Douglas, Damon pull no punches in Liberace biopic

DOUGLAS (LEFT) AND DAMON. Portray lovers in Soderbergh’s “Behind the Candelabra.”

Liberace, the highest-paid entertainer of the 1960s and ’70s, denied his whole life that he was gay. To help conceal his sexuality, he encouraged stories about his romance with Olympic figure skater Sonja Henie, and took Betty White out on dates to act as his “beard.”

In 1956, he sued The Daily Mirror in London for libel, for suggesting that he was a gender-bending, “fruit-flavored, ice-covered heap of mother love,” swore that he was straight on the witness stand—and won the case!

When the flamboyant pianist passed away at age 67 in 1987, he had his doctor announce to grieving fans that he died of “heart failure due to anemia, caused by a watermelon diet”—in fact, he succumbed to AIDS-related pneumonia.

In the fiercely buzzed-about Liberace biopic, “Behind the Candelabra”—which competed for the Palme d’Or in Cannes last month and will be shown soon on HBO—director Steven Soderbergh spills the beans about the musician’s well-guarded secrets by taking viewers beyond the gaudy costumes and kitschy excesses of the self-proclaimed Mr. Showmanship (“I’m a one-man Disneyland”)—and into the privacy of his busy bedroom.

Autobiography

The movie focuses on Liberace’s (Michael Douglas) relationship with Scott Thorson (Matt Damon), on whose autobiography the movie is based. Forty years younger, the star-struck fan became the pianist’s bodyguard cum lover after they shared a dip in the pool.

Scott was privy to his benefactor’s insatiable sexual appetite, his fondness for porn, and his addiction to plastic surgery. In a creepy turn of events, he even forced Scott to go under the knife to turn him into his clone!

Liberace’s responsibility toward his audience didn’t go beyond entertainment. He proclaimed, “A stellar status isn’t an invitation to show everyone how to change the world. It’s not our business to change it—we’re here to entertain!”

The provocative themes of Liberace’s biopic were apparently the reasons why the film’s intended big-screen release turned into a cable-TV event for HBO, which ended up producing the movie—because Hollywood’s movie studios didn’t want to touch the project with a 10-foot pole!

Lead roles

Director Soderbergh later disclosed in the New York Post, “We went to everybody, but they all said that the movie was ‘too gay.’ It made no sense! To think that this came after ‘Brokeback Mountain’”—and with Douglas and Damon in the lead roles!

Is it a case of one step forward, two steps back? Let’s hope not, but some bad habits are hard to break, indeed—even in an industry perceived to be more liberal than most.

What leaves no doubt is the fact that the production isn’t just another run-of-the-mill Movie of the Week release, because Soderbergh has never been known for cookie-cutter “advocacy” films—as proven by “Sex, Lies and Videotape,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Out of Sight,” “Contagion,” “Side Effects” and “Magic Mike.”

Moreover, the film is a triumph for Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, whose touchstone portrayals go beyond dutiful impersonation, pomp, camp and showy histrionics. Damon, who’s shown in various stages of undress, breathes throbbing life into his character’s obsequious persona.

In a veritable vanishing act, the hardly recognizable Douglas makes no apologies for Liberace’s conscious missteps and lifestyle of excess. He seamlessly juggles the sleaze of a master seducer and the vulnerability of a gifted artist—who’s scared of the shadows his dark secrets create!