User Reviews

After watching the rather egregious and overlong biopic "De-Lovely", it is with some relief that I turn to the under-an-hour long documentary "You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story" (© 1990) on DVD.

In this case, all of the performers were shown in real historical clips some of which are quite blurry or streaky but at least there are reasons for them, unlike the aforementioned biopic. Even Cole himself gets to sing at least parts of his songs throughout.

But Cole was no singer really and even Cary Grant tops him in this department in some brief excerpts from the earlier biopic "Night and Day". Others include Merman (in the earlier excerpts she is light enough to do some quite athletic movements with Crosby in "Anything Goes" before putting on weight as in the later excerpts with Bob Hope etc.), Astaire, Sinatra, Gertrude Lawrence as well as Gene and Judy in "The Pirate". Virginia Bruce sings "I've Got You Under my Skin" to the young Jimmy Stewart in "Born to Dance" but, alas, we don't get Jimmy himself singing "Easy to Love" to and with Eleanor Powell.

Most of these musical numbers are not identified by performers and sources and they should have been. And virtually all of these numbers are excerpts only.

Narrated in part by the late Bobby Short (Michael Feinstein also puts in an appearance) many others include friends like the ubiquitous Kitty Carlisle Hart and, most notably, (Arnold) Saint Subber his producer for "Kiss Me Kate" who, though obviously ill at the time of filming, adds a great deal of honest emotion and intensity to the proceedings.

Yes, Cole's homosexuality is mentioned early on in connection with his marriage to Linda (Alexis Smith who played her in "Night and Day" also comments briefly.) but not stressed much after that.

This just ran here in Los Angeles on KLCS, our tenth run PBS style station where we catch the stuff we missed the first nine times around.

This one told much of Cole Porter and had a lot of fine vintage footage from films, radio, television and elsewhere - virtually none of it properly identified. (Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore in color singing and dancing in a production number; Bob Hope and Ethel Merman recreating one of their numbers together 20 plus years later - sources unnamed.) This program had it's parts being far greater than the sum of it's parts. I can't call it a 'good' documentary on the whole, but offering what it does, it succeeds.

Yes, it is too short, but some of the interviews towards the end were not entrancing. BUT - they were informative.

I can't believe the low score! If you want a three-dimensional portrait of Cole Porter, then this is the best source. We see archival footage and photos that cover Porter's personal life as well as his career. From Kitty Carlyle Hart to Brendan Gill to Bobby Short, friends, family, critics and fellow artists provide invaluable insights into the man, how he grew up, worked and played, particularly his sexuality, which neither of the Hollywood biopics has had the guts to explore frankly. Furthermore, this video skillfully evokes a world where elegance and wit were cultural norm, where someone like Cole Porter could thrive. Alas, thanks to the mediocritizing influence of television and pop culture, that time has long gone. Those who do not care for or do not understand You're the Top say more about themselves than about this fine biography.