Liza with a "Z" (1972)

Liza Minnelli was 26 here, and she had the whole world in her hand.

Fosse knows exactly what to do with Liza Minnelli. He doesn’t build a TV special around her so much as get everything else out of the way and point eight cameras at her. It was shot on film at the Lyceum Theatre when every other variety special was on videotape, and you can feel the difference. It moves like a movie. The edits hit on the beat, and the dancers drift in and out like they’re part of the lighting.

And then there’s Liza in that red Halston dress, which deserves its own billing.

It’s 53 minutes long and it snaps the whole way through. You get Liza singing her face off for fifteen songs, a Cabaret medley to close it out, and the most 1972 staging you’ve ever seen, which I say with love. The whole thing is a time capsule from the moment when Fosse and Kander and Ebb owned Broadway and Minnelli was the biggest star in the world.

I can’t tell you exactly what she has. She’s funny, a little nervous, completely in control, and 26 years old, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her for a second. It was such a treat to see her right at her peak.

The negatives were lost for decades before they turned up in 1999 and got restored for Showtime. Somebody please give this a 4K restoration. It should look as good as she does.

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