Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story - Official Trailer- Page 2

[The Other One]

Posted: 2/1/25 at 11:36am

morosco said: "Is there any discussion in the documentary that might shed some light on why she has never received a well deserved Kennedy Center Honor?"

Her glory days were her early days.  Most people who win Kennedy Center Honors did great work for decades and remained influential, often even active, until being honored.

She won everything else in her first 10 years in the biz, which is a pretty amazing accomplishment in and of itself.

Updated On: 2/1/25 at 11:36 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/1/25 at 12:10pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Arriving on blu-ray April 1st from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. And no it's not an April Fool's joke!

Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story (Blu-ray)



Product Extras : 

• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Bruce David Klein, Producer/Co-Editor Alexander J. Goldstein, and Co-Producer Dana Craig
• Outtakes from Interviews with Michael Feinstein, Lorna Luft, and Ben Vereen
• Q&A with Bruce David Klein moderated by Jim Caruso 
• Theatrical Trailer
• Audio description for the visually impaired

 

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 2/1/25 at 7:33pm

Oh, for crying out loud, people thought this was going to be probing??  It's a celebrity press release-doc!  What did you think she was going to say?  Tell stories about Mama vomiting in her crib or Peter Allen coming home with his fingers smelling like balls?

Just watch and enjoy the Liza of it all. 

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/11/25 at 6:58pm

Saw the film last week at the Laemelle Glendale and really, really enjoyed it.  So great to see so much archival footage from back when that wasn't the norm, like it is now.  Will see it again this weekend.  

And, even better news to find out that it will air on PBS on April 1st.  

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/LIZA-A-TRULY-TERRIFIC-ABSOLUTELY-TRUE-STORY-to-Air-on-PBS-20250211

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 2/11/25 at 8:21pm

nealb1 said: "Saw the film last week at the Laemelle Glendale and really, really enjoyed it. So great to see so much archival footage from back when that wasn't the norm, like it is now. Will see it again this weekend.

And, even better news to find out that it will air on PBS on April 1st.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/LIZA-A-TRULY-TERRIFIC-ABSOLUTELY-TRUE-STORY-to-Air-on-PBS-20250211"

I'm excited to see it -- if for nothing more than the much talked about archival footage!

But...seems a little ironic that a documentary whose subject has had a tenous relationship to the truth -- and is subtitled "A Truly Terrifc, Absolutely True Story" -- is airing on April 1, April Fool's Day!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/11/25 at 9:07pm

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 10:08am

TheatreMonkey, you're not the only one who has said that - about the truth.  What is Liza not telling the truth about?  The few that have commented, haven't explained what isn't truthful.  Do you know?  

[joevitus]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 10:41am

verywellthensigh said: "Oh, for crying out loud, people thought this was going to be probing?? It's a celebrity press release-doc! What did you think she was going to say? Tell stories about Mama vomiting in her crib or Peter Allen coming home with his fingers smelling like balls?

Just watch and enjoy the Liza of it all."

Youre indignation at a simple question--how honest is she?/how much of the "real Liza' do we se?--is noted.

[BJR]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 11:02am

nealb1 said: "TheatreMonkey, you're not the only one who has said that - about the truth. What is Liza not telling the truth about? The few that have commented, haven't explained what isn't truthful. Do you know?"

I know people who were close to her orbit during some of these times and indeed always laugh at her interviews, because she does indeed create the studio official press release version of the events.

And I never press, so I don't know what an example is, but in a way it's a shame there isn't a more full picture accounting of such an incredible life. But I'll take this!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 11:06am

nealb1 said: "TheatreMonkey, you're not the only one who has said that - about the truth. What is Liza not telling the truth about? The few that have commented, haven't explained what isn't truthful. Do you know?"

What they’re referring to is her standard vague diplomatic manner that she responds to personal stuff. Even when she responds to questions about her last husband, David Gest, she always cracks jokes and ends those questions with her trademark cackle. She never opens up honestly. There’s always a reservation to how honest her responses are. They’re always diplomatic responses. We learned more about living with Judy Garland from her sister Lorna’s book. 

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 12:21pm

BrodyFosse123 and BRJ, it was interesting when Michael F said that Liza rarely speaks of her relationships, and keeps it private.  Could be why she has a standard response.  Never knew that David G took everything when they divoriced.  It was a funny moment when Liza was with Michele Lee, and she said something to the effect of Liza's husbands never being men, and they all laughed.  

[joevitus]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 12:43pm

nealb1 said: "BrodyFosse123 and BRJ, it was interesting when Michael F said that Liza rarely speaks of her relationships, and keeps it private. Could be why she has a standard response. Never knew that David G took everything when they divoriced. It was a funny moment when Liza was with Michele Lee, and she said something to the effect of Liza's husbands never being men, and they all laughed."

