YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG (2009). Written, produced, and directed by Aviva Kempner.

Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is primarily a biography of Gertrude Berg, who played the much-beloved character of Molly Goldberg on the long-running radio/TV series The Goldbergs. (Her neighbor would yell out of her window, "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg.") But it is also an evocation of a particular time in history, and a look back at the radio, television and motion picture industries as they were during a different era. In addition, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg also covers everything from WW2, the holocaust and anti-Semitism to the often tragic consequences of the blacklist in the fifties and its effect on many careers in show business. Berg, born Tilly Edelstein, became "the first woman to build a media empire." She wrote but originally had not intended to act on the radio show The Rise of the Goldbergs, but she was so suited for the lead role that she got it, and continued to play the part when it debuted as the TV series The Goldbergs on 1/10/49. Philip Loeb was excellent as her husband, but due to his liberal and labor causes he was branded a communist and CBS dropped the show when Berg refused to drop Loeb. However, Loeb finally had to leave the series when it became apparent that no other network would air the program as long as he was a part of it (he later committed suicide). 

The Goldbergs continued with first Harold Stone, and then Robert Harris, as Mr. Goldberg, but it lost much of its audience when the family moved from the Bronx to the suburbs. Although focusing on a Jewish family, it was the universal themes on the program that made it a hit with so many. Berg later wound up doing more than one project with, of all people, Sir Cedric Hardwicke! The movie is bolstered by interviews with the late Berg's relations, co-workers, and many people both in and out of the industry who were greatly influenced by her. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is charming, sad, and altogether excellent. NOTE: The DVD release of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg contains many extras, including a few episodes of the series itself. 

Verdict: This is a superb documentary on every possible level. ****

BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY (2021)

BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY (2021). Director: Jeffrey Schwarz. 

Finding herself without too many opportunities despite her (Oscar-less) triumph in Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson decided she would turn the movie into a Broadway musical. To that end she hired two young songwriters, pianist and composer Dickson Hughes and lyricist Richard Stapley, who were a romantic couple at the time, to work with her on the project. The fact that she apparently knew the two men were lovers didn't prevent Swanson from developing romantic and sexual feelings for the very handsome Stapley, but these feelings were not reciprocated. (Although Swanson was not unattractive, she had never been a great beauty, what with those teeth and chin, and probably even much younger hetero men might not have wanted to share the sheets with her!) Director Jeffrey Schwarz examines this triangle situation via archive footage (including Swanson doing a number from the show on Steve Allen), a video interview of Stapley taped by a friend, and Schwarz's audio interview with Hughes, as well as commentary from people who knew the two men (now deceased). Interspersed with these is some attractive animated footage illustrating some of the scenarios. 

Richard Stapley

Richard Stapley was an English actor who went to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming a major star. He had a good role in The Strange Door with Boris Karloff and Charles Laughton but wound up in stuff like Jungle Man-Eaters from the Jungle Jim B movie series. The documentary doesn't quite make it clear why he and Hughes broke up, but Stapley went back to England, changed his name to Richard Wyler, got married (his second wife, who seemed to have really been just a beard), became a macho motorcycle racer, and starred in several Eurospy movies as super-spy and super-stud Dick Smart. Swanson was never able to secure the rights to Sunset Boulevard -- in 1974 she starred in the amusing telefilm Killer Bees -- but Andrew Lloyd Webber had no such problem. Once Webber's show debuted in London, Hughes got to work. He couldn't do a show based on the movie, but he could do a show that depicted the attempts to make a show based on the movie. Using the songs that had already been written, and using himself, Stapley and the now-deceased Swanson as the main characters, he mounted "Swanson on Sunset" at a small venue in LA. What happened next is revealed in the documentary.

Hughes, Swanson, Stapley

The most interesting aspect of Boulevard may not be the whole business with Swanson and Sunset Boulevard, but the relationship between the two men, the cruelty of the vagaries of Hollywood, the terrible price often paid by people who relentlessly pursue stardom and deny their own true selves as they do so. Stapley did not age well, but he returned to Hollywood and kept plugging away practically until the day of his death. Hughes didn't get the major Broadway show -- and we don't learn if he had any long-term relationships after Stapley -- but he seems to have been happy enough in his life. One commentator seemed to feel that Stapley's letters to his boyfriend reveal a deep love, but we don't know how Hughes felt, possibly because he didn't want to talk about it. Was he heartbroken when Stapley walked out of his life, or did he feel "goodbye to bad rubbish." There is an implication that Stapley, like a lot of good-looking Hollywood types, could be an opportunist who thought of his career -- what there was of it -- above all else. What we hear of the songs written for the aborted show indicate that they were pleasant and adept show tunes if not quite on the level of, say, Richard Rodgers. Jeffrey Schwarz also directed the superb Vito, and many others. 

