The Lady and the Dale

Strange and fascinating four part Documentary about a transgender woman named Elizabeth Carmichael (nee Jerry Dean Michael) who briefly gained notoriety in the 70s when she launched production of a three-wheeled automobile (The Dale) and claimed that it could get 75 miles to the gallon. As this was during an energy crisis, and Carmichael also said it would retail for under two grand it became a media sensation. Nick Cammilleri and Zachary Drucker do a good job of laying out the entire saga and make it abundantly clear that Carmichael was a born huckster and con artist from the get go. That she was able to convince those around her that she still had a heart of gold is particularly fascinating. Her family, children and employees most often still speak fondly despite her life of crime. For the most part, the Doc moves along fairly well even with a total length approaching four hours. Unfortunately, the last couple of episodes spend too much time on trying to 'exonerate' her sins a bit too much, and also goes out of its way to may Los Angeles new reporter Dick Carlson into a villain (he does that well enough himself in contemporary interviews and old news footage). And, no matter how much Cammilleri and Drucker try to make Carmichael a Trans Heroine, the basic fact remains that she was a lifelong criminal who bilked people out of money and hurt, if not ruined, a number of lives. Lady And The Dale is an inherently gripping tale, but, a little less of a heavy hand would have only improved it.

Fascinating story with plentiful plot twists. It's crazy that it's taken this long for the story to be told.

A fascinatingly layered story about con artist and idiosyncratic maverick Liz Carmichael. Although, it's not about her - it's about the miracle three-wheel car that could've saved America. Although, it's not about that either - it's about the insidious treatment of trans women by the rapacious American press and how that dark prejudice still runs through the cultural discourse today. All that and it also serves as a sort of US postwar narrative about poverty, crime and the strange benefits and brutal truths of a life lived off the grid.

It's a solid documentary series with some excellent interviews but the distinctive cutout animation used throughout is a real double-edged sword, it's a creative method of delivering the narrative but it's often incredibly awkward and terribly ugly like a mixture of Angela Anaconda and the terrifying "living world" segment of Grim Fandango. Not so bad during the more silly segments, but when it's trying to be more dramatic or emotional it feels horribly stiff.

Ultimately it's a distinct and compelling portrait of a life, told with narrative flair and variable animation. Definitely worth a watch and although as stated, Carmichael is no role model, she was a charismatic personality and her story will stay with me long after the janky cut-out flailings leave my mind.

Watching the promotional materials, it seems like this would be your standard true-crime documentary, though as the series progressed, it seems like that wasn't what the team behind this project wanted. The later episodes seemed to focus more about issues transgender individuals face in the criminal justice system, which I think would've made more sense at the beginning, and I get the sense that what they wanted to make the whole documentary about. It's an interesting subject, but it's not what I thought I was going to watch.

I don't think I've seen a true-crime documentary so uninterested in the actual crime.

The backstory of Liz Carmichael and the dodgy business of the Dale is interesting and worth a look into. But to the length this documentary goes to attempt to glorify a mass fraudster, scammer, criminal and fugitive... is quite disgusting. Even more hilarious when the "historian" and Liz herself attempt to blame the government and other businesses for "harassing" her - completely ignoring the dozens and more criminal acts she has already been doing, and kept doing.

The documentary completely glances over all the lives this person has ruined, all the people who's lost money and gotten in trouble due to her scams. Wives and children just throw to the side and abandoned. It's all presented in a goofy paper-cutout look to attempt to make the crimes and act sound more lighthearted. How they thought it was a good idea to praise a criminal and fraudster like this is beyond rational belief. We all know it is only because she was trans, and therefor should be praised no matter what. This really could have been so much better.