The Karen Carpenter Story (Laserdisc)
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Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the articles Gary!!
I wonder who owns the rights of this movie at this point in time....it has never been re-aired on any of the major networks but I have seen it on a few cable channels like MoviePlex or Encore but that was years ago. I also wonder why this never made it to DVD. Didn't Richard's views on the movie change and now he regrets making the movie?
I wonder who owns the rights of this movie at this point in time....it has never been re-aired on any of the major networks but I have seen it on a few cable channels like MoviePlex or Encore but that was years ago. I also wonder why this never made it to DVD. Didn't Richard's views on the movie change and now he regrets making the movie?
Chris Mills
That was funny....like the dark vomited up
I've lost count the number of times The Karen Carpenter Story has been aired in the past year on TV in the UK. On Mon. 10 March it will be shown again on the True Movies channel, and more>movies channel are going to air it on Sun 09 March. I've been amazed at how many times this show has been repeated by these two channels.
cam89
Well-Known Member
That photo of Cynthia, used for Emmy consideration, was, I think during the SUPERSTAR song...and that yellow or gold satin outfit was the one Karen wore on the Bob Hope special singing BEGUN....it had a jacket which she is wearing in this photo! Also another satin outfit, in similar style to gold album, but in red, with matching jacket. I believe the red outfit may have been a long evening gown and not like the gold pant outfit Karen wore on Bob Hope special...
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
Here is the LATimes article on this movie, in case it has slipped by anyone:
A TV Movie He Didn't Want : Brother Richard Guides CBS' 'Karen Carpenter Story'
July 25, 1988|DIANE HAITHMAN | Times Staff Writer
If I'd had my druthers, it wouldn't have been made at all."
Those words come from Richard Carpenter, who spent most of his professional life as half of that 1970s pop music phenomenon known as The Carpenters. He is talking about "The Karen Carpenter Story," a CBS made-for-TV movie for next season based on the short life of his sister Karen, who died at 32 after a 7-year battle with anorexia nervosa.
"Look, I've been ambivalent on this from the word go," Carpenter said tersely, watching Cynthia Gibb as Karen and Mitchell Anderson as Richard re-enact a Carpenters concert rehearsal during filming at downtown Los Angeles' stately Embassy Theater.
It comes as no surprise that Richard--or any member of the Carpenter family--might have reservations about such a movie, particularly in light of the ghoulish tabloid reports that followed Karen's death. What does come as a surprise is that Carpenter is co-executive producer of the film.
So why is "The Karen Carpenter Story" being made--with Carpenter at the helm, no less?
"If it has to be made, we're the people who should be making it," Carpenter said. "When Jerry Weintraub (the other co-executive producer of the movie) proposed the idea to me, his reasoning was that for all celebrities, there are parts of our private lives that are matters of public record. And somebody else could do this without our blessing. It (Karen's story) wouldn't have been as well told (by someone else), it just wouldn't."
And though five years have passed since Karen's well-publicized death in 1983, Carpenter said he believes someone else would have made her life into a film eventually, without the family's permission.
The CBS movie, filmed at the Carpenter family home in Downey and at other Los Angeles-area locations, was written by Barry Morrow and Cynthia A. Cherback and was directed by Joseph Sargent. Peter Michael Goetz and Louise Fletcher portray Karen and Richard's parents, Harold and Agnes Carpenter.
As added evidence that his motives are not exploitative, Carpenter, 42, who continued to release albums and produce other artists for A & M Records after Karen's death, said he has turned down numerous offers from publishers to write a book.
"What would it have accomplished?" he asked philosophically. "Maybe in 20 or 30 years . . . ."
Carpenter did, however, write about his sister's death for People magazine in 1983 for the same reason he said he is producing the movie: to set the record straight.
"There were certain things that I was reading that really weren't true, and I wanted it to be stated as accurately as it could be, but without being able to button up exactly what happened," he said.
So too with the movie. "I'm not for a second going to say this is exactly the way it happened," he said, "because it's not. (But) I think that, considering the genre we're dealing with, it came off as well as it can."
