Been Rich All My Life

I saw Been Rich All My Life a few days ago. It is a wonderful documentary. Basically it is the story of several amazing African-American women who were dancers in Harlem in the 1930's and 40's. It highlights the women's careers as younger women and catches up with them as they reunite and dance together again as elderly entertainers.

If you are lucky enough to get this film, watch the women's eyes as they speak. There is a shine and collective gleam that sparkles when they recount their adventures as dancers during the golden age of Harlem.

Amazing women, amazing film.

This is a great film!

Rarely do you get to see a documentary where the subjects are actually allowed to tell their own story like this one does. Granted that the filmmaker gets to shape the film in editing but still the women portrayed here are the stars and they are worth every minute. In fact, I wish it had been longer. These women really LIVED!! Not only are their stories fascinating and amazing but the movie makes you wish you could have been in New York in the thirties and forties, running around Harlem, dancing all night long.

It also shows the real personal pain and just plain hurtfulness of segregation, and what a real bitch it is to get old. But also how the sisterhood of these dancers keeps them going and laughing and joking. They are amazing.

I love these women and all they have to say. What a pleasure to spend time with them.

Chorus girls who glittered at the Apollo Theatre at the height of the Harlem Renaissance reunite as The Silver Belles, a different sort of Chorus Line. A film as witty and stylish as its subjects, BEEN RICH ALL MY LIFE features a cast of delightfully indestructible women, who explain how they have persevered through times good and bad, retaining their sense of glamor and their sense of humor and giving audiences a great time along the way. There are melancholy notes among the scenes of joy, but in the end, they embody Stephen Sondheim's "I'm Still Here."

The film was a big hit at New York's "Dance on Film" festival.

This is a wonderful film which I believe people of all ages and backgrounds would love. I saw it yesterday and find that today I am re-seeing it in my mind and laughing and crying all over again. It is beautifully shot and the characters are so wonderful. I feel that I know all of them and that they will always be a part of my life. These characters live their lives fully and dare to follow their dreams. I feel that anyone who sees this film will feel that their life has been enriched by it.Having lived in New York City for sixteen years, I also feel that this film captured on screen so many of the reasons I loved living in that city. Heather MacDonald and that fabulous cast of characters deserve many many congratulations and bravos.

A wonderful film, a work of love and devotion from the director and her production team. Thank you for giving us this glimpse of remarkable women. Talented, strong, determined, and wise, we have this film, this information, these sharings for ever. What a gift! Not only are these ladies truly remarkable, they are truly talented. They have seen and experienced so much in their lives and continue with that same effervescent thrill to entertain!!

And along side that we have footage, film clips, still photos from the Harlem Renaissance, from the world of segregation, the world of living 'on the road.'

It is a beautiful work of art. In some ways I wish the film was longer, so that we could have more old photos and footage and more time with these Silver Belles!!!

Thank you for this wonderful documentary.