There must be something in the air lately because I have been watching and reviewing a number of really good and fascinating documentaries about iconic showbiz personalities. In Cannes I saw a new documentary about Faye Dunaway ((Faye)Elizabeth Taylor (Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes) and others about Michel LeGrand and Jacques Demy. Currently on Max there is a wonderful documentary about the great Albert Brooks, directed by his long-time friend Rob Reiner. Albert Brooks: I am defending my life.
Add to the list of must-sees in this sector Liza: A really great, absolutely true storywhich obviously has the star’s blessing, as she is prominently interviewed in it. The focus is ultimately on how she became her own person, particularly how she managed to navigate the spotlight that was shone on her after the all too tragic death of her mother Judy Garland, and sparked much speculation that the same thing could happen to her equally talented, powerful actress of a daughter. Imagine living not only in the shadow of the inimitable but problematic Garland, but also in the shadow of one of cinema’s greatest directors, Vincente Minnelli (Gigi, an American in Paris, we meet in St. Louis). As Liza says, “I was born and they took a picture.”
The documentary had its world premiere today at the Tribeca Festival.
Director, screenwriter and producer Bruce David Klein has more in mind here than just the typical A-to-Z story of a star, a standard docubiopic, so to speak. Of course, it helps when the subject actually anchors the story in a new interview (as is the case with Dunaway’s full cooperation, who explores her own on-camera story, as well as Taylor’s, albeit through a recently discovered “lost” interview from the 1960s). What makes Lisa What sets Minnelli apart is her discovery – somehow – of 25 “never-before-seen” hours of behind-the-scenes footage shot during a European tour in the ’70s by a crew hired by her then-husband Jack Haley Jr. As it happened, the footage was taken during the heyday of success, heartbreak, addiction, personal relationships and marriages, fame in film, television and on stage, and all the things that made Minnelli one of the greats of her generation.
Watching this talent just jump off the screen here, even if only in bits and pieces, one is reminded of what a stunning performer she was in her prime. She is now 78, but after everything she has been through, including health issues (which are not covered in detail here), she is still unmistakably Lisa, This first comprehensive look into her life and times is a must-read for fans and an insightful showbiz story for non-fans too.
Although Klein runs extensive interview clips with Minnelli throughout, it is left to others to really tell her story, and chief among them is artist, music historian and trusted friend Michael Feinstein, who proves to be the glue that really holds the whole thing together when it comes to telling the Minnelli story. Klein has the right people in front of the camera who have a lot to shed light on the subject, including BFF Mia Farrow, Jim Caruso, Ben Vereen and cabaret Composer John Kander. They, and especially Feinstein, who is articulate and informed, are compelling to watch as they tell stories that Minnelli doesn’t.
The film is divided into eight parts, each focusing on a different aspect. Perhaps the most poignant moments are when she talks about her personal need for love and her unfulfilled desire to have a family of her own (she had several miscarriages). Rumor has it that one of her most famous songs from cabaret (the title song is oddly omitted here), “Maybe This Time,” serves as a description of the artist herself, as we quickly switch between relationships with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Martin Scorsese, Desi Arnaz Jr., Peter Sellers, and then, more seriously, her husbands Haley, Mark Gero, and Peter Allen—in the latter of whom she found true happiness despite discovering his homosexuality. A later disastrous marriage to David Gest is described less favorably by Feinstein, who quotes Bette Davis as saying, “If you don’t have anything good to say about the dead, don’t say it.” “David Gest is dead. Good!” quips Feinstein.
To get to know the real Minnelli, Klein focuses on the key figures in her life who made her who she was, the ones who “invented” her. There was her early mentor Kay Thompson (a recurring character in the previously unseen footage), who advised her not to “waste your time on boring people,” songwriter Fred Ebb, “French Sinatra” Charles Aznavour, fashion icon Halston and cabaret Director Bob Fosse. All of them were responsible in their own way for an inexperienced talent from famous parents to find their way to the top.
The hunt for paparazzi who wanted “her” – that is, the sequined Liza and not her real identity – is also addressed here. And also the more decadent era of Studio 54, which shaped her, although she claims in this documentary that there is nothing to the picture.
Klein uses all the raw footage as well as numerous clips, including early stage appearances with her mother, who in some ways almost seems to compete with her daughter. The film star is essentially torn between her Oscar-winning Sally Bowles in cabaret and do New York, New York. Not much is said about her other films, but there is a lot to report about her stage and television successes, especially the special Liza with Z.
Sister Lorna Luft, co-stars Chita Rivera and Joel Grey, George Hamilton, Darren Criss, makeup artist and close friend Christine Smith, and friends Alan and Arlene Lazare also provide plenty of insight from their perspectives. Rivera and Alan Lazare have passed away since the interview and are given special thanks in the credits.
Overall, this is a worthy effort, one that may not tell you much new, but Klein manages to put everything in perspective in a very watchable film about a star who, against all odds, managed to Is, a survivor who is now ready to tell her own Truth.
Producers are Klein, Alexander J. Goldstein and Robert Rich.
Title: Liza: A really great, absolutely true story
Festival: Tribeca Festival (Spotlight Documentary)
Director/Author: Bruce David Klein
With: Mia Farrow, Ben Vereen, Chita Rivera, John Kander, Lorna Luft, Joel Gray
Sales agent: Kinetic media