I don't for a moment doubt there are very good reasons for her to keep her private life to herself, but that doesn't make for an interesting interview or provide insight into the life of this very talented person with a very unique background. To me, there's a real disassociation from reality in her comments--which doesn't have to mean she herself is disassociated from reality. But it's an utterly plastic, and completely vaccous form of response that just doesn't interest me. I'll watch Liza in Cabaret any number of times, but I'll learn next to nothing about why she did Cabaret, what it was like to make Cabaret or what she really thinks of her performance in Cabaret from any interview she gives. 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 2:00pm

Went to see this at IFC on a whim. It is fluff but enjoyable and with some good footage, some familiar from YouTube and some not. Once both Chita Rivera (alas briefly) and John Kander both appeared as interviews I hoped we might get a *little* mention of what happened around The Rink but no, it feels like an old DVD special feature in terms of keeping things pretty on-the-surface positive. People in the theater snickered when Liza said in an old interview that there was no drug use going on in her nights at Studio 54, though her struggles were briefly touched on at the end. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 2:15pm

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 4:46pm

Yeah, the "no drug use at Studio 54" comment elicited guffaws from the audience I saw it with in West Los Angeles last week (where the honorable Bruce Vilanch happened to be in attendance).  

I too was bugged that after 2 hours of footage (some of it glorious), Liza still had nothing to say about her propensity to marry gay guys, or her substance addictions during shows like The Rink (everything was chalked up to prescription meds), or even a simple statement of her specific physical ailments that so hobble her today.

The Liza of old always prided herself on her naked honesty as a performer. That naked honesty is what we were really hoping for in this doc but didn't quite get.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 5:09pm

The thing that I most walked away with was how true that old comment about being "a figment of Fred Ebb's imagination" must have been. That kind of frank vulnerability seems so much a part of the persona that was crafted by Ebb for her through the roles and the club acts/TV special. 

 

What exactly is Michael Feinstein's relationship to Liza? It was basically before my time when she was last really performing and I don't know the lore, but he seems to be like. Both Max AND Joe to her Norma, you know? 

Updated On: 2/12/25 at 05:09 PM

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 5:10pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "nealb1 said: "TheatreMonkey, you're not the only one who has said that - about the truth. What is Liza not telling the truth about? The few that have commented, haven't explained what isn't truthful. Do you know?"

What they’re referring to is her standard vague diplomatic manner that she responds to personal stuff. Even when she responds to questions about her last husband, David Gest, she always cracks jokes and ends those questions with her trademark cackle. She never opens up honestly. There’s always a reservation to how honest her responses are. They’re always diplomatic responses. We learned more about living with Judy Garland from her sister Lorna’s book."

That's exactly what I was getting at -- and that's leaving rumor and hearsay aside. And whilst I totally understand -- and agree with -- a person's right to keep certain things private, you'd think at some point they'd want to at least acknowledge what was plainly true (or seems to be). None of this to knock one helluva career and life -- it would just be interesting to finally see beyond the cultivated public persona.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 5:35pm

Sadly, this documentary wasn't directed by the fantastic Laurent Bouzereau. His documentaries are on such a level and heavily regarded. For his recent one on Faye Dunaway titled FAYE, he was able to have her completely open up about her life, career, and legendary manic behavior in full transparency. Heck, the opening moments of the documentary he showed the infamous clip of Bette Davis on The Johnny Carson Show speaking ill of Faye then moments later he shows Faye being controlling and demanding as they're setting up to film her for the documentary. It immediately addressed that the documentary was not going to be a fluff piece and as with all his documentaries, you end up understanding where her manic episodes stemmed from and you go away loving and adoring her for everything she is.

It would have been refreshing to see Liza open up completely and truly speak about her life and career like Faye Dunaway did in this documentary: 

 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 5:51pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Sadly, this documentary wasn't directed by the fantasticLaurent Bouzereau. His documentaries are on such a level and heavily regarded. For his recent one on Faye Dunaway titled FAYE, he was able to have her completely open up about her life, career, and legendary manic behavior in full transparency. Heck, the opening moments of the documentary he showed the infamous clip of Bette Davis on The Johnny Carson Show speaking ill of Faye then moments later he shows Faye being controlling and demanding as they're setting up to film her for the documentary. It immediately addressed that the documentary was not going to be a fluff piece and as with all his documentaries, you end up understanding where her manic episodes stemmed from and you go away loving and adoring her for everything she is.

It would have been refreshing to see Liza open up completely and truly speak about her life and career like Faye Dunaway did in this documentary:

I totally agree Bouzereau also directed the excellent HBO documentary on Natalie Wood: "Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind".

"

 

[Ke3]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 7:58pm

There's a Liza television doc from the early 2000s where she says perhaps the most revealing thing she's ever said, "you have to understand, it was basically a company town, so it was never strange to us" in regards to her early childhood in LA.

Liza played fragile extremely well, and it's clear that to some extent she is/was an emotional person, but she was also born into a company town where the idea that the public "deserve" the truth was an idea to be totally rejected.