Verdict: With Swanson as a springboard, this is an interesting look at Hollywood dreams turned to dust. ***. 

BECOMING ANITA EKBERG

Mastroianni and Ekberg in La dolce vita and 27 years later, both still sexy

BECOMING ANITA EKBERG
 (2014  documentary). Director: Mark Rappaport.

While I always strive to review a book or movie for what it is as opposed to what it isn't, sometimes you're not given much of a choice. If you tune in to a (very short) documentary entitled Becoming Anita Ekberg, you would think you'd have a right to expect some sort of biographical treatment, and that you might be told, say, what her early life was like; who, if anyone, she might have married; some of her personal thoughts on her films and co-workers; how she got her start in show business; and so on. Alas, Becoming Anita Ekberg is yet another of director Mark Rapport's insufficient "video essays," this time purportedly on Ekberg but more about the nature of stardom and the short shelf life of sex symbols. (Some of this is interesting while much of it is obvious and pretentious.) You won't learn much more than the basics about Ekberg herself: how she played "Anita Ekberg" in the Martin and Lewis comedy Hollywood or Bust (an all too obvious title); reached international stardom as the movie star in Fellini's famous La dolce vita; and wound up playing herself again in Boccaccio '70, this time as a giant-size poster of herself that comes to life. For the record Ekberg was married to actors Rik Van Nutter and Anthony Steel and had sixty-five credits in films, few of which are even mentioned. Her life and career were actually quite interesting, but you will learn much more at imdb.com than you will from this "documentary." Obviously, this is just a collection of clips tied together to illustrate Rappaport's ruminations, with the clips coming first and the ruminations second. There's also a bit of ageism in this as the film tries to make out that Ekberg has become hideous or something because she's older, but she and Mastroianni, although undeniably older, still look quite attractive. One of her later movies was Killer Nun. She was certainly prominent in the poster for Back from Eternity, which gurgled "Ooh That Ekberg!" Rappaport was also responsible for Debra Paget, For Example, which is somewhat better than this.

Verdict: Skip it and watch one of Ekberg's movies instead. *. 

DISCOVERING BETTE DAVIS

Davis with Baxter, Monroe and Sanders in All About Eve

DISCOVERING BETTE DAVIS. 

This documentary on the great film star is part of a British TV series entitled Discovering Film. This is a fair to moderate look at Davis, briefly recounting her origins, and discussing her roles in such films as Of Human Bondage, Dangerous, Now, Voyager, The Letter, All About Eve and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Author Sarah Gristwood offers some interesting comments on Davis, whereas photographer Curtice (sic) Taylor offers an unlikely anecdote and the mere observations of a typical fan boy. Other interviewees include Ian Nathan, editor of Empire -- who incorrectly pronounces Davis' first name as if she were Bette Midler -- and a London film critic, who is generally credible but also offers up some inaccuracies: Davis did not make "several" films with Joan Crawford (aside from Baby Jane there were just the few aborted scenes in Hush ... Hush Sweet Charlotte) and when the critic suggests that Margo Channing wasn't one of the "central" characters in the film you wonder if he's even seen All About Eve. Lots of clips, but this is hardly essential viewing for Davis fans or even anyone who wants to learn more about her.

Verdict: Bette deserves better. **. 

A BIT OF SCARLET

A BIT OF SCARLET (1997). Director: Andrea Weiss.

Taking its cue from The Celluloid Closet, this documentary looks back at depictions of queer characters in older British movies, with various sections on such subjects as "unrequited love," suicidal characters, and the like. It counts down the rules that gay characters seemed to have to adhere to in the British cinema if they were to appear at all. A Bit of Scarlet takes a while to get going, but eventually it turns into an interesting compilation, consisting primarily of unidentified clips put together in such a way as to create an amusing or thematic juxtaposition. Many of the clips, of course, present faux homosexuality as well as a lot of silly cross-dressing. I recognized clips from such films as Victim, The Family Way, The L-Shaped Room, The Naked Civil Servant, and Staircase, among others, but there's no way to tell what the other films are just because they're all listed at the end. (Flashing the title of each film as the clip is shown would have certainly made sense.) A Bit of Scarlet is entertaining enough, but it's a minor LGBT documentary. Ian McKellen "narrates" the film, but there is actually very little commentary.

