"Liza Minnelli, Hollywood's Last Heiress," on Arte: Portrait of a Freedwoman

ARTE – SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 8:05 PM – DOCUMENTARY

"My name is Liza, Liza with a Z!" Born in 1946, Liza Minnelli made a song out of her singularity, just to dot the "i's" with humor, almost every time she goes on stage . Pronounced "Laïza". Yes, she is the daughter of Judy Garland (1922-1969), "America's Sweetheart," Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. (Victor Fleming, 1939), and the immense musical comedy director Vincente Minnelli (1903-1986). Yes, as a child, she rode her bicycle around the MGM studios like others went to the park. Yes, at 13, Gene Kelly (1912-1996) gave her her first television performance with a pas-de-deux, a reinterpretation of a scene he had filmed seventeen years earlier with his mother . But no, Liza Minnelli would never let herself be crushed by the weight of this dynasty.

"If Hollywood were a royal family, Liza would be our crown princess," said Fred Astaire (1899-1987) in a 1974 documentary. Her talent blossomed in her teenage years, and Judy Garland passed the baton to her on the London and Broadway stages, portraying a strange mother-daughter friendship. Liza remained loyal to her loving but suffering mother, while extravagantly inventing her own path. It is this story, unusual in 1960s Hollywood, that is told in Lucie Cariès' delicate documentary, Liza Minnelli, Hollywood's Last Heiress .

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