I've watched two of these TV movies in the past couple of days: THE SILENT LOVERS and MAE WEST. The first I caught on YouTube, the latter on Tubi.
THE SILENT LOVERS focuses on the 1920s love affair between screen stars Greta Garbo (Kristina Wayborn) and John Gilbert (Barry Bostwick). They face numerous hardships and stumbling blocks by Garbo's mentor, Mauritz Stiller (Brian Keith) and their studio boss, MGM's own Louis B. Mayer (Harold Gould).
I know Garbo and Gilbert had a "fiery" off-screen romance, but I'm not studious in the facts enough to determine whether or not this movie is mere salacious fiction.
I think Kristina Wayborn is an awful Garbo. Someone like Garbo is hard to portray, and poor Wayborn just isn't up to the task. I don't like how they give Garbo a strong determination acting, either. From my understanding, she was lazy and lacked any strong ambition to work.
Barry Bostwick is an alright Gilbert, and Brian Keith is a good Stiller. Granted, I don't know much about either of these real-life men. For me, the standout was Harold Gould, who I thought made a very good L.B. Mayer.
Overall, I'd say this movie was entertaining, but I wanted take any of the "facts" presented to the bank.
Then there's MAE WEST, the biopic starring Ann Jillian in the title role.
Again, this movie has a lot of fabrications, weird time jumps, and flat-out inaccuracies presented as genuine reality and factual.
For its purposes, I still think the movie is effective. Mae West is a good, pioneering celebrity to do a biopic on. Has HBO given up on their pitch?
Ann Jillian is good as West. She's got the voice pretty much right (sorta), even if she's a little too lean physically. Piper Laurie is good as Mae's mom, Matilda, and there's other good performances throughout. Roddy McDowall is good as her good pal -- but was that a real person?
Where I think the movie takes most of its liberties is with Mae's personal life. There's so many characters sprinkled in and I'm unsure if they're based on real people or outright fabrications.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (with Jaclyn Smith)
I've got this one saved on YouTube to watch later. I feel Smith will make a good Jackie Kennedy.
Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor is worth seeing for the car crash value.
Lohan is horrid as Elizabeth Taylor. The lack of physical beauty aside, Lohan hadn't the acting chops to tackle this role. Megan Fox, who was another contender, probably would've been better. Larry Thompson said "a lot of people" were shocked by the casting of Lohan. Yeah, I bet.
"I won't live without you..." (as she runs away) and "Elizabeth wants to play..." (when she comes to see Burton) are two lines from the movie that always make me laugh.
LIZ & DICK isn't even good enough to be a guilty pleasure. Awful green screens, bad performances; it's just bad.
I loved Feud: Bette and Joan and thought Susan Sarandon was fab as Bette Davis.
Wish it was on DVD
It's on Hulu. But that requires a subscription.