Verdict: Okay survey of LGBT images in the British media. **3/4.

UNCLE BOB

Bob Opel

UNCLE BOB (2010). Director: Robert Oppel.

Bob Opel was the man was streaked the academy awards in front of 70 million viewers. He was also an advocate for sexual freedom, a gay activist, a performance artist in the counter-culture San Francisco art scene, and a murder victim at the age of forty. Shortly before his death, he put on a show called "The Execution of Dan White" after the murderer of Harvey Milk and George Moscone got off with only five years due to the infamous "twinkie" defense. An interesting documentary could have been made about Opel (who dropped one "p" from his last name), but instead the director -- Opel's nephew, Robert Oppel -- seems more interested in putting himself in the limelight. Interspersed with some file footage are reenactments starring the younger Oppel standing in for his uncle. Whatever his commitment to sexual freedom or gay rights, Opel was certainly an exhibitionist, not in the sense of someone who exposes himself to schoolgirls, but in his obvious need for attention (a need certainly provided by his streaking stunt). Uncle Bob explores but doesn't confirm the notion that the academy was in on the joke (with David Niven's famous line about the streaker's "shortcomings" being written before the show), and it never even makes clear if Opel was gay, bisexual or what. A woman who is interviewed is referred to as Opel's "girlfriend," but whether this was romantic or if she was merely a "fag Hag" bff is never made clear, and Opel's boyfriends are never mentioned. In any case, Opel opened a gallery of male homoerotic art featuring the work of Tom of Finland and Mapplethorpe, and published a homoerotic magazine as well. Opel is shown talking to Divine, John Waters, and others, as well as appearing on the Mike Douglas show, where the bland host sings a medley of songs putting the word "streak" in the lyrics. Opel was apparently killed by robbers who entered his shop looking for drugs and money, but young Oppel tries to make a case for a conspiracy theory that falls flat.

Verdict: If you can take a colorful subject like this and still make a dull documentary, you're not doing it right. This film probably should not have been made by a relative. *1/2.

DO I SOUND GAY?

David Thorpe

DO I SOUND GAY? (2014). Director: David Thorpe.

David Thorpe, who is -- for lack of a better term -- kind of, shall we say, "queeny," (not that that makes him a bad person) asks people if he "sounds gay" and is pretty much told by everyone that he does. Although he may or may not be dealing with some degree of internalized homophobia, Thorpe is appalled by his "gay"- sounding voice. Thorpe and  his equally "queeny" friends do not seem to know or acknowledge that the gay "bear" community exists, or that there are many different types of gay men; they just assume that most homosexual males have that certain "gay" speech pattern -- overly sibilant "s" sounds, a sing song style, ending each sentence on an "up" note, talking too fast (actually this last is not covered in the film but should have been), and so on -- when most of the gay men I've encountered don't talk that way at all.  Thorpe goes to more than one speech therapist to learn how to talk less "gay", including a man who works with gay actors who are afraid of losing jobs due to their obvious sexual orientation. (Effeminate mannerisms and behavior are largely ignored, which makes this speech therapy seem a bit pointless.)  As the documentary progresses the point finally gets made -- barely -- that not all gay men sound gay and sometimes straight guys do. There are some interesting conclusions made, especially when we meet a masculine gay friend of Thorpe's who spent most of his time with his car-loving brothers, when other gay men were surrounded by women and adapted some of their speech patterns. It is also true that there have been many cases of gay men consciously or unconsciously mimicking the speech and mannerisms of gay "femmes," which might not have happened had they hung out with the average bear.  Thorpe discovers from old friends and relatives that he started acting and sounding (stereotypically) gay after he came out, as if he needed to make a statement. Do I Sound Gay? makes some interesting points, and ultimately comes to the conclusion that if a man sounds gay, he should just own it, because there's nothing wrong in being gay, and therefore nothing wrong in sounding gay or being obviously gay. The film briefly addresses some gay men's disdain for "queens," with columnist Dan Savage wrongly stating that it's due to misogyny (what?) then stating, rather preciously, that it you "take a piece of man cake and put a female gloss on it, it's sexy" -- most gay men would probably disagree, but apparently Savage can sometimes be a little dizzy in his thinking. The most interesting person to be interviewed is Star Trek actor George Takei, who does not sound gay and makes some astute points as well. Included in the documentary is a clip of now-disgraced comic Louis CK doing a riff on "faggots" -- basically saying he can deal with gay men unless they're annoying queens -- but it's one thing for a gay man to criticize his own community and quite another for someone to do it who hasn't paid his dues.

