# Michael Douglas to play Liberace in movie: can you see it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832 "2011-04-26T23:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832/21 "2011-04-27T16:41:33Z")
I’d prefer to see Schwartzeneger in the role. It could be his comeback film. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832/22 "2011-04-27T16:48:49Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham;] Actually, according to iMDB he had very few “legitimate” movie parts, this being one of less than a dozen appearances, although he frequently appeared on TV. [/QUOTE] He was great as a smarmy funeral planner in _The Loved One_. Not so much as the romantic lead in _Sincerely Yours_, a melodrama about a musician going deaf- for some reason I can’t put my finger on his romantic chemistry with Joanne Dru was missing something. He joked about it by saying “I did my part for motion pictures… I stopped making them.” ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832/23 "2011-04-27T16:50:49Z")
I’m thinking (hoping?) it’ll be a good film. Like **typoink** said, musical biopics are definitely in, so I don’t think the genre is a concern. Liberace is pretty universally famous, even among younger people. And I think Douglas will play him well. I think how good it is will almost definitely hinge on this: > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I would be interested in seeing it if it dealt in a thoughtful way with Liberace’s conflictedness about his sexuality. I mean on the one hand he was next door to a drag queen in the way he dressed, but on the other he steadfastly denied he was gay to his dying breath (as far as the public knows, anyway). Was he just a canny performer who knew that ambiguity sells? Was he the victim of internalized homophobia? Does anyone really know (who can be relied on to tell the truth as best they know it)? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832/24 "2011-04-27T17:05:15Z")
I think it has real potential, and I could see Douglas in the role. Anyone who can do play very different roles so well in _The China Syndrome, Falling Down, The American President_ and _Wall Street_ can probably play Liberace. I can’t say I’ll be first in line on opening night, though. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832/25 "2011-04-27T17:52:44Z")
Hey, it’s Soderberg! Even his failures are interesting. I have no idea if Douglas can play piano. Jeff Bridges could do a wonderful job with this role. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832/26 "2011-04-27T18:02:23Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Hey, it’s Soderberg! Even his failures are interesting. > > I have no idea if Douglas can play piano. Jeff Bridges could do a wonderful job with this role. You could throw RuPaul in and call it the The Ghetto Fabulous Liberace Boys ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832/27 "2011-04-27T19:41:44Z")
Hope it’s a hit, then if all the critics slam the movie Michael Douglas can cry all the way to the bank. (Liberace’s phrase of course, always robbed of its wit and mangled now as ‘laugh all the way to the bank’) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832/28 "2011-04-27T20:14:44Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Hope it’s a hit, then if all the critics slam the movie Michael Douglas can cry all the way to the bank. (Liberace’s phrase of course, always robbed of its wit and mangled now as ‘laugh all the way to the bank’) The Wikipedia entry has him saying both “laugh” and “cry”, with references to both. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832/29 "2011-04-28T00:20:24Z")
I think “cry” was the original. Either way, in later years he used to add “Remember that bank I used to go crying to? I _bought_ it!” George and his brother had a couple of major falling outs over the years and rarely spoke off-stage. (George did occasionally perform with him, largely because he made more money doing that than from any of his solo projects.) The opposite of Lee, George married five times and had a reputation as a skirt chaser. His daughter Ina was for many years (and may still be, no idea) the partner of actress Kristy McNichol. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace-in-movie-can-you-see-it/579832.md?page=1)