The best Lauren Bacall’s documentary movies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Lauren Bacall (born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks. She began her career as a model. She first appeared as a leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have and Have Not (1944) and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in Bogart movies The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), as well as comedic roles in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe and Designing Woman (1957) with Gregory Peck. Bacall worked on Broadway in musicals, earning Tony Awards for Applause in 1970 and Woman of the Year in 1981. Her performance in the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination.
In 1999, Bacall was ranked 20th out of the 25 actresses on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list by the American Film Institute. In 2009, she was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive an Academy Honorary Award "in recognition of her central place in the Golden Age of motion pictures."
Bacall died on August 12, 2014, at the age of 89. According to her grandson Jamie Bogart, the actress died after suffering from a stroke.
And the Oscar Goes To...
7.1/10
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
Night of 100 Stars
7.1/10
The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers payed up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like. Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimated that the 5,800 Radio City Music Hall seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. The show itself cost about $4 million to produce and was expected to yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J. ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights.
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
7.8/10
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.
Get Bruce!
6.2/10
Affectionate tribute to Bruce Vilanch, who writes material for celebrities who make public appearances, from Oscar hosts and award recipients to Presidents. We meet his mom and see photos of his childhood; in Chicago, he writes for the Tribune and then heads West. Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, and Bette Midler talk with him and to the camera about working with Bruce, and we also watch Bruce help others prepare for Liz Taylor's 60th, Bill Clinton's 50th, and an AIDS awards banquet where the hirsute, rotund Vilanch lets his emotions show.
Dogville Confessions
6.6/10
This film depicts the intense drama that takes place during the making of Dogville. Lars von Trier and Nicole Kidman work through this creative process under very extreme conditions.
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
7.7/10
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camerawork was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. Beyond John Huston's The African Queen and King Vidor's War and Peace, the films of the British-Hungarian creative duo (The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death too) guaranteed immortality for the renowned cameraman whose career spanned seventy years.
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
7.5/10
This intimate and loving portrait of the legendary arbiter of fashion, art and culture illustrates the many stages of Vreeland's remarkable life. Born in Paris in 1903, she was to become New York's "Empress of Fashion" and a celebrated Vogue editor.
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
7.6/10
Biography of risk-taker and raconteur John Huston from his childhood to become one of the most highly respected filmmakers in the world.
Gregory Peck: His Own Man
7.8/10
Talented and enduring Academy Award-winning star, Gregory Peck, tells how it was when studios ruled and a shy boy from a broken family could rise to become a famous leading man. Unfashionably modest, Peck describes his fascinating journey from early theater roles, through his first films, to Hollywood’s elder statesman.
The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story
7.3/10
The childhood, adolescence, and incredible adult years of Al Hirschfeld, celebrated creator of thousands of line drawings of famous people - many in the entertainment industry - over a span of more than sixty years. He is still drawing in his nineties. His interesting domestic life, political, and cultural views are highlights. In addition, he talks about himself a bit - seriously and lightly.(At one point he he claims that his only form of exercise has been to live in his Manhattan townhouse: stairs). He drives his car around Manhattan - an adventure in itself. Brief interviews with, and reminiscences of many friends and associates.
Marilyn
7.8/10
This 1963 documentary, released less than a year after Marilyn Monroe's death, showcases the star in memorable scenes from her 20th Century Fox films, including wardrobe tests and clips from her last, uncompleted project, "Something's Got To Give". Hosted and narrated by Rock Hudson.
You Must Remember This: A Tribute to 'Casablanca'
7.1/10
Judy Garland: By Myself
8.5/10
As Hollywood biographies go, Judy Garland's story is one of the saddest success stories you'll ever hear. The sanitized studio version of her life presented a smiling kid with the big voice, who, alongside Mickey Rooney, just wanted to put on a show. But drugs, overwork, even psychological abuse at the hands of the studio is now part of the Garland legend. But despite the number of Garland books and documentaries, one account has always been missing -- Garland herself never managed to write a memoir. She did make several attempts at an autobiography, often recording stories on a tape recorder. Judy Garland: By Myself (2004), finally fills in the blanks - using Judy's personal recordings to tell the story in her own words.
A Conversation with Gregory Peck
7.8/10
Not your usual film biography, A Conversation With Gregory Peck (2000) goes on-the-road and behind-the-scenes with Gregory Peck and his one man show. The actor's traveling program features question and answer sessions with the American icon and allows the actor to reminisce about his career.
Embracing Chaos: Making the African Queen
7.3/10
A documentary about the making of John Huston's 'The African Queen'.
Richard Burton: In from the Cold
7.8/10
Tony Palmer's award-winning feature-length documentary profile of Richard Burton.
The Untameable Kirk Douglas
6.4/10
The story of actor Kirk Douglas, the man and the legend, one of the last stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. An epic journey through the 20th century and the entire history of Hollywood. A testimony of the huge scope of his life and the scale of the myth. The untameable Kirk Douglas, the ragman's son.
The Music of Kander and Ebb: Razzle Dazzle
7.6/10
A profile of the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, who have written many Broadway muiscals. Highlighes include interviews with John Kander, Fred Ebb, Lauren Bacall, Joel Grey and others, as well as clips of performances of their songs.
The Hollywood Ten
7.2/10
A brief look at The Hollywood Ten, a group of screenwriters and directors charged with contempt of court after challenging the House Un-American Activities Committee and their controversial and self-incriminatory questions during the red scare. With that act of defiance, they were sentenced to one year in prison simply for speaking their minds and exercising their constitutional rights as concerned citizens. This is their story, their version of the facts, and their opinions.
Bacall on Bogart
7.7/10
Lauren Bacall tells the story of her late husband Humphrey Bogart, presenting clips from his movies and interview clips with his peers.