Verdict: There's some interesting stuff in this, and Thorpe is likable, but this documentary might have been better had someone else tackled the subject. **1/2.

BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY

Hedy Lamarr

BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY (2017). Director: Alexandra Dean.

Austrian-born and Jewish, Hedy Lamarr fled the Nazis and emigrated to America, where she was turned into a star after appearing in the controversial Ecstasy in her homeland. Her first American film was Algiers with Charles Boyer. A look at her films reveal an actress whose work could be uneven, but who could also offer effective, sensual, and warm performances in such films as Crossroads and Zeigfeld Girl. She turned to producing later on and worked on Edgar G. Ulmer's The Strange Woman with George Sanders. Bombshell concentrates less on her film career and more on her scientific work, which -- incredible as it may seem -- led to the wi-fi and blue tooth of today. Apparently Lamarr conceived of the idea of radio-controlled torpedoes during WW 2 (after reading of all the deaths at sea caused by German u-boats). Her main contribution was the idea of "frequency-hopping" to keep the Germans from interfering with the Allies' signals. This same frequency-hopping led to the cell phones and other devices that are commonplace today. The Navy rejected Lamarr's ideas (developed with the help of a friend, the American composer Georges Antheil), although they apparently used her technology anyway but never acknowledged it (or paid her for it) until she was an elderly recluse who had lost her beauty. Bombshell features interviews with her children, biographers and film critics, as well as comments from Lamarr herself from a taped interview she did with a magazine writer. If you're looking for an intensive exploration of her film work and/or comments from fellow actors, you won't find them, giving this otherwise excellent documentary a feeling of incompleteness. However, what we do get is undeniably absorbing, and the filmmakers were undoubtedly not interested in doing just another movie star bio. NOTE: This documentary can be viewed on Netflix and on DVD.

Verdict: Who knew Hedy was a genius? ***.

DEBRA PAGET, FOR EXAMPLE

DEBRA PAGET, FOR EXAMPLE (2016). Writer/director: Mark Rappaport.

Debra Paget was one of a legion of Hollywood contract players who did star in several movies but never really became stars. This strange documentary looks at her career, and shows clips from her -- and others' -- movies. This short documentary -- if you can call it a documentary -- has no interviews with people who knew or worked with Paget, including Paget herself, who is still living. Instead her alleged thoughts are voiced by an actress throughout the film. Paget's official birth was in 1933, which would have made her only fifteen in her first movie, with the much-older Richard Conte as her love interest (as he would be again in House of Strangers.) Paget looks older in some films, and in others she clearly is a child doing love scenes with older men. Paget was often cast in exotic roles as island princesses and the like, then got to play "bad girls" in B movies such as Most Dangerous Man Alive. She was a good enough actress, and certainly attractive, but not often given the opportunities that might have netted her awards or a bigger career. 

Journey to the Lost City

Debra Paget, For Example says little about  Paget's personal life aside from her marrying a wealthy Asian (after two previous failed marriages) and retiring from films at 29. Not only does this documentary fail to provide titles for some of the movie clips (aside from a list at the end), it doesn't even mention that Paget was the sister of Lisa Gaye, who was a well-known actress herself. Paget's most famous movie is The Ten Commandments, but she was also in such films as Tales of Terror, Les Miserables, Belles on Their Toes, and Fritz Lang's Journey to the Lost City, in which she danced in a remarkably sexy and revealing costume. Paget's leading men included Louis Jourdan, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Wagner, Cornel Wilde, and Elvis Presley, who wanted to date her, and she also worked with Edward G. Robinson, Jeff Chandler, Vincent Price, Michael Rennie, and many others. The documentary is padded with mini bios of other people Paget worked with, such as Lang.

Verdict: Interesting if uneven and incomplete look at Hollywood starlet. **1/2.

THE FANTASTIC FOUR/ DOOMED: THE UNTOLD STORY

The Thing

THE FANTASTIC FOUR (1994). Director: Oley Sassone.
DOOMED: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ROGER CORMAN'S THE FANTASTIC FOUR (2015). Director: Marty Langford.

