Hugh Hefner: American Playboy

Hep cats still in the thrall of the semi-recent Rat Pack revival will find a familiar ambience in this oh-so-suave look--originally an A&E Biography entry--at the life of Mr. Bunny himself, Hugh Hefner, awash with the music (finger-snappin' light jazz), swagger, and self-conscious hipness of a male-centered style of polite if not effete hedonism that Hefner's creation, Playboy, still espouses. To be sure, Hefner (or as intimates call him, Hef) and Playboy were early champions of sexual liberation, racial equality, and other progressive causes, but as this paean to the great man makes clear, “coolness” is ultimately what Hefner and his empire are all about. From the intro that cites Clara Bow as an inspiration for the 1950s era-born Playboy, this portrait charts the story of the perennially bathrobe-clad man and his magazine, featuring Hefner and his ubiquitous pipe, various playmates and bunnies, and friends (Mike Wallace, Mel Torme, Tony Curtis, etc.) to best advantage (social critic Camille Paglia's interlude is a welcome highlight here). DVD extras include the 1962 documentary The Most--a black-and-white puff piece on the early years of the Playboy Mansion in Chicago; and “The Big Bunny,” a featurette about Hefner's party airplane. As a glitzy look at the rise of the culture of hedonism in the 1950s and ‘60s, this is passable (both as history and entertainment), but a better choice here would be A&E's The Bunny Years: Inside the Playboy Empire (VL-5/00). Optional. Aud: C, P. (M. Tribby)