Synopsis
James Rasin's documentary “Beautiful Darling” honors American Transgender actress and best-known Warhol Superstar, Candy Darling, and her all-too-brief life and career, with a combination of current and vintage interview material, rarely seen archival photos and footage, and extracts from Darling's movies.
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Cast
- Candy DarlingSelf (archive footage)
- Andy WarholSelf (archive footage)
- Holly WoodlawnSelf
- Fran LebowitzSelf
- Paul MorrisseySelf
- Julie NewmarSelf
- Jeremiah NewtonSelf
- John WatersSelf
- Jackie CurtisSelf (archive footage)
- Michael J. PollardSelf
Recommendations
- 80
Time Out
The film isn't blinded by Candy's beauty and celebrity; it digs critically, if still empathetically, beneath. - 80
Los Angeles Times
A transgender icon with a life as tragically short as some of the idols she worshipped, she's the deserving subject of an archivally rich remembrance, and such is James Rasin's poignant documentary Beautiful Darling. - 75
New York Post
James Rasin's documentary is surprisingly the first to focus on one of Warhol's biggest attractions, the attractive male-to-female transsexual Candy Darling, best known for inspiring Lou Reed's song "A Walk on the Wild Side." - 75
IndieWire
Beautiful Darling not only explains the appeal of its subject; it actively contributes to her ongoing mystique. - 75
Boston Globe
As fascinating as the material is, like so much of popular culture it doesn't hold up well out of context. - 70
The New York Times
Beautiful Darling, James Rasin's touching documentary biography of Candy Darling, the transsexual Andy Warhol "superstar," is a sad, lyrical reflection on the foolish worship of movie stars. - 40
Village Voice
Denied the opportunity to see Candy at her best, simultaneously mocking and paying homage to golden-age glamour, viewers instead get too much of Jeremiah Newton, a close friend of the actress's and guardian of her papers, personal effects, and ashes (and one of Beautiful Darling's producers).