Roger Corman co-produced the first film adaptation of Marvel's Fantastic Four comic book, but whether it was never meant to see the light of day, or if Corman and others were paid off so that this low-budget treatment wouldn't interfere with a big-budget version from Fox (with Marvel in control, which it wasn't with this production), or both, is debatable. Doomed! is a documentary in which various actors and other participants in the production discuss making the film, as well as the disappointment and betrayal they felt when they learned after all their efforts that the film would never be released. Told by Roger Corman that he had received a check for a couple of million dollars, probably not to release the picture, Alex Hyde White (who played Reed Richards and is the son of Wilfrid Hyde-White) remarks in Doomed! that "Everyone did well except us, the people that made the movie." Two brothers even spent their own money putting together an orchestra to play their ambitious score for The Fantastic Four. Apparently, wisely or not, nearly everyone involved with the film was convinced that the movie would be a big, big break for their careers. Unfortunately, that was not the case. This was a Roger Corman film, and the cost of the production was only a million dollars. Hardly enough to make a super-hero blockbuster. Doomed! is an entertaining, well-done documentary bolstered by interviews from personable actors such as Hyde-White and Joseph Culp (who played Dr. Doom and is the son of Robert Culp) and several crew members and creative types.

As for the film itself, it has surfaced in bootleg tapes and is on youtube. The Fantastic Four is not terrible by any means, but it can't compare to the version that eventually emerged ten years later: Fantastic Four. The acting is a mix of solid and professional (Hyde-White, Rebecca Staab as Sue Storm) and the uneven and amateurish (like a high school play) , and one mistake was to include a silly (if well-acted) character named the Jeweler (Ian Trigger) who is sort of an annoying substitute for old FF foe, the Moleman. The FX are uneven, but there is a nifty enough climax with the Human Torch trying to outrun a devastating light beam in order to save New York City. There are confusing elements in the script, and instead of our heroes gaining powers due to cosmic rays, there's something about a space project called "Colossus" that never makes that much sense. There are also odd moments, such as when after the foursome's spaceship crashes on earth, the boys seem to take forever to wonder where Sue is. Joseph Culp's performance as Dr. Doom is problematic -- he has a great voice, but he over-gesticulates and often speaks over-portentously as if he were playing a character in a cartoon. Perhaps the best thing about the movie is an excellent score by David and Eric Wurst with its attractive theme music. Virtually all of the actors in the film went on to have many more credits.

Meanwhile, the big-budget Fantastic Four had a sequel entitled Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and the series was unsuccessfully rebooted with Fantastic Four in 2015.

Verdict: Doomed! ***.
              The Fantastic Four. **1/2.

VITO

Vito Russo

VITO (2011). Directed by Jeffrey Schwarz.

This superb documentary looks at the life, activism and career of Vito Russo [1946 - 1990], who fought for gay rights for years and also wrote the book The Celluloid Closet, which looked at gay images in films. Vito also worked for the AIDS organization, ACT UP, and co-founded GLAAD, the organization that monitors LGBT images in the media. The film also looks into Vito's personal life, his relationships with his family,and his boyfriend, Jeffrey Sevcik, who died of AIDS,

Vito watched the action the night of the Stonewall riots, but just thought "it was a bunch of crazy queens." He didn't become political until sometime later, but he never suffered from Catholic guilt over his homosexuality nor thought there was anything wrong in being gay. Vito eventually got his own cable TV show, and became friends with Lily Tomlin, and was instrumental in getting her to appear at a Gay Pride rally. Tomlin and various activists, friends and relatives are all interviewed, and there are loads of clips of Vito himself, who seems like an intelligent and sensitive man.

Although I chaired the media committee of the Gay Activists Alliance for several years (in a later period) I did not get to work with Vito, although I met him, and it's a shame we never had a chance to become good friends or co-workers as our interests certainly coincided.

Verdict: Moving, beautifully-done portrait of a gay activist who deserves to be remembered, ****.

BEFORE STONEWALL

BEFORE STONEWALL (1984). Directors: Greta Schiller; Robert Rosenberg.

This highly interesting documentary looks at aspects of the gay community before the start of the modern-day Gay Rights Movement. It looks at the large number of gay men and lesbians who fought in WW2, chronicles the harassment of homosexuals during the McCarthy era, and examines the change in attitudes towards gay people both within and without the diverse community. Back in those days, gay couples would often mimic straight couples, with, say, the "butcher" of the two women trying to come off like a man so they wouldn't be hassled as "queer" if they went out on a date. Some gay men deliberately overdid the "camping" as a way of declaring themselves and expressing their independence, although there is little outrageous camping in gay bars today. The Civil Rights Movement for black people influenced the Gay Rights movement with its increasing (non-violent) militancy, leading to the Stonewall rebellion. People interviewed for this film include activist Frank Kameny; Allen Ginsberg (who recounts how his famous poem "Howl" was considered obscene); historian Martin Duberman; Harry Hay of the Mattachine Society, an earlier Gay Rights group; Barbara Gittings; Craig Rodwell of the Oscar Wilde bookstore, and many others. There are perhaps too many clips of alleged drag queens from old movies, but many people will find this an eye-opener.

