One test of a documentary: Would you watch it more than once? Yes -- I've watched this three times with great pleasure and expect to do so again.
Another test: Was it over too soon? Yes, emphatically; I wish the film were twice as long.
Moreover, I found it extremely moving, even though I've never particularly considered myself a Broadway-show fan.
Maybe, in part, it's because it's filled with terrific, nostalgic glimpses of old Times Square.
The various featured performers, so many of them now no longer with us, are, of course, a joy (and in these snippets they all come across as charming and articulate and blessedly gifted at telling a funny anecdote), but special praise has to go to the editors; with its lively pace and rhythm, the film amounts to something of a master class in editing.
Yeah, there are a couple of sourpusses on this site who've gone out of their way to dump on the film -- but their spleen probably has something to do with the lavish praise expressed in all the other comments, to which I suspect these contrarians are overreacting. So be it. I'm pleased, this time, to applaud along with the majority.
P.S. I don't usually enjoy documentaries, but let me recommend one that, like this film, happens to be about show business: "Visions of Light," which interviews -- and displays the work of -- some of Hollywood's great modern cinematographers. I've never looked at movies in quite the same way again.
Another test: Was it over too soon? Yes, emphatically; I wish the film were twice as long.
Moreover, I found it extremely moving, even though I've never particularly considered myself a Broadway-show fan.
Maybe, in part, it's because it's filled with terrific, nostalgic glimpses of old Times Square.
The various featured performers, so many of them now no longer with us, are, of course, a joy (and in these snippets they all come across as charming and articulate and blessedly gifted at telling a funny anecdote), but special praise has to go to the editors; with its lively pace and rhythm, the film amounts to something of a master class in editing.
Yeah, there are a couple of sourpusses on this site who've gone out of their way to dump on the film -- but their spleen probably has something to do with the lavish praise expressed in all the other comments, to which I suspect these contrarians are overreacting. So be it. I'm pleased, this time, to applaud along with the majority.
P.S. I don't usually enjoy documentaries, but let me recommend one that, like this film, happens to be about show business: "Visions of Light," which interviews -- and displays the work of -- some of Hollywood's great modern cinematographers. I've never looked at movies in quite the same way again.