Mary Tyler Moore: A Dama da TV

A recent HBO documentary on the ultimate woman of television. Using archival footage & audio interviews, we learn of Moore, who was a dancer, who made her way to Hollywood in bit parts & who all but decided to quit the game, after a long series of rejections, before she got her seminal berth alongside Dick Van Dyke on the Dick Van Dyke show in the 1960's which showed her to be more than just a pretty face who had excellent comic timing but also became the nascent face of feminism by her insistence to wear things most women in the world wore already, like pants, became revolutionary which was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg when the Mary Tyler Moore show launched in the next decade. In that incarnation, Moore became the clarion call for all independent working women out in the world as Mary Richards was the poster child for the women's movement navigating her life at a TV studio & standing up to the men in charge. Although her home life wasn't ideal (her son passed from a gun accident, her first 2 marriages went by the wayside & she accepted the fact much like her mother she was an alcoholic) she managed to get an Oscar nom for her turn in 1980's Ordinary People & racked up acclaim for a performance in the stage version of Whose Life is It Anyway? In her later years she found, in her own words, the love of her life, a doctor, marrying him who was by her side as she suffered from diabetes. HBO must've known something was in the air since this aired a few weeks after their Donna Summer doc, coupled w/the news that icon, Tina Turner, also passed (& who has a HBO doc of her own from a few years ago), making this viewing a must see but also bittersweet since in some ways a friend of the family & the world at large had gone into the great beyond.

To say that iconic actress/dancer/comedienne Mary Tyler Moore was a gifted, complicated, reserved, often-misunderstood individual is indeed an understatement. However, director James Adolphus's new HBO documentary presents a reverent, insightful and respectfully candid biography of the famed star of TV, stage and screen, showing Moore in all of her magnificent multidimensionality. As the winner of seven Emmys, three Golden Globes, a special Tony Award and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as an Oscar nomination for her tremendous lead performance in "Ordinary People" (1980), she significantly changed the face of television comedy and demonstrated a degree of acting versatility rarely seen. In her TV roles as Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, she opened doors for actresses by portraying characters who hadn't been seen on the little screen before. And, in a wider sense, in her role as Mary Richards, she significantly bolstered the growth of the women's movement in the world at large, a role she championed despite her own somewhat conventional off-screen lifestyle, a way of life for which she was often criticized by feminists. However, Moore's personal life often ran counter to the perky, cheerful on-screen persona she routinely projected, and she rarely spoke openly about the many challenges she faced - a sometimes-troubled relationship with her parents, two divorces, the loss of her only son in a gun shot accident, the untimely deaths of her two younger siblings, alcohol abuse and coping with complications from type 1 diabetes. As she aged, however, the fighter within her found ways to work through the anguish, such as choosing projects that enabled her to purge her pain, receiving treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic, becoming an advocate for her favorite causes and finding true love in a third marriage. The filmmaker tells Moore's complex, moving and inspiring story with an array of clips from her work, archive interview footage with renowned journalists and celebrities, and ample voiceover observations from those who knew her and admired her work. The narrative is admittedly somewhat straightforward and formulaic, but it presents an excellent composite of images and insights into the life and work of a legend, one that's bound to cause her to be seen in a new light and could well introduce her to a new generation of fans who may not have previously been aware of her many accomplishments. Take a bow, Mary.

I loved the actress Mary Tyler Moore. I have watched the Dick Van Dyke Shoe, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the film Ordinary People. On screen she was a wonderful actress and performer.

I only have to say that that the documentary did not get deep enough into Ms Tyler Moore's private life.

I loved everything I saw but I wished there was more. I just didn't learn enough about her that I didn't already know.

I saw that Ms Moore's sister and son died young but I wanted to learn more about Ms Moore's background.

She had a happy marriage. But she was a political conservative.

I just wanted to learn about her last years. She was let go by Neil Simon while preparing for a role on Broadway.it would have been interesting to understand what occurred as she was suffering Ming from diabetes.

