A Patsy Cline TV Biography With Soul and Scholarship
There’s a new TV show premiering this weekend about powerful women that is not Feud: Bette and Joan. It’s Patsy Cline: American Masters, a beautifully assembled salute to one of the most important singers in country-music history. Narrated by Rosanne Cash, this hour, directed by Barbara J. Hall, not only gives Cline her due, but also is filled with the words and faces of other women offering their appreciation of Cline.
These days, Cline is best known for her 1950s-’60s hits such as “Crazy,” “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “I Fall to Pieces,” and “She’s Got You.” The only other fact some people remember about Cline is how she died: in a plane crash in 1963, when she was a mere 30 years old. It’s startling to think that Cline was still in her 20s when she recorded her work, which is characterized by a rich, rolling voice that conveys deep wisdom about heartache — a depth of feeling that seems impossible from one so young.
Director Hall had a tricky task in making this documentary, because footage of Cline in performance is scarce, and interviews with the singer even more rare. Add to this that Cline seems not to have been a diva or to have lived an especially tumultuous life — she was poor for most of it, yes, but by all accounts happily married to her second husband, Charlie Dick, a musician seen here in interviews. Hall presents us with a modest woman who worked very hard, appreciated what she achieved, and fought hard to be recognized in the inevitably sexist industry of her era.
Hall cannily constructed this American Masters entry by mixing fresh interviews with current stars such as Reba McEntire and Kacey Musgraves, as well as gathering older footage of people who knew Cline, such as her producer Owen Bradley, singer Eddy Arnold, and singer and Cline friend Wanda Jackson. Hall makes the older footage appear contemporary in a seamless manner that makes everyone look as though they were taped just yesterday.
Plus, Hall has filled her film with women who have sharp, insightful things to say about Cline and her work. These include the excellent critic and journalist Jewly Hight and Nashville creator Callie Khouri. I also appreciated the work Hall does in exposing viewers to some of Cline’s lesser known but just as excellent recordings, such as “Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray” and “A Church, a Courtroom, and Then Goodbye.” The result is a work of fresh scholarship that’s also highly entertaining.
Patsy Cline: American Masters airs Saturday on PBS. Check your local listings.
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