Carpenter wrote in his People article (accompanied by a cover photo of a skeletal Karen smiling) that his sister's collapse from heart failure at the family home in Downey came as a shock. She had recently returned to California after hospitalization and months of therapy in New York and had seemed in good spirits. Her weight, which had dropped as low as 80 pounds, had risen to about 110, not much below normal for her 5-foot-4 frame.
Carpenter denied in the article that any of the factors that some journalists suggested had caused Karen's illness--her brief and unhappy marriage, career pressure or her family--could be held responsible.
Carpenter believes the script succeeds in not pointing an accusatory finger at anyone in particular, even though family disagreements figure into the story.
"I don't have an answer for it; I never will. No one does," he said. "It would be easy to pin it on her career; it would be easy to pin it on our mother. To me, (blaming Karen's illness on mother Agnes) gets back to the old psychoanalyst's routine that whatever's ailing the patient, it's the mother's fault. And I don't think it's all that black and white and all that easy. I know it isn't in Karen's case."
One revelation in the script that never came out in any of the publicity at the time of Karen's death: Richard Carpenter developed a dependency on Quaaludes when urged by Agnes to take them to relax and sleep better. He went into treatment and kicked the habit in 1979. Although the script clearly depicts Agnes offering him the drugs, Carpenter does not believe the movie lays blame on his mother for that, either.
"I don't think it's all that bad, really," Carpenter said. "No one's an angel; I've never met one. My mother is a damn good woman, and like all of us she has her fortes and her shortcomings."
A TV Movie He Didn't Want : Brother Richard Guides CBS' 'Karen Carpenter Story'
July 25, 1988|DIANE HAITHMAN | Times Staff Writer
If I'd had my druthers, it wouldn't have been made at all."
Those words come from Richard Carpenter, who spent most of his professional life as half of that 1970s pop music phenomenon known as The Carpenters. He is talking about "The Karen Carpenter Story," a CBS made-for-TV movie for next season based on the short life of his sister Karen, who died at 32 after a 7-year battle with anorexia nervosa.
"Look, I've been ambivalent on this from the word go," Carpenter said tersely, watching Cynthia Gibb as Karen and Mitchell Anderson as Richard re-enact a Carpenters concert rehearsal during filming at downtown Los Angeles' stately Embassy Theater.
It comes as no surprise that Richard--or any member of the Carpenter family--might have reservations about such a movie, particularly in light of the ghoulish tabloid reports that followed Karen's death. What does come as a surprise is that Carpenter is co-executive producer of the film.
So why is "The Karen Carpenter Story" being made--with Carpenter at the helm, no less?
"If it has to be made, we're the people who should be making it," Carpenter said. "When Jerry Weintraub (the other co-executive producer of the movie) proposed the idea to me, his reasoning was that for all celebrities, there are parts of our private lives that are matters of public record. And somebody else could do this without our blessing. It (Karen's story) wouldn't have been as well told (by someone else), it just wouldn't."
And though five years have passed since Karen's well-publicized death in 1983, Carpenter said he believes someone else would have made her life into a film eventually, without the family's permission.
The CBS movie, filmed at the Carpenter family home in Downey and at other Los Angeles-area locations, was written by Barry Morrow and Cynthia A. Cherback and was directed by Joseph Sargent. Peter Michael Goetz and Louise Fletcher portray Karen and Richard's parents, Harold and Agnes Carpenter.
As added evidence that his motives are not exploitative, Carpenter, 42, who continued to release albums and produce other artists for A & M Records after Karen's death, said he has turned down numerous offers from publishers to write a book.
"What would it have accomplished?" he asked philosophically. "Maybe in 20 or 30 years . . . ."
Carpenter did, however, write about his sister's death for People magazine in 1983 for the same reason he said he is producing the movie: to set the record straight.
"There were certain things that I was reading that really weren't true, and I wanted it to be stated as accurately as it could be, but without being able to button up exactly what happened," he said.
So too with the movie. "I'm not for a second going to say this is exactly the way it happened," he said, "because it's not. (But) I think that, considering the genre we're dealing with, it came off as well as it can."
