The Lady and the Dale (2021) User Reviews

Another HBO Documentary Tale Told Well

[lambiepie-2 · 8/10 · 9 February 2021]

Let me start by admitting I've seen this car up close and personal at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Before actually seeing it, I had no idea a woman was behind it. As a child, I remember seeing it on "The Price is Right," and thought it was cool. So when I saw the documentary was coming, I couldn't wait to hear about this. In my mind, I thought this kind of design was the predecessor to the three-wheeled vehicles that are now mainstays. But I didn't know about the journey this took which made this an interesting HBO documentary.

As it opens it is the story of a con man. The way this tale is told is through an interesting choice of "Terry Gilliam" style animation. Why would they choose that? It is interesting because the style Mr. Gilliam did was to depict old and ancient out of old newspapers clipping and such of the subjects he was doing. Thinking about that and how they are making THIS story unfold, it makes sense. It may be distracting to some, but it tells of a background of a tale of a con man in pieces. His background was in pieces, his relationships were in pieces, he kept moving around in pieces, and HE was in pieces coming to terms to identify with who he was in a time when that was difficult.

What you will get from this is the evolution of a real con man into a woman with a brilliant idea. It's a stage road, a rocky one, a prejudicial one as the question for the "law" did he hide as a woman to escape his previous cons AND pull a new one with the Dale, or did she all along know this is who she needed to be. The answer seems more evident in this day and time, but it's still in pieces as she continues to "run" from her past and solidify her future.

This is about the marketing and prototype Elizabeth Carmichael presented, the Dale, her past crimes impeded that unveil. The views did that, and again, I can see it was all in pieces placed against real feelings, real love, and family acceptance when nobody else would.

It's an interesting way to convey this tale; I appreciate the filmmakers sharing her past in this animation style, rather than a typical 100% talk-talk film documentary style we've seen over and over. If we, the viewer, feel confused by it, that could be deliberate as imagine how Elizabeth felt throughout all of this.

Rolling documentary mini-series

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 1 February 2021]

"The Lady and the Dale" (2021 release; 4 episodes of about 55 min. each) brings the unlikely, if not too good to be true, story of Liz Carmichael and her mid-70s three-wheeled car, simply called the Dale, which sells for peanuts and promises 70 MPG. In the opening episode, we get the background on the improbable rise of Liz CarMichael, just as we are dealing with the oil crisis and this country is crying out for an alternative car that is cheap and gas-efficient. Liz teams up with car designer Dale Cliff, and before you know it, they become the buzz of the car industry... At this point we re 10 min. into the opening episode.

Couple of comments: this series is the feature length/mini series-debut of directors Nicl Cammilleri and Zachary Drucker. Here they team up to bring us the life and times of Liz CarMichael, about as unlikely a star in the automotive industry as you will ever find. I am biting my tongue as the initial two episodes are facts-heavy and plot-heavy, so I want to make sure I am not spoling anyone's viewing experience. Let me just say that, from watching the initial two episodes, this is a rollicking and yes, super enjoyable, documentary tv mini-series. The less you know going in, the better. I will admit that I had never heard of Liz CarMichael or this concept car the Dale (probably because I moved from Belgium to the US only in 1983, after all of this played out).

"The Lady and the Dale" premiered this weekend on HBO with 2 of the 4 episodes. These 2 episodes are now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming services. Episodes 3 and 4 will premiere over the next 2 weekends. Can't wait to see how it all will play out. If you have any interest in a documentary that once again proves that facts are stranger than fiction, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

*UPDATE 2/14/21* I just watched the last episode tonight on HBO. This was a wild ride all around. So much territory was covered, from the automotive industry to trans gender issues and much more in between. In all, a documentary series well worth seeking out.

A refreshing take on the usual documentary.

[IceQueen99 · 8/10 · 10 February 2021]

I loved the way this was presented. Much more fun to watch than actors trying to portray famous people. An interesting story that I was surprised I never heard of before.

Interesting story about and interesting person.

[raiderdan-48491 · 7/10 · 25 February 2021]

This is the story of a con-man who later becomes a woman and is the at the center of the development of a 3-wheeled vehicle that promised a low price and amazing gas mileage. Unfortunately Liz Carmichael(the name she claimed after transitioning) couldn't keep her hands out of the cookie jar and got busted on securities fraud.

The latter part of the series delves into the possibility of Liz being persecuted because she was a transgender woman. Was she? In my opinion, yes. Was she also a criminal? Also yes, albeit non of her crimes are particularly nefarious in the grand scheme of things.

It was interesting to note that one of the investigative journalist that spearheaded the outing of Liz was a man called Dick Carlson, none other than Tucker Carlson's father. Let's just say the tree doesn't fall far from the apple in that Dick is a bigot just like his son Tucker. I wouldn't want to spend a second around Dick or his son Tucker. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was an interesting person that through bigotry raised a family and provided for them.

