BEFORE: So far, this Doc Block has been like a game of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" - Faye Dunaway was in "Bonnie & Clyde" with Gene Hackman, who was in "Superman" with Christopher Reeve, which also starred Valerie Perrine, who was in "Lenny" directed by Bob Fosse, who directed "Cabaret" which starred Liza Minnelli. It all just makes sense, right? And it makes my linking and my organizing super easy - well, things are going to get a bit more difficult for a while, and the connections may not be so obvious going forward, but who knows, maybe when I hit the docs about rock music the connections will become more obvious again.
So Liza Minnelli carries over this time from "Bob Fosse: It's Showtime!" This doc comes to me courtesy of the long-running PBS series "American Masters", it was pledge week a couple months ago and I always check to see what PBS is running then because it usually means a couple of great docs, which are easily dubbed to DVD because, you know, public TV. These movies belong to all of us.
THE PLOT: A tribute to a young artist of unlimited raw talent and the deep, creative relationships she had with her mentors and influences.
AFTER: Well, tonight it's another army brat, someone who moved around a lot as a child, and as we've seen, that automatically leads to an adult who can't commit to long-term relationships. Just kidding, Liza Minnelli's parents were apparently in the film business or something. Her mother was Judy Garland, who was most famous for the 1936 film "Pigskin Parade" and the 1962 animated film "Gay Purr-ee". Her father was Vincente Minnelli, known for "I Dood It" and "Yolanda and the Thief". Again, kidding, sort of. Liza's parents were both Oscar winners (Garland won the Juvenile Oscar in 1940) so how could she NOT go on to win one herself? Of course, she won for her unforgettable performance in "Arthur 2: On the Rocks" - 1988 was apparently a slow year. JK.
Liza was the first Nepo Baby, maybe the ultimate nepo baby. Judy Garland had her performing early, doing duets with her during her London Palladium shows. But Momma couldn't help being momma, you can see her micro-managing the way Liza was holding the microphone. Jeezus, MA, just let me do it! Then Liza got gigs dancing on the Ed Sullivan show - but she hadn't even really had dancing lessons, they just let her do it. If you're famous, they let you do it. But even at the age of 16 she had been in Broadway stage productions, and she won a Tony at age 19. But then when her mother died in 1969, Liza had to figure out who she wanted to be and how she could still have a career in show business without her mother's guidance (and, I'm guessing, influence).
So this documentary breaks down her career into time-frames, based on the five people she turned to for advice: Kay Thompson (author of the "Eloise" books, and people had long speculated she based Eloise on Liza's childhood), Charles Azvanour, Frank Ebb, Bob Fosse, and Halston. Just imagine how very different her life had been if she had instead turned to Lucille Ball, Jacques Brel, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins and Ralph Lauren, she would have been a total mess. Wow, I'm glad she got it together by hanging out with the right people.
Through Bob Fosse she was cast in "Cabaret", and she had auditioned in the past for the stage production and been turned down, so when it got turned into a film she fought really hard for it, and you know, Oscar rewarded her so I guess she was right. We all know how Sally Bowles was in love with Brian Roberts, who moved into her flat, and despite her best efforts, he keeps having sex with men. Isn't it funny how life imitates art sometimes?
After "Cabaret", Liza went on to voice Dorothy in an animated sequel to "The Wizard of Oz", and also married Jack Haley Jr., who himself was a sequel to the Tin Man from "The Wizard of Oz". I guess you can try to outrun your past but you never really can, can you? But then she went on to co-star with everyone from Dudley Moore to the Muppets, and in the new millennium, she popped up on shows like "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Arrested Development". Meanwhile, the stage version of "Cabaret" gets revived Off-Broadway every few years now, Alan Cumming was in the first notable revival and since then performers like Adam Lambert, Neil Patrick Harris and Eddie Redmayne have played The Emcee and Michelle Williams, Debbie Gibson, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Teri Hatcher and Emma Stone have all taken their turns as Sally Bowles. Hey, if there's an actress you like a lot and you haven't seen them in their underwear, just wait.