Carpenter wrote in his People article (accompanied by a cover photo of a skeletal Karen smiling) that his sister's collapse from heart failure at the family home in Downey came as a shock. She had recently returned to California after hospitalization and months of therapy in New York and had seemed in good spirits. Her weight, which had dropped as low as 80 pounds, had risen to about 110, not much below normal for her 5-foot-4 frame.
Carpenter denied in the article that any of the factors that some journalists suggested had caused Karen's illness--her brief and unhappy marriage, career pressure or her family--could be held responsible.
Carpenter believes the script succeeds in not pointing an accusatory finger at anyone in particular, even though family disagreements figure into the story.
"I don't have an answer for it; I never will. No one does," he said. "It would be easy to pin it on her career; it would be easy to pin it on our mother. To me, (blaming Karen's illness on mother Agnes) gets back to the old psychoanalyst's routine that whatever's ailing the patient, it's the mother's fault. And I don't think it's all that black and white and all that easy. I know it isn't in Karen's case."
One revelation in the script that never came out in any of the publicity at the time of Karen's death: Richard Carpenter developed a dependency on Quaaludes when urged by Agnes to take them to relax and sleep better. He went into treatment and kicked the habit in 1979. Although the script clearly depicts Agnes offering him the drugs, Carpenter does not believe the movie lays blame on his mother for that, either.
"I don't think it's all that bad, really," Carpenter said. "No one's an angel; I've never met one. My mother is a damn good woman, and like all of us she has her fortes and her shortcomings."
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Thanks Gary, I've never read that LA article before, it sure is telling in a lot of different ways. I've heard Richard say more than once that he wishes he never made the movie. I wonder if it's because of all the negativity it played against his mother, I bet she was really affected by the outcome of this movie. It did not paint her in a very good light. In the article when Richard say the illness can't be blamed on his mother, I believe that is not the whole reason as well, however we do know that it's a complicated illness and we know issues in the family played a huge role in her illness, when she would be up and went she would go down. Richard is not a medical specialist so he needed to be careful when doing interview then about what caused it or who was to blame. I still think the reason he wished it was never made was how it affected his mother because in most interview he brings this issue up about his mother is not to blame, why even bring that up if it's not an issue?
The movie is not 100% accurate, we all know that....so what we need is a "real" Karen Carpenter Story told by the close friends of Karen that knew her well. Randy's book is a great start to tell us what really happen in her life, especially toward the end. However I wonder if Richard would block a movie made from Randy's book? I bet not because it would cause more publicity he wouldn't want, hence why he didn't block Randy's book material. However the music would be an issue in a new movie of Karen, Richard wouldn't allow it.
he has turned down numerous offers from publishers to write a book.
"What would it have accomplished?" he asked philosophically. "Maybe in 20 or 30 years . . . ."
Ok, it's been 20 or 30 yrs, how about that book? I still want it.
The movie is not 100% accurate, we all know that....so what we need is a "real" Karen Carpenter Story told by the close friends of Karen that knew her well. Randy's book is a great start to tell us what really happen in her life, especially toward the end. However I wonder if Richard would block a movie made from Randy's book? I bet not because it would cause more publicity he wouldn't want, hence why he didn't block Randy's book material. However the music would be an issue in a new movie of Karen, Richard wouldn't allow it.
he has turned down numerous offers from publishers to write a book.
"What would it have accomplished?" he asked philosophically. "Maybe in 20 or 30 years . . . ."
Ok, it's been 20 or 30 yrs, how about that book? I still want it.
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
And, here, from, Philadelphia newspaper,
By Ken Tucker, Inquirer TV Critic:
The Carpenters - brother and sister Richard and Karen - scored 20 Top 10 hits, impeccably performed, lulling treacle such as "Close to You," "Top of the World," "We've Only Just Begun" and their No. 1 remake of "Please Mr. Postman." Along with acts such as Bread (remember "Make It With You"?) and America (remember "Horse With No Name"?), the Carpenters were one of the main reasons many people said rock and roll was dead in the 1970s.
There are probably a lot of people who still harbor fond memories of the Carpenters' hits, but that's not the reason for the existence of The Karen Carpenter Story (Channel 10, tonight at 9). If hit singles were used to justify the making of TV movies, we might just as well have The Bread Story.
