Always at the Carlyle

Director Matthew Miele offers a glimpse inside the Carlyle, Manhattan’s legendary Upper East Side hotel, where Bobby Short held forth in the Cafe Carlyle for decades and Woody Allen still plays the clarinet. Originally created for an elite clientele by Polish-born banker Moses Ginsberg, the hotel’s guests have included current luminaries such as George Clooney, Lenny Kravitz, Tommy Lee Jones, Bill Murray, the late Anthony Bourdain, Roger Federer, Vera Wang, Jeff Goldblum, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, and Naomi Campbell, as well as many earlier notables, including President John F. Kennedy—with or without his wife Jacqueline. The late Elaine Stritch actually lived there. Anjelica Huston here recalls nights with her then-lover Jack Nicholson, while Harrison Ford bitches, “My room’s $1,100!” (which is nothing compared to the $10,000-a-night Royal Suite, where a housekeeper embroiders the pillowcases with the occupant’s first name or monogram). Condoleezza Rice counters, “Here, you get what you pay for”—not that she ever picked up the bill. Long-time concierge Dwight Owsley and bartender Tommy Rowels reminisce about the old days and there’s a story about Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs, and Princess Diana once sharing an elevator. When artist Ludwig Bemelmans was hired to redo the murals in the bar, he lived there for 18 months, creating drawings that depicted his whimsical Madeline characters as well as a fantasy version of Central Park Zoo. Superficial and sycophantic, this fluffy documentary is also an enjoyable indulgence for celeb watchers. A strong optional purchase. (S. Granger)