The World of Liberace

A nice self monologing from The Man himself. Just tell yourself to mentally think of it taking place in the early 70's and it's a decent viewing. Not too shabby.

Wow -- this is like a train wreck where all of the freight cars are full of glitter.

Great book, pictures are great!

Liberace was an amazing entertainer!!! Larger than life showmanship with costumes and the flair to never be repeated! His piano skills are fantastic to listen to even if the rest is too over the top for you

Fun material, but terribly edited.

Great movie

Tony Palmer's World of Liberace is the life of Mr. Showmanship the way he wanted his fans to see it. Liberace walks you through his houses, costumes, cars, antiques, and dogs all the while acknowledging subtly how ridiculous it all can be. He has fun with it all and wants you to share in it.

Acting is impeccable. Storyline is interesting. Not a fan of the lifestyle, but we live in a democracy. I grew up watching Liberace on the Ed Sullivan show.

Now, I must confess that I had originally seen this documentary on television (The Sky Arts channel, I think) a few years back and as I watched it, I found it most entertaining and easy to watch. I was vaguely aware of Liberace in the 1980's, as was everyone, who could just recall that he played piano and was known for his outrageous stage costumes, fur coats, etc, but this documentary (Filmed in approximately 1973 / 1974) caught him before he became a plastic surgeon's parody of himself and when he was still considered "mostly normal".The documentary itself is poorly filmed and sloppily edited (Often horrendously so, with glaring problems never getting resolved). It all looks like it was a very amateur production and I'd heard that it was filmed at the time, but wasn't edited together until many years after Liberace's death. Ironically, the parts that are filmed give an insight into the man in a way that no other documentaries have given since.The performance aspects (The piano playing) don't disappoint and many of the songs played were part of his very established reportoire, so they are very well known to his fans, but it was interestingly shown in a "surround" stage production, on a revolving stage, which gave unique, differing angles of the performance and elevated the plain state of just playing a piano.Liberace was a traditional, but amusing showman - his well rehearsed lines flowed with the audience in a welcoming manner and he kept the tone light and entertaining.Now, here is my additional comment - I REALLY enjoy the more private moments of the documentary! The clips of Liberace, giving tours round his houses and giving a brief (And unfortunately incomplete) cooking demonstration are so easy to watch, that if I have a short amount of time to fill on an evening and can't be bothered to watch a full feature film or a tv programme, then I'll put on this DVD! I know the segments so well, that I know what to expect, and yet, in that way that human nature continues to fascinate, every time I watch it, I catch something new about it, either in the background or something that Liberace says. When Liberace talks about his priceless candelabra from "Ludwig II's Castle from Bavaria", you instantly want to know more about it!In the light of the recent "Behind the Candelabra" TV film starring Michael Douglas, this documentary will seem like a good companion piece and for me, it inspired me to buy Liberace C.D.s and actually discover that I quite like the man for his musical talents and that he tried his best to do well in an industry where most people wouldn't have lasted as long as he did.I can highly recommend this DVD documentary (Not for it's editing or construction, or even film quality), but for it's treasure glimpses into Liberace, before things turned into parody or go wrong.

Having been brought up in the 50s/60s, as a school kid I used to watch the Liberace TV show, recently saw the DvD of "Behind the Candelabra" with Micheal Douglas, decided to have a look at the real thing once again, what a Superstar this guy was, I became a professional keyboard man in my life & can only look on at the extravaganza involved, as the sleeve notes state, "you start off by laughing at him, you end up laughing with him" all the way to his Bank, the film goes through all his houses & possessions, totally over the top themes, there was truly no body like Liberace, the sincerity just oozes out of this guy, it was just a pity how he died probably of the Aids virus. Summing up, just enjoy the film & his world, while he was still living.

Absolutely love the dvd....love seeing how the man lived and what his magnificent talent earned him. His talent is indescribable. One particular saying of his to a young boy in the dvd when he was mingling with his audience was '' see what you get when you practice '' showing the boy hiswell earned '' riches '' I thought was very touching ( and funny )....What a wonderful, wonderful sweet man he was and so, so generous. I for 1 miss you very much Wladziu Valentino and your music. Rest in peace !!!

Bought this for my 12 year old grandson to watch and show him showmanship, it worked for me and he's sneaked a few showings, hopefully the penny will drop and increase his acting/musical abilities

Prompt delivery - This DVD gives a good insight into the world of Liberace. It displays his lifestyle of clothes, jewellery and interior décor of his houses. It also shows how popular he was during the 50/60's appearing on TV and in concerts - Yes, I would certainly recommend this film.