Always at the Carlyle is a documentary that focuses on The Carlyle Hotel, a luxury residential hotel located at 35 East 76th Street in Manhattan: its history, its function, its employees, its notable and/or loyal guests. While The Carlyle may be known for its discretion, this film does its best to pry dishy nuggets of gossip permissible under unspoken rules of disclosure.
Always at the Carlyle is more enamored with evoking the atmosphere of the place than a comprehensive, sober expository documentary complete with narration that you usually see on PBS. It bounces around quite a bit among its many famous faces, but should have restricted its celebrities to those who actually have a personal history with the hotel. Jon Hamm appears fairly early in the documentary, and when asked, stated that he never stayed there, nor would he because of the expense. I’m probably the only person in the world who thinks that an appearance by Hamm detracted substantially because of the clip’s early insertion in the film. As more employees gave interviews, I reluctantly began to think of it as more than an excuse to hob knob with the rich and famous, but I would not be surprised if the undue criticism is from that initial impression.
Always at the Carlyle devotes a lot of its time to the glitz and glamour of the hotel, but isn’t as insubstantial and superficial as it appears as it continues to unfold. Most notably it features Anthony Bourdain in one of his final interviews outside of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown and Elaine Stritch, the one woman Broadway powerhouse. We get mini documentaries within the film about Bobby Short and Ludwig Bemelmans, but the problem is that because the documentary is organized in a seemingly haphazard way, you may not realize that a considerable amount of time was devoted to these people because other subjects are discussed in between their stories. There are plenty of documentaries that feature Short discussing Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Irving Berlin, Dorothy Dandridge, Dorothy Kilgallen (who?) and others, but no documentary has devoted so much time to his origin story and career. I’m not familiar with him other than in passing so I was really grateful to get more than the usual glimpse that just takes for granted his existence and reminds us of his genius. Other than a brief interview with Edward R. Murrow, there are no documentaries about the creator of Madeline that explores his life and his extensive writing career outside of the iconic children’s character. I believe in giving credit where credit is due, and by devoting so much focus on people that history and filmmakers have almost forgotten, this documentary has rescued them from potential oblivion.
I always think that it is dubious to interview current employees about their employer. Unless they want to lose a paycheck, they don’t have a choice and will have to speak glowingly about their employer and the work that they do. I was initially concerned that Always at the Carlyle was actually an infomercial being used to drum up business, but as some of the interviews began to have a bit of a hint of regret at how paths diverge (some stay and others work at The Carlyle) and discovered that if an employee works late, the hotel will let that employee stay in a suite, the documentary began to win me over. I was utterly convinced when one employee described how the hotel chose him over a customer that found the employee distasteful for the most superficial reason.
Always at the Carlyle punctures some myths about JFK and Marilyn Monroe while confirming that a certain man who shouldn’t be President derided the hotel, “This place is a joke.” The majority of the documentary is confident that if you don’t get the allure and mystique of the hotel, you’re the problem, not the hotel, and I’m inclined to agree even though I’ve never patronized the hotel and probably won’t unless my fortune changes dramatically and quickly. I was fascinated with all the logistics of how the hotel creates an atmosphere that attracts and retains a certain type of clientele, but more importantly retains and values its employees for long periods of time.
I would caution that one shouldn’t conflate The Carlyle with the documentary. If you aren’t into the documentary, it will make sense. Always at the Carlyle has some strong elements, but the pacing and editing needed more discipline because even I began to get distracted and lose focus as I saw one paparazzi photo shoot over the metaphorical red carpet after another. I like George Clooney, but I’m not here exclusively for him. I could tell that Matthew Miele, the director, was having the best time making this documentary and really engaged, but that doesn’t mean that his viewers are having as much fun as he is. I am glad to know that Jack Nicholson is a favorite guest because at this point, I only considered his acting skills and his hospitality to a notorious convicted pedophile fugitive.
Speaking of alleged pedophiles, Always at the Carlyle features numerous people referencing Woody Allen’s jazz performances at the Café Carlyle. I do think that Miele made an interesting choice to allude to Allen and not include footage of an interview with Allen, which is only in the bonus features. A solid filmmaker does not necessarily mean that he is a good interviewee, but Allen wasn’t awful though some of his responses were baffling. He has no plans to set a movie in a hotel, specifically The Carlyle, because it would not feel like work, and it would be too “limiting for his vision.” On one hand, I get that he doesn’t want his film to be restricted to one location, but I have no idea if that was what he was trying to convey. Sorry folks, no Allen movies at the Carlyle.
There are plenty of featured interviews with filmmakers such as Wes Anderson, who expresses gratitude to the Carlyle for inspiring The Grand Budapest Hotel; however Always at the Carlyle interviews Sofia Coppola about staying at the hotel, but fails to encourage her to elaborate on whether or not her film Somewhere was semi-autobiographical or similarly inspired her work. It is an unfortunate omission, but considering that I saw Somewhere, and it never occurred to me that it could be based on her life, I’ll say it is a forgivable oversight.
I would only recommend Always at the Carlyle to people who love entertainment and celebrity news programs more than documentaries because pure documentary lovers may be too frustrated by the erratic, fawning format to appreciate the gems hidden throughout the film or mentally check out before reaching the hidden treasure. It is a must see for fans of Alan Cumming and Netflix’s A Very Murray Christmas, which was filmed at The Carlyle except thankfully with far more Eartha Kitt and less Miley Cyrus.