I still watch reruns of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" religiously, and they feel as fresh today as they did back then thanks to her. I remember how disappointed I was when she lost the Oscar for "Ordinary People" to a deserving Sissy Spacek. Yes, I've been a fan of hers since my early childhood, and even six years after her death, this 2023 documentary does a compelling job in revealing a genuinely talented woman who was deeply guarded but still unafraid to expose her personal growth to the world. Starting with a 1966 interview where she showed poise and intelligence to a misogynistic David Susskind, director James Adolphus effectively blends archival footage, home movies and stills (provided by her third husband Robert Levine, one of the film's producers), and of course, clips from her TV and movie appearances to present a more objective portrayal than a fan would allow. Yet, fans will see revealing moments around the deaths in her immediate family (her only son by gunshot, her sister by drug overdose), her relentless fight against juvenile diabetes, and even a roast from Betty White at her bridal shower. Only the audio of interview clips with friends and celebrities is used, a disappointing decision to me. Many clips are shown without explanation, but fans like me know where they come from.

Greetings again from the darkness. It's borderline unfathomable that someone who has worked for almost 20 years as a cinematographer and a decade as a TV director could be "unfamiliar" with the work and career of one of the industry giants, yet that's the claim of director James Adolphus ("Soul of a Nation" mini-series) when it comes to Mary Tyler Moore. His film does play a bit as if he's opening a Christmas present that everyone else in the room knows what's under the wrapping, and it's because of this, the film works as not just a retrospective of her career, but also a tribute to a woman who influenced so many.

"The Dick Van Dyke Show" ran for 158 episodes between 1961 and 1966, and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" ran for 168 episodes between 1970 and 1977. These were two immensely popular shows during their respective eras, and because of her characters in each, Mary Tyler Moore spent time as both America's favorite wife and America's favorite single woman. These characters were cutting edge (for different reasons) for their time. Director Adolphus also provides insight into her childhood and early career. Mary was first married in 1954, not long after high school graduation. She found work as 'Happy Hotpoint', the dancer on Hotpoint advertisements, and clips of the ads are included here. Even after she became a world-famous actor, she remained a dancer at heart.

Betty Friedan and "The Feminine Mystique" are referenced a few times, and the point is made, even if it's in a subtle manner, that Mary's impact on feminism has long been overlooked. We hear from such industry folks as Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Asner, James L Brooks, and Treva Silverman, as well as friends and family, but it's really Mary herself that we see on screen for the vast majority of the two-hour run time. In particular, a loose structure is formed from clips of her appearances on "The David Susskind Show" and an interview with Rona Barrett. These segments allow for some rare personal insight into Mary Tyler Moore as a person.

So many rare pictures, clips, and home movies are included that we easily follow a career that spanned 50 years ... and three marriages. The first marriage produced her only child. The second marriage, to Grant Tinker, resulted in MTM Productions and her greatest professional success. However, it was the third marriage to Dr. Robert Levine, where she found true and long-lasting love, as well as the motivation to find herself with a stint at the Betty Ford Clinic for rehab in 1984. We learn of her Broadway redemption with "Whose Life is it, anyway?", after her setback on stage many years earlier with a musical "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Probably the most surprising segment here revolves around the original pilot for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" ... it has great video and behind-the- scenes scoop.

Given her comedic chops displayed in her two most famous sitcoms, many of us were caught off guard with her Oscar nominated performance in Robert Redford's ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980). What we discover here is that Mary's personal life was nearly as rosy as Laura Petrie's or Mary Richards', and many real-life personal losses allowed her to reveal a bit more of her true self on screen. Most of us know that Mary was the female lead in Elvis Presley's final feature film, CHANGE OF HABIT (1969), but we might not have known that Carl Reiner was her comedy hero, or that her own struggles with diabetes (over decades) led her to become International Chairperson of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). For one who seemed to constantly define the contemporary woman, Mary Tyler Moore's story is impressive, and her personal archives bring more meaning to "Love is All Around."

Beginning May 26, 2023, the documentary will air on HBO and stream on MAX.