The Life of Reilly
Tags: autobiographical

Plot synopsis:
The film begins with Reilly recounting his childhood and his parents in New York City and Connecticut. We meet his family an institutionalized father, a racist, baseball bat-wielding mother, and a lobotomized aunt, amongst others. Eugene ONeill would never get near this family, Reilly declares.
Prior to being put into an institution, Reillys father, a Paramount Pictures poster artist and illustrator, was offered the chance to go into business with another illustrator with the intention of making their first animated film in color together. The catch was simply that the senior Mr. Reilly would have to move himself and his family to California. Perhaps a defining moment in young Reillys life, his father asked his mother her thoughts and she unceremoniously rejected the possibility. The other illustrator went West without the senior Mr. Reilly as a partner. That other illustrator was named Walt Disney.
After the missed opportunity to partner with Walt Disney, Reilly's father began drinking heavily and eventually had a nervous breakdown. Upon being institutionalized, the senior Mr. Reillys family was forced to move out of the Bronx up to Connecticut to live with Mrs. Reillys family.
When Reilly turned eighteen, he moved to New York City. If you wanted to be an actor in those days, he explains, You did something thats really unheard of today you studied." Young and hungry (literally), Reilly managed to find an acting class at HB Studios, which was rather liberal in its door policy and would let in aspiring actors even if they didnt have the money to pay.
Reillys class was taught by a young, award-winning, soon-to-be-legendary actress, Uta Hagen. In the class were such future stars and notables as Steve McQueen, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Hal Holbrook, Jason Robards, and Gene Hackman. It was a group of future Academy Award, Tony Award and Emmy Award winners, and, as Charles explains, We wanted to go on the stage, none of us had any money, and this entire list couldnt act for shit.
It was about this time when a friend of Reilly's arranged a meeting with a powerful NBC executive. Reilly went in and was told, They dont let queers on television. In retrospect, Reilly describes it as, A short meeting. Despite the apparent prejudice against him, his talent and tenacity landed him on Broadway, winning his first Tony Award for his role in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying", as well as leading roles in the original Broadway casts of "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Hello, Dolly! (musical)".
Reilly went on to become a fixture in television appearing in numerous episodes of Car 54, Where Are You?, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (TV series), and starring in Lidsville. He also made hundreds of guest appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, second in number of appearances only to Bob Hope, and had a more recent memorable guest spot on The X-Files. Over the years, he developed a habit of looking through the weeks TV Guide to see how many times he would be on TV that week. Coming in at over a hundred separate appearances, he reflected on the NBC executive who told him he would not be allowed on television but now Reilly wondered, Who do I have to &!$# to get off?!
Success came to Reillys professional life, and he has used all the knowledge and expertise he has gained through a lifetime spent acting to teach. His longtime friend Burt Reynolds gifted him a theater in which to teach the craft of acting, and it has fulfilled Reilly ever since. As we leave him in what he calls The twilight of an extraordinary life, we see a portrait of an artist, a victim of prejudice who rose above it, a trailblazing comedic personality, an entertainer, a son, a teacher, and a man laid bare for all to see.

Review: Quite the character, a great filming of his one man show.
I saw this at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck, Michigan.As the film opens, some people on the street are asked if they know who Charles Nelson Reilly is.
Several of them say they've heard his name but don't really know him.
Well, before seeing this film, I feel into that category.
I didn't even realize until right before seeing the film that he has recently passed away.The movie was very entertaining.
I hadn't heard of the stage production, so I didn't know that the movie was a filming of his one man show.
But I really enjoyed it.
Charles Nelson Reilly was quite the character.
He was funny and witty and never worried about making fun of himself.
In the film, Charles mostly talked about his childhood and how he started out in the entertainment business.
There were a lot of great stories and some inside jokes.
I liked whenever he talked about a new person from his family or someone close to him that he would cast a famous person to play the part.This film was a lot of fun and I really got to know who the real Charles Nelson Reilly was.
It's sad that he's gone, but he lived a long life and the film seems to show that he enjoyed every bit of it.
And he gave an excellent finale..
A remembrance.
Well, it is the end of May 2007 and Mr. Charles Nelson Reilly has recently died.
I just learned of it today and, while I know it's silly, I've been sitting here at work getting teary-eyed.
