By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Chiemi Karasawa
Country: united_states
Year: 2014
Running time: 84
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2405792/combined
Bruce says: “Elaine Stritch has always maintained a ‘take no prisoners’attitude throughout her career so it is no surprise that she agreed to make this documentary with a caveat: ‘I don’t want this to be a fluff piece. It’s got to be real.’ Although Stritch has a reputation for being somewhat difficult, she is equally renowned for her work ethic. As she turns 87 she prepares to leave New York and move to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, to be near her nieces and nephews, her closest remaining relatives. It is obvious that Stritch would stay put at the Hotel Carlyle in New York were it not for her diabetic episodes which are increasingly limiting her ability to perform. After spending seven days in the hospital, she claims, ‘It’s time for me. I can feel it.’ She handles her pending departure with grace; but the well wishing, sorting through memorabilia, and packing up are obviously bittersweet.
“Most of the talking heads are flattering with the occasional nod to her feistiness. George C. Wolfe recounts a comment from the late George Grizzard (whose stormy relationship with Stritch during the run of Albee’s A Delicate Balance is legendary) at the time Wolfe directed Stritch in her one-woman show, ELAINE STRITCH AT LIBERTY. ‘Thanks for creating a show that allows no other actor to interfere with Elaine’s relationship to the audience.’ Her co-stars on ’30 Rock’ are more complimentary but, of course, they were not playing to a live audience. Alec Baldwin jokes, ‘Don’t you last word me, you bitch. That was my laugh line.’ His affection for Stritch is obvious – he helped produce this documentary. Woody Allen wrote that she was brilliant but difficult to work with.
“Terrific archival footage documents Stritch’s illustrious career on stage in London and New York and on film. She recalls her first big Broadway break in Angel in the Wings in 1947, her days with Sondheim’s Company, and how Noel Coward wrote Sail Away for her. Stritch is quite candid about her marriage, her bouts with alcoholism, and her diabetes. ‘What scares me most?’ she ponders. ‘Drinking. It’s such an escape, such a warm inviting heaven.’ Although Stritch has a well-documented relationship with AA, she has turned more than a few heads with her decision to have one drink a day, an entitlement for a woman in her eighties.
“Rob Bowman has been her musical director for fifteen years. He remembers Stritch saying to him on their first day together, ‘Be square. Be honest. No bullshit.’ Their relationship has been extraordinarily successful. He recalls how she frequently had more stamina than he during the long rehearsals for her cabaret acts and concerts. Footage from rehearsals for her October 2011 show at Town Hall is heartbreaking. Bowman gently feeds her lyrics to ‘Rose’s Turn’; it is obvious she has lost the facility for recall. (I attended the Town Hall concert and Bowman fed her lyrics throughout the performance.) Bowman was present for the Q & A after the screening; Stritch was at the Carlyle supervising the movers who were loading the van that was soon to be bound for Michigan. 4.5 cats
“(ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME screened at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.)”
Chris says: “Place Chiemi Karasawa’s film into an apparently thriving new genre—documentaries about entertainment legends at the twilight of their careers. A good decade older than the subject of JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK (the biggest hit of these films) but still a few years younger than that of CAROL CHANNING: LARGER THAN LIFE, Elaine Stritch hasn’t exactly kept a low profile recently. Stretching back to 2001’s Tony (and later Emmy) Award winning ELAINE STRITCH AT LIBERTY, she’s arguably better known to audiences outside the Broadway stage than ever thanks to her occasional turn on 30 ROCK as Alec Baldwin’s character’s brash, feisty mother. Like Rivers, she also perceives her insistence on working well past retirement age as a lifeline—at 86, she’s touring in a demanding one-woman show singing Stephen Sondheim songs to sold-out cabarets.
“The difference with Stritch and SHOOT ME in general is that, unlike Rivers (for whom old age ideally fits her wisecracking persona), Stritch is noticeably past her prime. The film pulls no punches about showing Stritch forgetting song lyrics, becoming exhausted in rehearsals or suffering from diabetes. It’s often difficult to see her this way, especially with a treasure trove of archival clips (including fantastic ones from the documentary COMPANY: ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM and a 1950s variety show TV performance where the 30-year-old Stritch carries the gravitas of someone twice her age) comparatively showing just how good she was at her prime. Fortunately, this candidness fits the famously ball-busting, unsentimental Stritch to a T—a whitewashing or a puff piece would’ve severely diminished this persona. Even at 84 minutes, the film may seem padded at times, but at its best, it deifies and humanizes Stritch in equal measure: she may forget lyrics in her Sondheim show, but transcends her error and saves the performance with
a still-sharp acuity for improvisation. 4 cats”
Kyle says: “There is a valedictory poignance to this documentary on the late great Elaine Stritch, who died on July 17 shortly after retiring at 89 and leaving New York for a condominium in Michigan. Compiled from archival footage, interviews with colleagues and fans, and an omnipresent camera that follows Stritch as she goes for walks in Manhattan, rehearses for a one-woman show and her recurrent role on 30 ROCK, and discusses her health problems with alcoholism and diabetes, ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME is essential for fans interested in her legendary theatrical status. It is, however, unlikely to hold much interest for casual documentary viewers or for those interested in her film and television work. Even her never-to-be-forgotten (at least by me) appearance in the September 1985 FOLLIES IN CONCERT at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center can be understood and experienced only partially in a not-very-good 91-minute DVD documentary. There is a heartrending scene near the end of Stritch in multi-colored hair curlers lying in bed contemplating how close she is to the end, which is unforgettably moving. For her unique sense of humor, one must look elsewhere, such as her description of a role in the forgotten 1965 film WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? — ‘I was a lesbian owner of a disco who fell in love with Juliet Prowse and got strangled on 93rd Street and East End Avenue with a silk stocking by Sal Mineo. Jesus, who’s not going to play that part?’ 3.5 cats”
“Sunday, July 20, 2014 on Netflix, New York.”