I was more suited to have lived in the 40's! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Great portrait of a great man with a great heart in a great city in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s. Toots Shor was the ultimate host, and knew that even the biggest folks in the world sometimes just want to have a good time and be regular people... Ya crum bum! Cheers! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Directed by his grand-daughter this bio-doc of the famous saloon operator in the 40s, 50s, and 60s tells not only an honest and affectionate look at his life, but by doing so tells some history of those times as well in NYC when anyone who was anybody went to Toot's to gather for drinks, good food and good company.. a bygone era we'll never see the likes of again. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Um, not bad. It didn't go very deep to his character but it certainly isn't bad either. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times Restaurateur Toots Shor gets an overdue documentary close-up courtesy of his granddaughter, director Kristi Jacobson, in the enjoyable, well-assembled Toots. Rated: 3.5/5 Nov 21, 2008 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times You see Toots, and you wish you had been there. Rated: 3/4 Oct 16, 2008 Full Review Frank Scheck Hollywood Reporter Affectionately and vividly recalls a bygone New York era. Oct 9, 2007 Full Review Matthew Nestel Boxoffice Magazine Toots is a euphoric rewind to a bygone era when the speakeasies and the saloon congregations drew a faithful patronage that rivaled the Catholic Church. Rated: 3/5 Dec 18, 2008 Full Review Doris Toumarkine Film Journal International A real treat and a booster shot of sweet nostalgia. Sep 14, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Filmmaker Kristi Jacobson profiles her grandfather, Bernard "Toots" Shor, arguably New York City's premier restaurateur/saloonkeeper in the 1940s and 50s. Arriving in New York from South Philadelphia at the age of 18, Toots began as a speakeasy bouncer, but had his own place by 1940. Toots named his establishment after himself, and his patrons included writers, actors, athletes, politicians and mobsters. Frank Gifford, Joe Garagiola, Gay Talese and others share memories of the man and his bar.
      Director
      Kristi Jacobson
      Executive Producer
      James P. MacGilvray, Alan Mattone
      Genre
      Documentary
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (DVD)
      Dec 31, 2008