Well, the Dukakis film felt old and looked like it had been sitting and collecting dust for years. But, the latest stream, featuring a documentary on Kaye Ballard, felt as if it had been produced yesterday---despite the fact that Kaye passed on in January 2019.
I guess I have a soft spot for "Kaye Ballard: The Show Goes On..." After all, I got to know the subject matter. And was lucky to get to know her a bit. It's truly odd to see the main person sitting in her home and being interviewed. Especially when you were once sitting in the same house.
So how did I wind up having lunch in Kaye Ballard's Palm Springs house (purchased from Desi Arnaz)? Well, about two decades ago, my writing partner and I were talking with the legendary (and our friends) Madelyn Pugh Davis and Bob Carroll Jr. about one of their non-Lucy shows, "The Mothers-In-Law." We decided to write a magazine article about it. That saga has been told here several times.
But, with regard to today's piece, our research took us to "Mothers-In-Law" star Kaye Ballard and a wonderful lunch in Palm Springs. For a few years after that, we stayed in touch and always got a Christmas card from Kaye (usually spotlighting one of her dogs). A consummate pro.
This documentary by Dan Wingate wonderfully tells the story of that consummate pro. And, luckily, most of the story is told by Kaye herself with able assistance from such notables as Woody Allen, Ann-Margret, Michael Feinstein, the late Carol Channing, the late Jerry Stiller, and Peter Marshall.
Sure, the film has the usual documentary biography set-up. "And then...and then...and then...and then...and then..."
But, indeed, Kaye's life is mesmerizing all the way through. She had so many talents that her career never really reaches its full potential if you can believe that. She was a Broadway star, but never a BROADWAY STAR. She was a recording artist, but never a RECORDING ARTIST. She was a television star, but never a TELEVISION STAR.
That said, she was insanely talented and all of that is captured in this documentary. Plus there were things that I learned which were new to me. For instance, the famed song from "Cabaret," "Maybe This Time" was not written specifically for that movie and its star Liza Minnelli. Nope, Kaye was given that as a gift and had recorded it almost ten years before. I also didn't know that she was cast in the Beatrice Arthur role for the movie "Lovers and Other Strangers," only to be replaced by producer David Susskind right before filming.
Of course, I was destined to like this from the very first frame. And there were some tears in my eyes toward the end. But that's no surprise.
Because I was lucky enough to know the subject matter.
Well done, Kaye Ballard.
LEN'S RATING: Four stars.
Dinner last night: Salisbury steak with onion gravy.
No comments:
Post a Comment