# New Movie About Liberace and Boyfriend? WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582 "2013-03-10T23:05:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/61 "2013-05-27T19:23:53Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > [Recent video and “in its prime” video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMIzUShO-fA) of his real house in Las Vegas. It passed through several owners (most recently a catering company) and is now in foreclosure and disrepair, but the Liberace touches are still there. > > His favorite house was [The Cloisters](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvynxz_9r3A) in Palm Springs; it was a motel and diner when he bought it and remodeled it. Wow, like so many properties in Las Vegas these days, I guess. Amazed it’s still standing. I hear the Liberace Museum is reopening in a new location in 2014, downtown Las Vegas. One of the most wonderful afternoons of my life was spent at the original museum on East Tropicana – every time you turned the corner there was something new and grotesque to see that made you laugh out loud. Or made me, anyway; I had to buy something in the gift shop to keep the staff from forcibly ejecting me for being a nuisance. I could not stop laughing. It’s just too much. AND he also had the World’s Largest Rhinetone; how can you not go your entire life and not see the World’s Largest Rhinestone if you get the chance? I hope it’s soon on exhibit again. Is the East Tropicana property also derelict? There’s nothing there now, right? There is a method to my madness; I do appreciate that Liberace was a talented pianist and truly a showman. Also the Liberace Foundation helps send music students to college and gives them opportunities for concerts to help them gain exposure, which is invaluable for budding careers in the arts. I admire and support this cause greatly. For all his sins Liberace did something right and left the world a better place in a tiny way. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/62 "2013-05-27T20:30:51Z")
I thought it was a decent biopic. Damon did an excellent job, as did Douglas. It was certainly a departure for both of them. Absolutely did not recognize Debbie Reynolds; hell, I didn’t even recognize Akroyd without his usual hammy performance until halfway through. They must have fed the guy tranqs to stop all the emoting. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/63 "2013-05-27T20:43:55Z")
I can’t believe this thread has gone on so long without a challenge to its most outrageous claim: Truman Capote was _lovable?_ ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/64 "2013-05-27T21:08:33Z")
Wait, Liberace was _ **real** _?! ---
**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:** [May 27, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/65 "2013-05-27T21:38:24Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Wait, Liberace was _ **real** _?! Yes, and so was his brother George. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/66 "2013-05-27T22:25:40Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Last I heard Thorson was still in jail in Reno and facing more prison time. Possible second volume of his memoirs in the works – he claims to have been peripherally involved in the Wonderland Murders. I’m not sure I believe that as he is still living. Yeah, he does claim that he was very peripherally involved, but when you consider that his alleged involvement was being present for a drug buy when Nash had his thugs beat John Holmes to get the names of the Wonderland Gang, you’d think he’d have been considered a pretty important witness by Nash, which doesn’t seem like it would bode well for his continued breathing. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/67 "2013-05-28T02:57:46Z")
I saw a snippet of an interview with him from jail; apparently he has colon cancer and he was pleading for help from the stars and producer of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/68 "2013-05-28T03:49:53Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Wait – are you saying his hair wasn’t really wavy!!! Per the movie, no it wasn’t. 😃 Or, technically, it was, it just didn’t happen to be his by right of purchase rather than biologically. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/69 "2013-05-28T15:51:52Z")
I’m glad this movie didn’t get released into theaters. I’m glad this isn’t getting much attention. Why, you may ask? Guess what, boys and girls…my real name is Scott Thorson. Sick coincidence. Life has a sick sense of humor. My teachers used to tease me mercilessly back in the 80’s when this whole story broke. It’s very strange to see your actual name in credits on a movie screen. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/70 "2013-05-28T16:37:48Z")
Heh - I noticed Bakula right away. I joked with El Hubbo - “is his next line going to be ‘Oh boy’?” It was…OK. **Sampiro** ’s right - the best acting was Damon’s bod - he’s really kept in shape. I think Douglas did well with Liberace, especially his voice. Still, I can’t help feeling that the way Liberace was written in the movie as rather such a characture, you coulda put nearly anyone in there and it wouldn’t have made too much a difference - he was smarmy, controlling, kinda creepy, over-the-top with only a few flashes of real humanity. You didn’t need someone with Douglas’ acting chops to make it work, I guess is what I’m saying. I kind of felt that the acting was off, in some places, and the pacing wasn’t great. I got bored a couple of times, and even though we didn’t say it to each other, neither of us watching probably would have complained too much if the other wanted to change it. It seemed very much a TV movie of the week caliber, despite the names they snagged for it. I liked Ackroyd’s role, and they really did nail the ostentatiousity. It is really funny now, looking back on it, that someone could be so flamboyantly, flagrantly gay and yet still have people convinced that he wasn’t. I mean, guy was gayer than an explosion in a glitter factory and people didn’t see it? Different times, different times. