Liberace: Behind the Music
| Liberace: Behind the Music | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | David Greene |
| Produced by | Murray Shostak |
| Written by | Gavin Lambert |
| Starring | Victor Garber Saul Rubinek Michael Dolan Maureen Stapleton |
| Music by | Hagood Hardy |
| Editing by | Yves Langlois |
| Country | Canada USA |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Release date | United States October 9, 1988 |
| Running time | 97 minutes (USA) |
Liberace: Behind the Music is a 1988 Kushner-Locke Company television production. It is an "unofficial" biopic drama on the life and death of Wladziu Valentino Liberace, who went from a humble working-class background to become a famous American pianist and vocalist. Known simply as "Liberace", he became the highest paid entertainer in the world, while embracing a lifestyle of flamboyant excess. The film first aired less than two years after his death.
The modest-length production (97 minutes) traces Liberace's life, as played by Canadian actor Victor Garber, from his humble beginnings in a Milwaukee suburb, through his major life highs and lows culminating with the highly-publicized palimony lawsuit filed against him by his former limo driver and alleged live-in boyfriend of five years, Scott Thorson played by Michael Dolan, and his failing health ending with his death at age 67 on February 4, 1987, from AIDS complications.
Noted for the early casting appearance of then 20-year-old Shawn Levy, Real Steel (2011), Canadian-American actor, director and producer, as Glenn, a post-Thorson acquaintance of Liberace through his final days.
A TV film of noteworthy production value. Film clips from Liberace's actual stage appearances are interspersed in the storyline. Directed by Emmy Award-winning David Greene, Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) and Roots (1977). Credit for technical advisor is given to long-time Liberace friend and agent Seymour Heller who is portrayed in the film by Saul Rubinek.
Liberace: Behind the Music was broadcast one week after the ABC biopic production Liberace (1988), a version starring Andrew Robinson in the lead with a script holding to a point of view that Liberace was heterosexual.
An obscure and rarely seen title, the film debuted in the United States as a CBS Sunday Movie.
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[edit] Plot
A gifted classical pianist, fueled by poverty, Wladiziu Valentino Liberace was already playing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the age of 17.
Through a variety of his highs and lows, chaptered in TV-style format, Liberace's life from his early years through his death are chronicled.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Victor Garber | Liberace |
| Saul Rubinek | Seymour Heller |
| Michael Dolan | Scott Thorson |
| Maureen Stapleton | Frances Liberace |
| Shawn Levy | Glenn |
| Michael Wilkes | George Liberace |
| Macha Grenon | Joanne |
| George Touliatos | Salvatore Liberace |
| Joan Heney | Serious Lady |
| Andrew Nichols | Teenager |
| Paul Hipp | Elvis Presley |
| Frances Hyland | Florence Bettray Kelly |
| Stephen Watts | Jimmy |
| Rochelle Bruneau | George's Girl |
[edit] Pending Hollywood remake
Michael Douglas has agreed to star as Liberace and Matt Damon will portray Scott Thorson in a motion picture that is scheduled to film during the summer of 2012. HBO has agreed to the film Behind the Candelabra, to air on its network[1], centering on the relationship the two shared and its aftermath. The film is to be directed by Steven Soderbergh with screenplay by Richard LaGravenese based on Thorson's book Behind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace. The score will be by Marvin Hamlisch[2].
[edit] Home media
Liberace: Behind the Music is presently available on DVD from Kushner-Locke distributed through Tango Entertainment.