No, we have The Karen Carpenter Story because Karen Carpenter died in 1983 of heart failure due to anorexia nervosa. Carpenter is thus prime material for a cynical TV movie, since she combines two of the genre's favorite categories, the world of popular music and an exploitable illness.
At its best, The Karen Carpenter Story would have been the movie equivalent of the Carpenters' hit singles - sweet-tempered kitsch. However, as written by Barry Morrow, directed by Joseph Sargent and executive-produced by Jerry Weintraub and Richard Carpenter, The Karen Carpenter Story is something else entirely: a predictable success story that fails to disguise a quite nasty attack on the Carpenters' mother, Agnes.
For most of its length, until Karen begins looking wan and far too thin, The Karen Carpenter Story is just another goofy show-biz rags-to-riches story, complete with cornball dialogue (Richard: "This business is crazy!") and awkward obligatory references to famous folks such as A & M Records founder Herb Alpert (Karen: "Gosh, I can't believe Herb Alpert heard our tape and liked it!").
As for Karen's very serious and ultimately fatal malady, the facile psychoanalysis of The Karen Carpenter Story would have you believe that Karen's anorexia was caused by exactly two things: a review in Billboard that referred to her as "chubby," and the incessant nagging of Mama Agnes, who is portrayed here as relentless in her criticisms of her children - their goals, attainments and lives.
Typically for this genre, the acting in The Karen Carpenter Story is actually very good, with one big exception. Both Cynthia Gibb as Karen and Mitchell Anderson as Richard make admirable attempts to infuse their goody- goody speeches with some degree of believability.
But Louise Fletcher as Agnes Carpenter is a disaster: Decked out in a succession of wigs that make her look like Vicki Lawrence doing her Mama's Family character, Fletcher is used as a nagging harridan. She keeps barging into scenes to deliver howlers such as, "You kids are doing so well, but I'm worried you're not getting enough rest" and "Karen, you really should eat more." If they were going to make the role this campy, the filmmakers should have gone all the way and cast Lainie Kazan in the part.
The only good pop-music TV movie ever made was 1978's Dead Man's Curve, and part of the reason was that the filmmakers weren't afraid to make their subjects, the surf-music act Jan and Dean, look like the ambitious louts they sometimes were.
By contrast, The Karen Carpenter Story makes Karen and Richard look like saintly workaholics, laboring steadfastly to create their art.
Richard's role in the act was actually pretty interesting; a technological prodigy with an ear for catchy commercial tunes, he oversaw the creation of the Carpenters' trademark style, a multiple tracking of Karen's voice that made it sound lush and ethereal. But beyond acknowledging his long hours in the recording studio and inserting a line about "multi-harmony overdubbing," this film doesn't give you any hints about Richard's expertise.
The only way the filmmakers attempt to provide Richard with any character is by playing up his apparent addiction to Quaaludes. And, in keeping with the tone of the rest of the movie, the film shows that Mom got her boy hooked, coming upon an overworked Richard one evening and saying, "Take this - it's something called a Quaalude to help you sleep."
This is one of those movies in which the heroes are so unbelievably good that your imagination overcompensates for the stuff you are probably not being shown. Along about the time Karen grinned her umpteenth big grin and hugged her brother for what seemed like the thousandth squeeze, I began thinking, ''Maybe they put backward-masked messages to Satan into their biggest hits - they must have done something naughty in their lives."
But no, except for Richard's brief pill-popping spell and Karen's tragic lack of appetite, the Carpenters come off as dully sweet as their music.
By Ken Tucker, Inquirer TV Critic:
The Carpenters - brother and sister Richard and Karen - scored 20 Top 10 hits, impeccably performed, lulling treacle such as "Close to You," "Top of the World," "We've Only Just Begun" and their No. 1 remake of "Please Mr. Postman." Along with acts such as Bread (remember "Make It With You"?) and America (remember "Horse With No Name"?), the Carpenters were one of the main reasons many people said rock and roll was dead in the 1970s.
There are probably a lot of people who still harbor fond memories of the Carpenters' hits, but that's not the reason for the existence of The Karen Carpenter Story (Channel 10, tonight at 9). If hit singles were used to justify the making of TV movies, we might just as well have The Bread Story.