Sure, as a kid I knew him only from The Match Game, but when I saw "Life of Reilly (Save It for the Stage)" last fall I understood at last what a fascinating person and enormous heart lay behind the outrageous public persona.
And, finally, it seems that even the game-show Charles Nelson Reilly was not really ever a mere persona, that he was never anyone but who he was, histrionic and unapologetic and, if you took the trouble to look, enormously dignified.
The movie shows both the man and the artist, a veteran stage actor whose craft at storytelling never ebbed, even as his final years slowed him down physically.As it happens, I ran across the "Jose Chung" episode of the X-Files, with Mr. Reilly in the title role, last week, just before he passed.
That long, serialized interview scene with Gillian Anderson's Dana Scully is just a delight; I think you can see the fun Ms. Anderson is having playing off him.
And it surely contains some of the series' best comic writing.*Sigh.* Mr. Reilly, I shall miss you greatly..
Fantastic.
I just had the opportunity to catch this at the 2007 Madison Film Festival and thought it was such a wonderful film; equally entertaining, touching, and funny.
The content of this film, which is Mr. Reilly's stage show that recaps his life and work, is absolutely fantastic.
Equally important was the editing and capturing of his performance, where I felt the impact and intimacy of a live show.Thanks for sharing your wonderful life, Mr. Reilly!
And for all the lifetime of laughs, even if you want to forget about the TV material.
Thanks to the film makers that brought this performance to a wider audience.I can't recommend this enough and look forward to its release on DVD, so I can share it with my friends.While watching his performance, I realized that performers of his caliber just don't grace the screen anymore.
A thought that is quite depressing..
Unique.
I knew who Charles Nelson Reilly was from the old game shows on TV when I was a kid.
This movie is pretty much a film of his stage act (I didn't know he had one).
The guy lived an incredible life and if he were to read this he would stress that he "STILL IS LIVING an incredible life." This is a great stage act brought to the screen and it has a real neat feel to it.
The camera angles and editing add to this man's story telling.
It is a very unique movie and I can't recommend it enough.
I saw it down at the SWX film festival and everybody was raving about it.
I think you walk into the movie with low expectations (who really wants to see an older man from cheesy game shows in a one-man stage show talk about his life?!) but the movie grabs you..
This movie is amazing - It needs to be seen by more people!.
This is a unique movie as it is the last performance Charles Nelson Reilly ever did of his one man show.
To watch him tell his stories is to see a master weave his craft into words that keep you consistently engrossed by what he has to tell.CNR's life is fascinating.
There is much more to him than most people will ever know.
For years you just knew him as the guy on match game, and that funny guy on the Lucy episode, or wasn't he on ghost and Mrs Muir?
Something about him in all of those things stuck out enough for people to remember him.
The man is an amazing performer, and his words are rich in with the history of Broadway, Hollywood and his personal life.This film needs to be released on DVD or somehow the gameshow network needs to make a deal with the film maker and show it on the gameshow network, or release it with one of the DVD sets!
People need to see it!.
Far less funny but far more engaging than I'd anticipated..
This film consists of the actor, Charles Nelson Reilly, doing a stand-up act where he talks about his life, his family and his experiences.
I had assumed based on the Reilly I'd seen on TV that it would be funny.
And, while there are definitely funny parts, there are as many, if not more, painful parts.
Apparently, he grew up in a strange and emotionally abusive home--and although he doesn't say it, you wonder if he chose acting as a way of dissociating from this.
At first, he talks slow and shows his age.
But, through the course of this talk to a college audience, he becomes more animated and at ease.
And, at times, he seemed amazingly young and spry--bouncing about the stage with a lot more vigor than you'd expect from a man in his mid-70s.
Throughout all this, he's amazingly engaging and you can't help but sit spellbound.
In many ways, it reminds me of a similar film with John Waters called "This Filthy World"--and both are nice opportunities to see these men and gaze into who they really are--or at least who they want you to see.
Well worth seeing even if you aren't a fan of Reilly.
After seeing it, you may well be.Also, for kicks, go to YouTube and type in "Weird Al CNR" and watch the video.
It's all about the massively manly exploits of Charles Nelson Reilly and it's hilarious..
Worth Every Minute!.
This could, by far, be the best stage show I have seen!
I am surprised that I did not discover this film earlier and I wish I had seen it live.
