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This is a tasteful and moving piece of cinema, no more schmaltzy or campy than most Hollywood fare of the era. Unfortunately Liberace did not make any other films, so this one is a curiosity with a freak-show aspect. Everyone knows the tabloid scandals of Liberace's latter years, and I can imagine how difficult it is to get past those when eyeing this film today. But I watched it twice as a child, long before Lee's Vegas period, and I was enthralled. "I think I'm going to have to go back to reading lips," he says when the deafness comes back and he realizes the initial treatment didn't work. This is as good a scene as anything in 'Citizen Kane.' It's appropriate that the film is considered a camp item in Australia, land of second-hand culture and received opinions: they never knew Liberace except as a joke. But it's a good film nevertheless.
score 8/10
margot 26 February 2010
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2213371/ |
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3-3-2021 00:05:13