No, we have The Karen Carpenter Story because Karen Carpenter died in 1983 of heart failure due to anorexia nervosa. Carpenter is thus prime material for a cynical TV movie, since she combines two of the genre's favorite categories, the world of popular music and an exploitable illness.
At its best, The Karen Carpenter Story would have been the movie equivalent of the Carpenters' hit singles - sweet-tempered kitsch. However, as written by Barry Morrow, directed by Joseph Sargent and executive-produced by Jerry Weintraub and Richard Carpenter, The Karen Carpenter Story is something else entirely: a predictable success story that fails to disguise a quite nasty attack on the Carpenters' mother, Agnes.
For most of its length, until Karen begins looking wan and far too thin, The Karen Carpenter Story is just another goofy show-biz rags-to-riches story, complete with cornball dialogue (Richard: "This business is crazy!") and awkward obligatory references to famous folks such as A & M Records founder Herb Alpert (Karen: "Gosh, I can't believe Herb Alpert heard our tape and liked it!").
As for Karen's very serious and ultimately fatal malady, the facile psychoanalysis of The Karen Carpenter Story would have you believe that Karen's anorexia was caused by exactly two things: a review in Billboard that referred to her as "chubby," and the incessant nagging of Mama Agnes, who is portrayed here as relentless in her criticisms of her children - their goals, attainments and lives.
Typically for this genre, the acting in The Karen Carpenter Story is actually very good, with one big exception. Both Cynthia Gibb as Karen and Mitchell Anderson as Richard make admirable attempts to infuse their goody- goody speeches with some degree of believability.
But Louise Fletcher as Agnes Carpenter is a disaster: Decked out in a succession of wigs that make her look like Vicki Lawrence doing her Mama's Family character, Fletcher is used as a nagging harridan. She keeps barging into scenes to deliver howlers such as, "You kids are doing so well, but I'm worried you're not getting enough rest" and "Karen, you really should eat more." If they were going to make the role this campy, the filmmakers should have gone all the way and cast Lainie Kazan in the part.
The only good pop-music TV movie ever made was 1978's Dead Man's Curve, and part of the reason was that the filmmakers weren't afraid to make their subjects, the surf-music act Jan and Dean, look like the ambitious louts they sometimes were.
By contrast, The Karen Carpenter Story makes Karen and Richard look like saintly workaholics, laboring steadfastly to create their art.
Richard's role in the act was actually pretty interesting; a technological prodigy with an ear for catchy commercial tunes, he oversaw the creation of the Carpenters' trademark style, a multiple tracking of Karen's voice that made it sound lush and ethereal. But beyond acknowledging his long hours in the recording studio and inserting a line about "multi-harmony overdubbing," this film doesn't give you any hints about Richard's expertise.
The only way the filmmakers attempt to provide Richard with any character is by playing up his apparent addiction to Quaaludes. And, in keeping with the tone of the rest of the movie, the film shows that Mom got her boy hooked, coming upon an overworked Richard one evening and saying, "Take this - it's something called a Quaalude to help you sleep."
This is one of those movies in which the heroes are so unbelievably good that your imagination overcompensates for the stuff you are probably not being shown. Along about the time Karen grinned her umpteenth big grin and hugged her brother for what seemed like the thousandth squeeze, I began thinking, ''Maybe they put backward-masked messages to Satan into their biggest hits - they must have done something naughty in their lives."
But no, except for Richard's brief pill-popping spell and Karen's tragic lack of appetite, the Carpenters come off as dully sweet as their music.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
I still really like watching the movie even though it's not completely accurate and some stuff feels like it was "Hollywood". There is one part in the movie that always struck me and resonated with me long after the movie was over....the part where Richard checks into rehab, I'm sure it didn't really happen like that but this scene always hit me, it's dark, the mood. It's ironic that we have a scene where Karen is comforting Richard saying you'll be good as new and I'll come visit you when really it was Karen that needed the help to save her own life. Then Richard blows up when he find that she wants to record music without him, the movie doesn't really show it but in reality he gave his blessing for her to record solo material. Then in this scene they hold hands and then kiss each other on the check....while it is sentimental and makes you feel good in a movie sense....we know that Richard has said in interviews that their family was not the "touchy feely kind of family".
