All By Myself. The Eartha Kitt Story 1982. Streaming on the Criterion Channel.

Made by the noted documentary filmmaker Christian Blackwood in 1982 I can highly recommend this revealing and very entertaining look at the great Eartha Kitt. My recollections of her are mainly from my childhood years of seeing her on the Ed Sullivan show on sunday nights and in 1958 when I was 11 going to my local Loew's to see one of her few films she did Anna lucasta. I also loved her late career disco hit in 1984 "Where is my Man" and I of course was admiring of her political views and her strong anti viet nam stance especially her infamous white house luncheon with Lady Bird Johnson where she spoke her mind about the war, made Lady Bird cry and pretty much ended her career in these United States of ours for a decade.

Happily that didn't stop the lady and the documentary touches on this political matter among other revealing stuff about her that she lays out without remorse or embarrassment. In the doc. she takes a trip back to her childhood home and this was for me very moving. She talks about her being an ugly duckling but hell to me as a kid growing up in Brooklyn she was exotic and striking. She is brave appearing here in a lot of the film without make up or wigs showing us her face inward and out.

Happily Blackwood includes quite a bit footage of her performing and my my this was where I just about lost it and realized how great she was. I had of course no memories of her performing, a glimpse of her as the cat woman but not of her doing her thing. It was a revelation for me, my mouth opened wide in awe and wonder, and I thought to myself man Eartha you were fucking great. This film stayed with me this cold morning in the new year which so far doesn't look very hopeful, but Eartha made it little less awful. See this one.