Liberace: Behind the Music

Before 'Behind the Candelabra' (2013) there was 'Liberace: Behind the Music', which told Liberace's story - from humble beginnings to superstar.

Victor Garber is excellent as Liberace. For those unfamiliar with Liberace, he was a pianist who became the highest paid entertainer in the world. He was flamboyant, with stunning jewelry, coats and dazzling outfits. He was also gay in a time when being openly gay was not acceptable, and therefore he denied homosexuality until his death in 1987.

In 'Liberace: Behind the Music' we follow his life from early success to becoming one of the most recognizable figures in the entertainment industry. The film also displays Liberace's lavish opulence, and also take a look at his relationships - with his Mother, women, and his supposed boyfriend.

'Liberace: Behind the Music' is an interesting look at the life of a legend. We see his strengths, weaknesses, and his health issues. The make-up was also excellent. I love this (TV) movie.

Mostly the nice aspects of Liberace are shown. The pianist is portrayed as an essentially likable guy who is domineered by his mother. When relationships with women go sour, she's usually lurking in the background, as the rack focus suggests she might be the "cause" of his sexuality. Because it's 1988, explicitness is not present. Saul Rubinek plays Liberace's agent Saul Heller. After Liberace throws villain Scott Thorsen (the author of the palimony suit) out of his house, he finds happiness with a new companion, but it is short-lived. Liberace's nicest traits are emphasized: generosity, talent, love for family.

Too much is attempted to be told in 1 hour and 36 minutes.

Victor Garber does turn in a convincing performance as the flamboyant Lee. Maureen Stapleton is his doting mother who appeared on the way to another wonderful performance when the writing for her part did her in. As is the case with all those who orbited around his life, she was there to take full advantage even if it meant attempting to sabotage his one brief stab at a female romance. That being said, even the female took advantage of Lee as well.

The music is nicely staged. There is an all too brief scene with his father, the latter having abandoned the family years before. Years later, the father, an apparent Alzheimer's victim, doesn't even remember his son.

The film tries to convey that Liberace was virtually trapped by his homosexual tendencies. The film begins to fail as the men in his life begin to come and go. The most tragic of his guys was the 18 year old that he took in to make his chauffeur, only to see him become a cocaine addicted victim who is thrown out by Liberace. He retaliates by filing a palimony suit for millions.

I've seen "Behind the Candelabra" from 2013 and "Behind the Music" from 1988. Behind the Candelabra was an expensive HBO production starring Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Rob Lowe, Debbie Reynolds, and Scott Bakula.

"Behind the Music" was done much more cheaply and starred stage and screen actor Victor Garber. Unfortunately he didn't have the rich material Michael Douglas had to work with. It's a shame because he was truly excellent.

"Behind the Music" seems to cover more of Liberace as an entertainer and a little less on his private life. With both films, we are shown the efforts he went through to hide his homosexuality. It seems incredible now, given that he was such a flamboyant showman. Interestingly, this flamboyance can be a trait of the "twinless twin" where a twin dies at birth.

Elvis Presley and Diego Rivera are two other twinless twins, as were Thorton Wilder and science fiction writer Philip Dick. Each of these artists and also many twinless twins have demonstrated an unusual ability and drive - the twinning motif.

Their careers are dominated by a compulsion to bring together different strands of creativity, and render something completely new. By doing this, they are attempting - for a lifetime to seek a more fuller understanding of why they lived while their twin died.

In a way, this is Liberace-lite. It doesn't go into a tremendous amount of detail about his relationship with Scott Thorsen, for instance. Nothing like "Behind the Candelabra." We don't see as much of Liberace's personality in this film. He comes off as a rather sad man. I believe he was, but I also believe that there was a lot more to him than just sadness. He loved his work, he loved his audiences, and he loved the lifestyle he had. Still, there was something about affecting about Garber's performance.

One thing this film went into a little more was Liberace's relationship with Joanne Rio, a showgirl. I'm not sure what the real story was - in this version, she sells her story to the press, and apparently in real life, he told newspapers that they were engaged.

The HBO cast had a lot more big names, but Maureen Stapleton as Mrs. Liberace was no slouch! Saul Rubinek turned in a nice performance.

Marni Nixon, the great singer who dubbed Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood, and Audrey Hepburn in films, worked with Liberace and toured with him. She obviously loved him. He comes across as warm and generous, and someone who enjoyed spending lots of money, calling his gifts "happy happys."

Internally, however, he lived in the wrong time and was obsessive with hiding his identity as a gay man. It's a shame. He had a wonderful talent to entertain, and a vivid imagination he was able to share with his audience with his over-the-top clothing, shows, and his personality.

A final note: I visited the Liberace Museum in Los Angeles. Liberace had a set of china made in the mold of the royal family's - and after Liberace's, the mold was broken. That was true of him too. When they made him, they broke the mold.

Someone didn't do their homework as this biopic paints Liberace as a bisexual. As being not sure whether he likes girls or boys. Taking from his book of lies that came out about losing his virginity to a dancer, Miss Bea Haven, and then his romance with the young woman beard his mother didn't like.

Even at this point, 1988, a year after his death, the truth was out. And Victor Garber plays the charismatic pianist with no charisma whatsoever. Perhaps as a openly gay actor in real life, he didn't want to stereotype. But let's face it; Liberace WAS a stereotype, and he loved it.

This Liberace doesn't seem to love much of anything. With the personality of a corpse, he goes from juke joints to television to Vegas in this production so low budget it looks more PBS than network. Dull stuff.