The best Elaine Stritch’s documentary movies

Elaine Stritch

Elaine Stritch

02/02/1925- 17/07/2014
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Elaine Stritch’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Elaine Stritch.

Six by Sondheim

Six by Sondheim
7.9/10
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Release: 09/12/2013
  • Character: Herself (archive footage)
This intimate documentary explores the life and career of the stage legend Stephen Sondheim through six of his best-known songs.

Original Cast Album: Company

Original Cast Album: Company
8/10
  • Genre: DocumentaryMusic
  • Release: 01/01/1970
  • Character: Elaine Stritch / Joanne
Stephen Sondheim's musical "Company" opened on Broadway in the Spring of 1970, and tradition dictates that the cast recording is done on the first Sunday after opening night. D.A. Pennebaker, the now-legendary documentarian, filmed the production of the original cast recording, the back and forth between Sondheim and the performers, and the dynamic of trying to record live performance. The film climaxes with Elaine Stritch's performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch". The show won 6 Tony Awards including "Best Musical" and ran for two years on Broadway. A plan to make a series of "Original Cast Album" films never materialized.

Always at The Carlyle

Always at The Carlyle
6.5/10
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Release: 11/05/2018
  • Character: Self
The iconic Carlyle hotel has been an international destination for a particular jet set as well as a favorite haunt of the most discernible New Yorkers.

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
8.3/10
Broadway: The Golden Age is the most important, ambitious and comprehensive film ever made about America's most celebrated indigenous art form. Award-winning filmmaker Rick McKay filmed over 100 of the greatest stars ever to work on Broadway or in Hollywood. He soon learned that great films can be restored, fine literature can be kept in print - but historic Broadway performances of the past are the most endangered. They leave only memories that, while more vivid, are more difficult to preserve. In their own words — and not a moment too soon — Broadway: The Golden Age tells the stories of our theatrical legends, how they came to New York, and how they created this legendary century in American theatre. This is the largest cast of legends ever in one film.

Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age

Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
8/10
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Release: 14/08/2021
  • Character: Self
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age explores the world of Broadway from 1959 through the early 1980s as recounted by a diverse cast of Broadway stars who lived through it, creating a first-hand archive of personal backstage stories and memories. The new documentary is the long-awaited sequel to late filmmaker Rick McKay’s award-winning 2003 film Broadway: The Golden Age, continuing the saga into the '60s and '70s and spotlighting beloved classic Broadway shows including Once Upon a Mattress, Bye Bye Birdie, Barefoot in the Park, Pippin, A Chorus Line, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Chicago, and 42nd Street. Featuring a galaxy of stars including Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Glenn Close, André De Shields, Jane Fonda, Robert Goulet, Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Dick Van Dyke, Ben Vereen, and many more, the film also includes rare archival photos and never-before-seen footage both onstage and off.

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me
7.5/10
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Release: 09/04/2013
  • Character: Herself
Broadway legend Elaine Stritch remains in the spotlight at eighty-seven years old. Join the uncompromising Tony and Emmy Award-winner both on and off stage in this revealing documentary. With interviews from Tina Fey, Nathan Lane, Hal Prince and others, ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME blends rare archival footage and intimate cinema vérité to reach beyond Stritch’s brassy exterior, revealing a multi-dimensional portrait of a complex woman and an inspiring artist.

Follies: In Concert

Follies: In Concert
8.1/10
A backstage documentary film including footage from the legendary 1985 concert performance of Stephen Sondheim's classic musical at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. The plot of the musical centers around a reunion of showgirls who appeared in an annual Follies extravaganza when it was staged between the wars.

Elaine Stritch: At Liberty

Elaine Stritch: At Liberty
8.6/10
Judy at the Palace. Sinatra at Carnegie Hall. Streisand at the Garden. Stritch on Broadway. Legendary performances come along so rarely. Elaine Stritch at Liberty is an autobiographical one-woman show written by Elaine Stritch and John Lahr, which is composed of anecdotes from Stritch's life and showtunes. The show consists of spoken monologues from Stritch following her life and career, interspersed with showtunes and pop standards which compliment her stories. Many of these songs had been previously sung by Stritch in major productions, such as "The Ladies Who Lunch" from Company and "Civilization" from Angel in the Wings which she originated on Broadway. Her experiences and relationship with show business are focal points, but she also explores more intimate, personal themes like her alcoholism and romantic relationships.

Related actors