It makes one laugh and cry.
I didn't know Charles Nelson Reilly's humor and talent was so grand until I saw this film.
He was a superb storyteller.
Reilly and his family had more than a few eyeopening and extraordinary experiences.
I've watched it several times and purchased the DVD so I can watch it again with friends and family.
It's one of those films you want to share.
This film makes me wish I had kept a diary of my own so I could share my own family history.
Everyone should see this film!.
Everyone should see this film!.
Brilliant raconteur in a three hour, one-man show.
Just watched the unedited three hour version of The Life of Reilly filmed in San Francisco in 2001.
This is a two DVD set that is superb quality and crystal clear.
It appears that the filming is authorized as CNR sees everything from the stage, throwing barbs at the audience now and again and would unquestionably have commented on the filming had it been done without his permission.
Not having seen the version shown in theaters I have to assume that this is the complete show as opposed to the mini-documentary which most of the posters on this site are referring to.
This is a brilliantly funny one-man show, witty and dramatic, funny and tragic in the telling of stories from Nelson Reilly's life and career.
His performance covers a huge range of subjects and his delivery is masterful.
Strange to believe that his talents will essentially be remembered only for his contribution to Match Game.A one-man show that is both touching and very, very funny.
For anyone who knows anything about show business from way back when - and I'm talking about the great Vaudeville stars of the 20's and 30's, this is a nostalgic mind-blower.
When Nelson Reilly talks about his family, describing them as "portrayed by" Burt Lancaster or Shirley Booth or any one of a multitude of movie stars from the 40's and 50's, the result is hysterical.
What a wonderful memorial to a talented and loving personality..
Entertaining Stage Performer, Frustrating Film-Makers.
I just saw a screening of this film at the Seattle International Film Festival.
Everyone was in great spirits with some pre-show Charles Nelson Reilly t-shirts being given away.
Knowing that CNR was more than just a television perma-guest, I was looking forward to hearing him tell stories as only he can.
He didn't disappoint.
It takes a gifted storyteller to wring humor and pathos out of a painful childhood, and a sharp observer to make the life story so fresh and consistently surprising.
As long as the cameras held steady on CNR and just let the man express himself, the film was excellent.Unfortunately, it seemed that the film-makers wanted to constantly remind the viewer that this was a FILM documentary.
I wanted to hear more stories, especially about his life in the theater, but the film-makers edited three-plus hours of stage material down to barely ninety minutes.
This lead to some jarring transitions and title screens explaining what surely must have been great stories.
Black-and-white film clips interspersed with CNR's monologue detracted from the stories rather than enhance them.
But my biggest complaint, however, was the totally distracting soundtrack.
Electric guitars and synthesizers played constantly, often making it difficult to hear CNR's words.
The director attended the screening and explained that they were still editing the film, and he seemed to acknowledge that it was difficult to hear at times.
I recommend more Charles, mellower editing, and far less soundtrack.The good news is that the director announced the production team's desire to include as a DVD bonus feature an uncut film of CNR's stage show from 2003, which runs about three hours and has plenty of stories and anecdotes.
Maybe my problems with the film are really to disguise my disappointment at never being able to see CNR's show live on stage.
I hope that uncut film will provide the fix..
R.I.P. Charlie.
For anybody who grew up between 1960 to the early 1980's, the name Charles Nelson Reilly should click with you (especially if you watched a ton of kid vid & game shows).
The documentary,filmed mostly at his one man play/monologue/diatribe, on the last two performances should be worth you while.
Reilly recalls his tortured childhood,up thru his late adolescence with a mix of snide humour & pained memories (how he even got through childhood & adolescence with a vile,racist,homophobic control fanatic Mother,a alcoholic,manic depressive Father,a comatose Aunt & other dysfunctional family members is a small miracle in itself).
He also recalls his early years on Broadway (only after he was rejected by the President of NBC for being gay),and his eventual rise as a television celebrity, makes this for a film to be taken upon.
About my only beef is the occasional clumsy camera & editing work that makes this film a wee bit of a challenge (the camera seems to be everywhere it's not supposed to be more than a few times,plus the framing seems to be way off,giving the film a rather clumsy,home movie look, such as 'Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars',which was marred by bad camera & editing work).
If you can get past that, 'The Life Of Reilly' is one to seek out.