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/71 "2013-05-28T16:49:45Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > You didn’t need someone with Douglas’ acting chops to make it work, I guess is what I’m saying. That goes double for the role of Thorson; I don’t really understand what appealed to Damon about the role when it could have been done by any hot young actor (Thorson was half Damon’s age or younger when these events transpired) and it wasn’t really an interesting character. There’s no development at all; you know he’s from a dysfunctional background, easily seduced by living in luxury, and develops a drug problem- yawn (and at that the character seems to have more depth than the real person, who’s a total sleaze). The film was basically a gay _Sunset Blvd._ without the noir ending or camp (which is odd since it should have had camp a-plenty considering its source; I think it would have worked better as a dark comedy or musical or with a fictional lead character ala _Gods and Monsters_). Does anybody know who/what Scott Bakula’s character was supposed to be? Did he just procure boys for Liberace or did he have another role? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/72 "2013-05-28T17:05:59Z")
I thought it was just OK. It started dragging in spots and I kinda lost interest. I was pretty shocked that this was a Soderberg film - I don’t recall any specific signature shots. Not mentioned yet was Rob Lowe’s performance - he was spectacularly creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/73 "2013-05-28T17:15:23Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] Not mentioned yet was Rob Lowe’s performance - he was spectacularly creepy. [/QUOTE] It’s hard to make Rob Lowe not good looking, but they managed. He said in an interview that the role was the most physically painful he’s ever played due to having his facial skin being so stretched back. He reminded me more than a bit of Michael Jackson. The real Dr. Startz committed suicide in 1985 due to impending complete personal/professional/financial ruin brought on by his own drug addiction, malpractice suits, and the crackdown on “Dr. Feelgoods” that was going on at the time. I forget just how much a real surgery a facelift is until I see footage like that in the movie. It’s amazing how many people are willing to go through that several times. After the creepy scene of Liberace snoring while his eyes are open there was another scene in which he was sleeping with his eyes shut. I wondered if this was a continuity error or if he was eventually able to close his eyes again. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/74 "2013-05-28T17:25:05Z")
Good not great. It needed to be punchier–more Boogie Nights, I guess. I think Douglas and Damon brought a lot of levels to their parts. It was little things like looks and gestures that really sold the story between Scott and Lee. In hindsight I thought it was funny/odd that the text at the end just said Scott livesin Reno Nevada…and left off the “where he is serving prison time for identity theft.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/75 "2013-05-28T17:36:20Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Not mentioned yet was Rob Lowe’s performance - he was spectacularly creepy. Yeah, the movie was nothing special but my wife\* and I LOL’d at Rob Lowe’s hilarious face. - Gratuitous mention to counterbalance the admission that I watched a Liberace biopic. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/76 "2013-05-28T17:55:31Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > _The Jim Nabors Story: Gomer Pile on the Homo Mile!_- see if Clay Aiken is available for the lead because he can sing, get Jim Parsons if he isn’t I bet Jim Parsons would do a great Jim Nabors, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/77 "2013-05-28T18:24:28Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I bet Jim Parsons would do a great Jim Nabors, actually. For some reason I’m imagining “Soft Kitty” being sung in Jim Nabors’ booming baritone. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/78 "2013-05-28T19:05:51Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > In hindsight I thought it was funny/odd that the text at the end just said Scott livesin Reno Nevada…and left off the “where he is serving prison time for identity theft.” I noticed that too, but according to his wiki page he was only arrested earlier this year, so perhaps he was still a free man when the movie was finished. Plus he’s still just in the county slammer waiting for a trial so, hey, maybe he’s innocent… I assume if convicted, he will be transferred to Folsom Prison which I understand is where people who are convicted of felonies committed in Reno go. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/79 "2013-05-28T19:09:45Z")
The movie should have started as a flashback episode with characters from _Reno 911_ interrogating a modern day Thorson (played by the same old man who played old James Ryan in _Saving Private Ryan_, but with a Liberace wig). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582/80 "2013-05-28T19:28:37Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Piece of Hollywood trivia: All the scenes of Liberace’s overdone mansion were actually recreated and filmed at ZsaZsa Gabor’s house. I love silly factlets like that.) I knew I’d seen that house recently in something else; it was the home of Alan Arkin’s character in _ARGO_. And it’s [in the news this week](http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/05/23/Zsa-Zsa-Gabor-sells-Argo-home-for-11-million/6431369311814/)for having sold for $11 million with the stipulation Zsa Zsa can remain there for 3 years. (She has one hell of a good real estate agent.) The house was [once owned by Elvis](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/8270522/Elvis-Presleys-old-home-owned-by-Zsa-Zsa-Gabor-on-market-for-28-million.html) as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-movie-about-liberace-and-boyfriend-wtf/652582.md?page=5)