In closing I recommend this series.

Gripping if a bit too heavy handed account of a bizarre life

[gortx · 23 February 2021]

Strange and fascinating four part Documentary about a transgender woman named Elizabeth Carmichael (nee Jerry Dean Michael) who briefly gained notoriety in the 70s when she launched production of a three-wheeled automobile (The Dale) and claimed that it could get 75 miles to the gallon. As this was during an energy crisis, and Carmichael also said it would retail for under two grand it became a media sensation. Nick Cammilleri and Zachary Drucker do a good job of laying out the entire saga and make it abundantly clear that Carmichael was a born huckster and con artist from the get go. That she was able to convince those around her that she still had a heart of gold is particularly fascinating. Her family, children and employees most often still speak fondly despite her life of crime. For the most part, the Doc moves along fairly well even with a total length approaching four hours. Unfortunately, the last couple of episodes spend too much time on trying to 'exonerate' her sins a bit too much, and also goes out of its way to may Los Angeles new reporter Dick Carlson into a villain (he does that well enough himself in contemporary interviews and old news footage). And, no matter how much Cammilleri and Drucker try to make Carmichael a Trans Heroine, the basic fact remains that she was a lifelong criminal who bilked people out of money and hurt, if not ruined, a number of lives. Lady And The Dale is an inherently gripping tale, but, a little less of a heavy hand would have only improved it.

one for the ages

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 1 February 2021]

Greetings again from the darkness. Unlike our first glimpse of the shark in JAWS, we don't have to wait long. A 1974 episode of "The Price is Right" gives us an upfront look at a 3-wheeled car known as The Dale. If you expect the fuel-efficient auto oddity to be the featured attraction of this four-part docuseries from directors Nick Cammilleri and Zackary Drucker, then you are in for quite a ride. While the history of the Dale is chronicled, this is actually the fascinating story of Elizabeth Carmichael, and how she achieved fame and notoriety - the highest highs and the lowest lows of the American Dream.

What makes her story fascinating? For starters, 'she' was born Jerry Dean Michael, a con man who claimed to grow up a poor farm boy in Jasonville, Indiana. Per classmates interviewed here, Jerry was neither poor, nor a farmer, but rather a middle class kid whose family ultimately relocated to Detroit, where he later joined the Army. The lies, cons, and fraud come lickety-split ... so fast we can barely keep up as we blitz through his scams and his failed marriages, with at least two with kids he never saw. Not once. Lest you think this is over-hype, we also gets bits and pieces from the actual FBI file opened on Jerry Michael.

Always on the move ... usually running from the law ... Jerry spent time as a vacuum salesman, and then ran a small newspaper, which led to printing counterfeit money. He was often a fugitive and ran through as many names as he did jobs and homes. By 1966, Jerry Michael began presenting himself as Elizabeth Carmichael, and instructing his kids to refer to him as "mother". Shockingly, his wife, Victoria, went along with this, and became "Aunt Victoria." It's an understatement to label this family and life as unconventional.

Candi Michael, one of Jerry's daughters, is interviewed throughout the four episodes, and provides clear recaps of the many stages of her life. And what a crazy life it was. She explains, matter-of-factly, that her father became her mother, and the kids were trained to immediately stop what they were doing and hop in the car, so the family could instantly escape the latest brush with the law. The family zig-zagged across the country, never in one place very long, but often either in California or the Deep South.

The first episode, "Soldier of Fortune" is loaded with background information, and takes us through Elizabeth's "self-transition", as she gave herself hormone shots obtained from veterinarians. We also hear from Susan Stryker, a trans historian, who provides perspective and commentary through all episodes. The episode concludes detailing how, in the midst of a national gas crisis, Elizabeth became enamored with Dale Clifft's new, fuel-efficient, 3-wheeled vehicle. She opened a business in Los Angeles called 20th Century Motor Car Company, and had visions of dollar signs dancing in her head.

Episode 2, "Caveat Emptor: Buyer Beware" opens with Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If", and those words go a long way towards describing how Elizabeth Carmichael was approaching life and viewing herself. Of course, her thinking was twisted enough to allow her to become a marketing phenomenon in the automotive industry and she positioned her car company (with no cars to sell, mind you) as competing head to head with the Big 3 American car makers: GM, Chrysler, and Ford. What's amazing is that Elizabeth was so good at making folks believe, that deposits came flooding in for the 'option' to buy a car once they rolled off the production line.