NOTE: It's become obligatory today to say that Stonewall and the whole modern-gay rights movement was started by drag queens of color. If this was true, no problem, but the Stonewall was not exclusively a drag bar. Yes, drag queens would patronize the place, and there were certainly some drag queens there and fighting against the police the night of the riot, but the crowd was an ethnically diverse group -- Black, White, Hispanic etc. -- and the majority were not in drag; everyone played a part.

Verdict: How things have changed! ***.

TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL

TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL. Tab Hunter and Eddie Muller. Algonquin Books.

TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL (2015). Director: Jeffrey Schwarz.

As this documentary is based on a book, I'll start with a review of Hunter's autobiography:

Once a movie star, always a movie star – and is there anything on earth more self-absorbed than a movie star? Tab Hunter tells how a great-looking guy with absolutely no acting experience managed to become fading star Linda Darnell's leading man in one of her last pictures, and then moved onward and upward to become a movie star in his own right, appearing in such films as Damn Yankees and The Pleasure of His Company. He doesn't gloss over how he quickly descended to the depths as a Hollywood has-been, then made a comeback of sorts by co-starring with Divine in two funny movies. Hunter's story is reasonably absorbing and somewhat enlightening about Hollywood, but what it mostly does is remind us of the shallowness of movie stars – all movie stars. Not being normal people, they just don't get it. For instance, on one page Hunter (or rather his co-author) writes how disappointed he was that his then-agent Henry Willson wasn't behind him more when he tested for an important role. He complains that Willson didn't care if he got the role as long as it was one of his many clients. So much for loyalty Hunter complains, or words to that effect. What did Hunter expect Willson to do – focus only on him and to hell with all of his other clients!!! It just doesn't occur to Hunter how hypocritical he sounds. Considering that he's out of the closet – a decision that may have had more to do with the fact that his sexual orientation was pretty much an open secret as opposed to true self-acceptance on his part -- Hunter refers to certain people he dislikes as “fags” a lot more often than he should. But then, Hunter comes across as moderately likable but not especially bright. This is by no means an essential read but many people will find it absorbing.

Now on to the film version:

Tab Hunter Confidential was produced by Hunter's long-time companion, so this can hardly be taken as an unbiased examination of the subject and his career. First it seems obvious that Hunter -- who left the Catholic Church years ago due to its attitudes, which made him feel like an outcast, and who has rejoined the virulently homophobic institution in his elder years (there are organized religions that welcome gays, for Pete's sake) -- is not exactly a poster boy for Gay Liberation. One senses that Hunter became openly gay for career reasons more than out of a true acceptance of his sexuality, which still seems to embarrass him. Nevertheless he makes an appealing subject for a biography -- Hollywood heartthrob is secretly gay -- and while he talks briefly about considering marriage to a woman, he doesn't cop out and claim to be bisexual. As in his memoir, Hunter comes off as relatively likable if not exactly an intellectual. The documentary consists primarily of a long, frank interview with Hunter interspersed with comments from everyone from John Waters to Clint Eastwood, Darryl Hickman and Mother Delores Hart, a former co-star of Elvis Presley's who became a nun. Hunter talks about his affair with Tony Perkins, as well as relationships with a prominent figure skater and others, but completely glosses over how and why these relationships came to an end (but one can guess: career reasons). Hunter finally settled down with a young producer, Allan Glaser, who was thirty years younger than Hunter, making him definitely come off like a typical movie star, gay or not. The documentary also offers clips of Hunter's recording career -- he had a nice enough voice but tended to go flat a little too often -- and film highlights, such as a genuinely strong performance in Gunman's Walk as a psychopath. Hunter was better in his second film, Island of Desire, than he gives himself credit for, and his performance of "Reproduction" was a highlight of Grease 2. Hunter also talks about his arrest at a gay party and the report of it in Confidential magazine. NOTE: Director Jeffrey Schwarz also directed the superb documentary Vito, on author and gay activist Vito Russo.