This movie appeared numerous times on some cable channels years ago and I still have them recorded on my HD video recorder, I probably have the same movie recorded 4 or 5 times just to be sure I got it without any glitches. lol I guess I'm obsessive this way with Carpenters.
This movie appeared numerous times on some cable channels years ago and I still have them recorded on my HD video recorder, I probably have the same movie recorded 4 or 5 times just to be sure I got it without any glitches. lol I guess I'm obsessive this way with Carpenters.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
bob
Active Member
hi rainy days how you doing? I have a laser disk player a pioneer that I had bought for $25.00 back in march of this year at out local Salvation Army and it works perfectly . I live here in Cleveland,Ohio and there is a place called the Exchange and they have used laser disks for $2.50 to $ 5.00. I have seen the Karen Carpenter Story. there were a lot of laser disks that where released in Japan and not here in the US. I called them the giant DVD's
bob
bob
Jeff
Well-Known Member
Richard looks so camera easy in this Read More About It segment. Ordinarily I find him squinting or forcing a presence. Great find Harry!
BTW I have the Yesterday Once More laserdisc bought it new one play at a friends as I have never had a player. Those viddys have so many incarnations now that I will part with this someday. Just novelty in my archives.
Jeff
BTW I have the Yesterday Once More laserdisc bought it new one play at a friends as I have never had a player. Those viddys have so many incarnations now that I will part with this someday. Just novelty in my archives.
Jeff
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
I still have my VHS- taped presentation (of the original air date) of the movie.
Haven't viewed it in, at least, a decade, so, lord only knows if it still plays.
I do not know if the VHS tapes in my possession, of Carpenters material, contain anything "new",
as I have not viewed them in forever (maybe 20 tapes).
Maybe one day, I'll get around to viewing them in their entirety.
Haven't viewed it in, at least, a decade, so, lord only knows if it still plays.
I do not know if the VHS tapes in my possession, of Carpenters material, contain anything "new",
as I have not viewed them in forever (maybe 20 tapes).
Maybe one day, I'll get around to viewing them in their entirety.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Gary, sounds like a Carpenters party, can I come over? 20 tapes of Carpenters....holy smokes batman!!! sounds like a weekend event.
Thanks Harry, I like that clip, wish it was on my tape but I think it only aired once when it originally aired on tv.
That particular "Read More About It" was on the rerun broadcast that CBS did later that year. I believe the rerun aired on a Tuesday night, so that tag aired at least twice.
I remember the initial broadcast was on a Sunday and I was unable to watch it while it taped, so it was full of commercials. When the rerun aired, I sat and edited out the commercials as they ran.
Harry
I remember the initial broadcast was on a Sunday and I was unable to watch it while it taped, so it was full of commercials. When the rerun aired, I sat and edited out the commercials as they ran.
Harry
song4u
Well-Known Member
I remember at the time wondering why one of the books Richard mentioned in "Read More About It" wasn't one of the books that Steven Levenkron wrote. Found out later though . . .
He did mention the book by Hilde Bruch which was published circa 1975. Bruch was a Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and with decades of treating people with eating disorders, was considered one of the country's experts. Alas, had Karen only sought treatment with someone like her. I read it a while ago. Fascinating read.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
Using the above link as a reference, is it me or do a couple of things sneak into the movie that have always caught my ear?
1h 29m 11s: the last piano twist of 'Aurora' as Harold walks into the living room.
1h 29m 16s: 'Karen' plays the first five notes of 'You' on the piano as she's tinkering. 'You Are The One Who...'
Last edited:
1979lee
Well-Known Member
Using the above link as a reference, is it me or do a couple of things sneak into the movie that have always caught my ear?
1h 29m 11s: the last piano twist of 'Aurora' as Harold walks into the living room.
1h 29m 16s: 'Karen' plays the first five notes of 'You' on the piano as she's tinkering. 'You Are The One Who...'
Damn, wrong film... thought this was the one where agnes didint force kc to marry that guy.... my bad...
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