mark.waltz Call her madam, the queen of the vodka stinger, the bongo bongo lady from the Kongo, or even the woman who taught us how to "Zip" properly, Elaine Stritch is a force of nature to be reckoned with, even after her recent departure from our world. It's obvious to me that Heaven has been brightened by a highly complex woman who never ceased to be herself in spite of the odds which lead her life to include much alcohol. "Give me a bottle of vodka and a floor plan", she admits having told a bartender, and after decades of sobriety, decided that "one drink a day" would suit her just fine. In the documentary of her later years which leads to the decision to move back to Detroit after decades away (living in both Manhattan and London where she became a house-hold name in the 1970's), Stritchie is still living and loving life in her mid-late 80's, enjoying her fame from her world tour of "Elaine Stritch at Liberty" and her discovery by younger generations as Alec Baldwin's domineering mother on "30 Rock". She obviously loves people and pretty much makes a major impression on everybody she meets, not only as a stage legend with a 70+ year career, but as a marvelous eccentric as well.Friends from the Broadway stage, T.V. and A.A. meetings re-live their encounters with her, and some vintage footage even shows her singing "You're Just in Love" from "Call Me Madam" with co-star Russell Nype. A medical scare with her reacting to a drop in blood sugar shows her every day fears of being a diabetic. No stone is unturned in showing the soul of this fantastic lady who bares her heart as easily as a baby cries. There are a lot of life lessons to be learned from her stories, especially her determination to face becoming older with grace and spirit. "I'm getting older, not old", she says, yet is aware that as time goes by and birthdays approach, her lifeline is decreasing. Still present is the love she feels for her late husband John Bay, and mentions of Bay's English Muffins keeps his legacy alive. Permission from Sondheim to change the lyrics of his songs in her one-woman show and testimonies from Harold Prince as to the history of their friendship give an overview that the history of Broadway will never be forgotten, especially with such stage stalwarts as Nathan Lane and Cherry Jones giving their own point of view as well.For those who think that this is a self-serving piece of egotistical self congratulatory P.R., they are missing the point. This complicated day and age needs survival stories of such people like Elaine Stritch who have been through hell and back, through good times and bum times, yet still survived. She did it in times when civilization didn't rely on technology, and she dared to come to New York as a naive Catholic girl straight out of college. Her personal memories expand beyond her confessions about Brando, Ben Gazzara and the Rock in "At Liberty" and now even includes a future president. If you want to see what made Broadway tick and the types of personalities which it almost lacks today, check out "Elaine Stritch, Shoot Me". You won't want to shoot, only hug.

Roland E. Zwick Elaine Stritch, that gravelly-voiced, long-legged, larger-than-life singer/dancer/actress and Broadway legend, died less than six months after the release of "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me," a documentary made when she was 86. At an age when most other performers have long since called it quits, Elaine Stritch went soldiering on, clinging tenaciously to the one thing that gave her life purpose and meaning - performing on stage in front of a loving and devoted audience.Director Chiemi Karasawa and her crew follow this grand dame of the stage around Manhattan as she preps for a new one-woman show, chats with friends, poses for pictures with fans and passersby, and speaks, with often brutal honesty, about her life, her career and her views on aging and death. Needless to say, her outsized talent and personality shine forth through every single moment of the film.On a personal level, the movie chronicles her struggles with alcoholism and diabetes, her marriage to John Bay, the one love of her life, who died of brain cancer in 1982, her affair with Ben Gazara, etc. Karasawa interviews a number of celebrities - Nathan Lane, the late James Gandolfini, the cast of "30 Rock," among them - to get a sense of what it was like to work with Stritch on a professional level. The movie buttresses this with a veritable treasure trove of photographs showing Stritch at various stages in her life and career.The movie doesn't shy away from showing the difficulties and diminished capacities that come with aging. For instance, there are moments of tremendous tension as Stritch becomes increasingly temperamental and irascible, struggling to do things now that came so easily to her in her youth (i.e. remembering lyrics during rehearsals and sometimes even performances). There are times when she even comes across as a bit of a diva or curmudgeon, going so far as to "direct" the documentary itself, molding a particular scene to her own liking. The fact that Stritch died not long after the filming of the movie makes watching it now an especially poignant experience, as what was initially intended as a tribute has now become an elegy.One of her non-celebrity friends describes Elaine Stritch as "a Molotov cocktail of madness, sanity and genius." That pretty much sums her up, all right.

zif ofoz A fantastic little documentary on this bigger than life Broadway and cinema star. We are given a look into the woman Elaine Stritch and not just the actress, singer, star Elaine Stritch.She talks about herself as the old woman she is (or rather was) and she talks about herself as the young and beautiful up and coming actress/star. She hides nothing about her life - insecurities, alcoholism, diabetes, her fashion sense, and what she expects of herself and others.Watching this documentary is entertaining even if you have never heard of her. It will also make you glad you didn't know her (as it did for me). She comes across as an overbearing woman with maybe unreasonable demands, but thats what goes into becoming a star in ones own time.

writers_reign Like its subject herself this is a one-off and a priceless record of a unique entertainer still going strong at 87. It's so good that you find yourself wishing that someone had done the same for George Burns, Jack Benny, Bob Hope and certainly Judy Garland, those artists who somehow transcend iconic and penetrate our psyches the way a harpoon penetrates the blubber protecting a whale. Stritch is seen at both high and low points and though there are nods to her early career - which took off in the late forties in Revue - the bulk of the footage celebrates her later years including the outstanding one-woman show Elaine Stritch At Liberty though the good thing is that it doesn't re-cycle the material from that Tony-winner. She is, of course, closely identified with Sondheim material and though the composer/lyricist is seen a couple of times he is conspicuous by his failure to offer a personal comment as, for example, Alec Baldwin does. This was so noticeable that an audience member brought it up at the Q & A after the screening and the question was fielded by Rob Bowden, Stritch's accompanist for several years, who said that though they formed a mutual admiration society there was also an underlying tension. Fair enough and she doesn't really need an endorsement from Sondheim or, indeed, from anyone. She is her own best Advance Man and long may she continue to be.