Verdict: Book ***. Film: ***.

BATTLE-AXE: THE MAKING OF "STRAIT-JACKET"

An intense Joan Crawford

BATTLE-AXE: THE MAKING OF "STRAIT-JACKET." (2002). Producer/director: Jeffrey Schwarz.

"We have to remember that we can't expect everyone to be perfect." -- Diane Baker.

This is an entertaining, if brief, look behind the scenes of the William Castle production of Strait-Jacket, starring the inimitable Joan Crawford. The title refers to the weapon of choice in the movie -- which "realistically depicts axe murders" -- and not to Crawford, who is basically handled sympathetically and whose performance in the black and white B shocker is deservedly praised. Joan Blondell was supposed to play the lead but she was injured in an accident. The part of Joan's daughter, played by Diane Baker, was originally essayed by a more voluptuous but apparently less talented and unnamed actress whom Crawford wanted replaced. There are interesting observations from film historian David Del Valle, as well as comments from Baker, who tells -- not unkindly -- that Crawford drank a bit and had the ending changed so that it would focus on her and not Baker [well, she was the star, after all]. Baker says at one point that the makers of horror films, such as William Castle, are actually "lovable," but apparently she didn't feel that way about Alfred Psycho Hitchcock, whom she doesn't exactly depict as lovable in Donald Spoto's book Spellbound by Beauty [Baker appeared in Hitchcock's Marnie]. 

Verdict: Interesting featurette on a minor horror classic. ***.

ANNA MAY WONG: IN HER OWN WORDS

Anna May Wong

ANNA MAY WONG: IN HER OWN WORDS (2013). Writer/director/producer: Yunah Hong.

"I never kissed my leading man in Hollywood -- ever."

Anna May Wong [1905 - 1961] managed to become a minor movie star during a period when racism was at its peak and there were few roles for Chinese-Americans in films [the situation probably has not changed all that much today]. Her career began in silent films with small roles in movies like Mr. Wu, although she did eventually get starring parts such as in The Toll of the Sea, a Chinese version of Madama Butterfly, and went to Europe to get more lead roles in movies. Her talent and good looks were obvious from the first, but her refusal to play stereotypical parts led to her losing roles, and when she did play exotic Eurasian villainesses as in Daughter of the Dragon [a Fu Manchu picture] she was excoriated by mainland Chinese. She held her own with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express, and a smitten songwriter wrote "These Foolish Things [remind me of you]" for her. She had a good role in Daughter of Shanghai, but by the late forties and fifties she was reduced to very small roles in such films as Impact and on The Barbara Stanwyck Show. While one could say that this brief documentary on the actress is a bit on the superficial side, like TCM's Frosted Yellow Willows which also covered Wong, the emphasis is on the positive aspects of her life and career. Another difference is that a pretty and talented young actress named Doan Ly portrays Wong at different points during the documentary, speaking Wong's "own words" from letters and interviews. There are also quotes from actor BD Wong [Law and Order: Special Victims Unit] and film scholar Pete Feng, among others.

Verdict: Interesting look at the life of a very interesting actress. ***.

FELLINI'S ROMA

The ecclesiastical fashion show!

FELLINI'S ROMA (1972). Director: Federico Fellini.

In his love-valentine to the wonders, joys, excesses and beauties of Rome, Fellini has fashioned not a true documentary -- many scenes are staged -- but a mock documentary that expresses his conflicted feelings about the great world capital. The film bounces back and forth in time, with the main 1940's "storyline" involving a young man (Peter Gonzales Falcon, apparently playing a young Fellini) who comes to board with a family and attends a delightfully vulgar variety show with a rowdy audience (one mother just lets her child piss right in the aisle), experiences an air raid, and goes to a brothel or two. In one "low-class" whore house the hookers are almost as old and unattractive as the madames, and the situation in the more expensive brothel isn't much better. In modern sequences an underground chamber with ancient frescoes is uncovered during an excavation for a new subway, but the fresh air destroys them. There is a scene showing busy traffic entering Rome from the airport, and a more memorable sequence showing dozens of motor cyclists zooming all around the city. The highlight of the film, of course, is the ecclesiastical fashion show [see photo], an irreverent look at the clergy in all their popinjay finery.

Verdict: A mixed bag, interesting, but hardly a masterpiece like I vitelloni . ***.

THE WOMAN WHO WASN'T THERE [BOOK]

THE WOMAN WHO WASN'T THERE: The True Story of an Incredible Deception. Robin Gaby Fisher and Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr. Touchstone/Simon and Schuster; 2012.

