Sweet, lightly amusing and ephemeral, Say Goodnight, Gracie brings George Burns - via the capable im-personage of Frank Gorshin - back to the stage one more time. Bracketed by a needlessly hokey set-up that catches Burns on the night before he goes to meet his maker (the "Oh God!" actor faces God himself; get it?), the rest is Burns telling his life story, interspersed with jokes, film clips, a passel of winning anecdotes, and a hats-off to Gracie Allen and Jack Benny that gives the evening just a little more emotional tug than a Vegas impression act. (And, as the film clips show, Burns' words in Gracie's mouth still afford comic delights.)
Gorshin's impression isn't quite uncanny, but he does make suspending disbelief so easy to do that when Burns talks about his children or his few career disappointments, audience members go "awww" as if they were comforting the real McCoy.