Her TV specials included "Liza with a 'Z'", 1980's "An Evening with Liza Minnelli", 1992's "Liza Minnelli Live from Radio City Music Hall" and 2009's "Liza's at the Palace", so you could definitely count on her to perform a comeback special every 11 or 17 years. I remember watching the Freddie Mercury tribute concert back in 1992 where she was the special unannounced guest who came out to perform the final song, "We Are the Champions, because you just KNOW Freddie would have wanted it that way. She's also overcome scoliosis, encephalitis, and four marriages, including one to David Gest, the husband who took all her furniture and belongings while she was out of town. What a prince.
Well, it's still Pride month, it's coming to a close but I got this one in just under the wire - I think the long list of Liza's boyfriends and husbands and companions who were gay men (either at the time or later on) qualifies this one. Seriously, at what point do you learn to ask ONE simple question before dating a person? It's not that hard, especially these days. Maybe she knew, I think she had to know, and she just had a "type" or something.
Directed by Bruce David Klein
Also starring Marisa Berenson (last seen in "Filmworker"), Jim Caruso, Darren Criss (last seen in "Muppets Haunted Mansion"), Mia Farrow (last seen in "Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind"), Michael Feinstein, Joel Grey (last seen in "Remembering Gene Wilder"), George Hamilton (last seen in "Valerie"), John Kander, Naeem Khan, Allan Lazare, Arlene Lazare, Michele Lee (last seen in "Along Came Polly"), Lorna Luft (last seen in "Sid & Judy"), Ann Pellegrini, Ben Rimalower, Chita Rivera (also carrying over from "Bob Fosse: It's Showtime!"), Ben Vereen (ditto), Ralph Rucci, Myra Scheer, Christina Smith, Billy Stritch, Kevin Winkler,
with archive footage of Peter Allen, Desi Arnaz Jr. (last seen in "Lucy and Desi"), Fred Astaire (last seen in "Joker: Folie a Deux"), Charles Aznavour, Rona Barrett (last seen in "Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed"), Mikhail Baryshnikov (last seen in "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit"), Alan Cumming (last seen in "Marlowe"), Sammy Davis Jr. (also carrying over from "Bob Fosse: It's Showtime!"), Bob Fosse (ditto), Gwen Verdon (ditto), Robert De Niro (last seen in "Ezra"), Hugh Downs (last seen in "Mike Wallace Is Here"), Geraldo Rivera (ditto), Fred Ebb, David Frost (last seen in "I Am Burt Reynolds"), Judy Garland (also last seen in "Sid & Judy"), Vincente Minnelli (ditto), Frank Sinatra (ditto), Mark Gero, David Gest, Gene Hackman (last seen in "Valerie"), Jack Haley Jr., Halston, Sam Harris, Michael Jackson (last seen in "The Greatest Night in Pop"), Bianca Jagger, Elton John (last seen in "Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer"), Grace Jones (last seen in "Boomerang"), John F. Kennedy (last seen in "Faye"), Jacqueline Kennedy (last seen in "Famous Nathan"), John Lennon (last seen in "Stan Lee"), Rosie O'Donnell (last seen in "Butterfly in the Sky"), Cicely Tyson (ditto), Princess Diana (last seen in "Elton John: Becoming Rocketman"), Diana Ross (last seen in "Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did for Love"), Martin Scorsese (last seen in "Killers of the Flower Moon"), Peter Sellers (last seen in "An Accidental Studio"), Dinah Shore (last seen in "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story"), Andy Warhol (ditto), Ed Sullivan (last seen in "Jim Henson: Idea Man"), Raquel Welch (ditto), Kay Thompson (last seen in "Funny Face"), Liv Ullmann (also last seen in "Faye"), Kristen Wiig (last heard in "Despicable Me 4")
RATING: 6 out of 10 nights at Studio 54 (where simply NOBODY took drugs, ever)
No comments:
Post a Comment