NOTE: This book is based on the documentary of the same name.

Tania Head, who lost her husband and nearly lost her arm, in the 9//11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, joined a group of survivors who felt isolated after their horrific experiences. The dead were honored, as were their grieving loved ones, but these survivors were suffering terrible emotional and sometimes physical trauma and still felt left out of the loop. They were often afraid to speak up because they were, after all, alive when so many others died, and felt survivor guilt on top of everything else. Tania had a particularly horrifying and poignant story, and when she joined the group she did a lot to make it more of a viable organization. But how come some details in her story didn't add up? Why did she spearhead internecine movements to throw certain people out of the group, stripping them of a desperately needed lifeline? Why did she refuse to answer basic verifiable questions for a reporter from the New York Times? Could it be possible, as inconceivable as it sounded, that she wasn't in the Towers on 9/11? This well-written book [one of the co-authors did a documentary film on Head and the Survivors] pulls one along --  as it illuminates the struggles of traumatized survivors to function in a post-9/11 world, it also tells an incredible story of an elaborate and indefensible hoax. You might wonder if this person is even worth the attention [no] -- although she obviously wants it -- but it's still a compelling true story, and the book does give insight into the terrible things that happened inside the Towers that awful day, and the horrifying things witnessed by survivors who can never forget what they saw and experienced.

Verdict: You'll read it in one sitting. ***.

CRAZY LOVE

CRAZY LOVE (2007). Directors: Dan Klores; Fisher Stevens.

"He sees what he did to her every day -- I don't know if it's a joy or a punishment."

This documentary is the very strange love-hate story of Linda Riss and mob lawyer Burt Pagach, who hired someone to throw acid in Linda's face -- disfiguring and blinding her -- when she tried to break away from him. But the story only gets stranger after that, illustrating what some people will do for financial security and to combat loneliness. Frankly, the behavior of most of the people in this movie is shocking, including that of a policewoman-guard who stupidly does her best to reunite the victim and her abuser. Pagach, a supposed victim of child abuse and a pathological liar, comes off as a complete sociopath, which only makes Riss' later actions even more surprising. If ever a movie illustrated the psychological complexities of human beings, Crazy Love is it. The film starts off slow, but stick with it for some amazing -- indeed sickening -- revelations.

Verdict: Horrifying. ***.

THE AUDITION

THE AUDITION. Director: Susan Froemke. Shown on Great Performances at the Met/PBS.

This documentary looks at the 2007 semi-finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. The film is very good at getting across the intensity and sometimes the desperation of the singers who are all too well aware of how important it is to become one of the finalists. The sopranos almost all seem to fit the stereotype of the very hefty -- okay, obese -- opera singer while the gentlemen are more of a mixed bag and in better physical shape. Talented tenor Michael Fabiano [pictured] has such a raw emotional need to make it that the film's most dramatic moment comes at the end when he stands figuratively naked on the stage waiting to hear whose name will be called for the last slot [I won't give it away but I will say that Fabiano has since sung at La scala]. Another winner, Ryan Smith, is an amiable African-American who died of cancer shortly after this film was made; it may have given his poor mother some comfort to know that he got to sing at the Met -- the high point of every opera singer's career-- before he died, and that he spent his last days pursuing his dreams. Alek Shrader is another talented tenor who gets a lot of screen time in the film.

Verdict: Compelling behind-the-scenes look at ambition, talent, and heartbreak. ***.

WHO NEEDS SLEEP?

WHO NEEDS SLEEP? (2006 documentary). Director: Haskell Wexler.

The famous cinematographer Haskell Wexler [pictured] put together this film which looks at the problem of sleep-deprived workers in the film industry. Wexler and others were especially galvanized after one man fell asleep at the wheel driving home to his family and was killed. As is said, this covers the film industry, but it could be about "any group of industrial workers fighting to have a fourteen hour day." Workers in the movie business typically put in 19 hour days without the commensurate salaries of the stars and [generally] the directors -- hardly a "glamorous" business. After the man's death petitions were signed and circulated insisting on a 14 (!) hour work day but it didn't stick. There has been "no real appreciable change." The trouble is that the movie makers are on a deadline to finish a film and there are variable factors at play. Still, this is a very interesting documentary showing an aspect of the movie business that few people outside the industry ever really think about. There are brief moments of celebrities being interviewed, but mostly its people working behind the scenes.

Verdict: Sobering. ***.