It's at this point that we begin hearing from some of the engineers and staff that worked for her, and it's quite obvious that this was a giant shell game. Sure, some of the employees trusted her and were striving to build the car, but being paid on Fridays with stacks of cash should have been a warning sign. This is also the time when local media began to show interest. The key local reporter was Dick Carlson (father of Tucker Carlson) and he's interviewed for the film, explaining how they sensed the ruse, and kept digging. Things took a turn for Elizabeth on December 31, 1974 when Japanese investors arrived to watch a disastrous test drive of the Dale. After getting close to what Candi called a "normal" life, the family high-tailed it to Texas to escape California regulations (and the law).

"The Guilty Fleeth" for Episode 3 opens with Elizabeth stating, "If I can stay out of jail, I can run for President." Normally this type of person would be impossible to understand, but we've had four years of exposure to something similar, so comprehension comes much easier. We see clips from news reports and hear audio recordings of Elizabeth talking. In California, folks lined up for refunds after the media reports created doubt, and the FBI tracked her down. Not long after, she faced conspiracy charges and was exposed as a man (she had not had the second surgery). This meant serving time in a men's prison, where she was beaten. The 9 month trial was all over TV and it's not surprising to learn that Elizabeth acted as her own attorney ... before jumping bail and fleeing yet again.

Episode 4, "Celestial Bridge", covers Elizabeth's final years in Austin, Texas, running a flower business ... right up until an 1989 episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" ended up exposing her again, and having her extradited to California to serve an 18 month jail sentence. This final episode also devotes a good deal of time to the history of transsexuals, including Rene Richards, and comes full circle as we see a bright yellow Dale car on display at the Peterson Automotive Museum. Produced by Mark and Jay Duplass, this docuseries uses stop-action animation, archival footage and photos, and interviews from those who were there to detail the bizarre life of a fascinating person. It also ties in the aspect of a close-knit family in spite of all the obstacles faced for so many years. You may have seen a 3-wheeled car, but you've never known a life lived like Jerry/Elizabeth.

No easy conclusions

[bilito · 9/10 · 3 March 2021]

I was thoroughly intrigued by this four part documentary. Every criminal comes from a family, someone whom they love and/or who loves them back. Liz Carmichael was a spectacular con artist and a driven individual. She also nurtured a loving family and left a legacy of love. So while she chose to cheat people out of their money, and while she chose to game the system and avoid her civic responsibilities, she also provided a loving home for her wife and many children. Their fondness for her is evident. But at the same time, she was Satan to others, (including Tucker Carlson's father). That's a fascinating dichotomy, and the filmmakers give equal time to those who idolize and love her and those who wanted to see her rot in jail. Or, for her choice to live an authentic life, something way worse. Great documentary.

The Tiger King sells cars

[tbrech · 7/10 · 8 February 2021]

The illustrations are at first very distracting, but after the third episode this device didn't seem so out of place because of the long con which was unfolding. This is a case of truth being stranger than fiction again (referencing The Tiger King.) Guess I should have titled the review The Tiger King sells illusion.

Intriguing

[oobridgettoo · 10/10 · 7 February 2021]

Fascinating story with plentiful plot twists. It's crazy that it's taken this long for the story to be told.

American Woman

[owen-watts · 7/10 · 16 February 2021]

A fascinatingly layered story about con artist and idiosyncratic maverick Liz Carmichael. Although, it's not about her - it's about the miracle three-wheel car that could've saved America. Although, it's not about that either - it's about the insidious treatment of trans women by the rapacious American press and how that dark prejudice still runs through the cultural discourse today. All that and it also serves as a sort of US postwar narrative about poverty, crime and the strange benefits and brutal truths of a life lived off the grid.

It's a solid documentary series with some excellent interviews but the distinctive cutout animation used throughout is a real double-edged sword, it's a creative method of delivering the narrative but it's often incredibly awkward and terribly ugly like a mixture of Angela Anaconda and the terrifying "living world" segment of Grim Fandango. Not so bad during the more silly segments, but when it's trying to be more dramatic or emotional it feels horribly stiff.

Ultimately it's a distinct and compelling portrait of a life, told with narrative flair and variable animation. Definitely worth a watch and although as stated, Carmichael is no role model, she was a charismatic personality and her story will stay with me long after the janky cut-out flailings leave my mind.

Interesting tale hijacked by activists

[OdinsRagnarok · 4/10 · 2 February 2022]

The backstory of Liz Carmichael and the dodgy business of the Dale is interesting and worth a look into. But to the length this documentary goes to attempt to glorify a mass fraudster, scammer, criminal and fugitive... is quite disgusting. Even more hilarious when the "historian" and Liz herself attempt to blame the government and other businesses for "harassing" her - completely ignoring the dozens and more criminal acts she has already been doing, and kept doing.

The documentary completely glances over all the lives this person has ruined, all the people who's lost money and gotten in trouble due to her scams. Wives and children just throw to the side and abandoned. It's all presented in a goofy paper-cutout look to attempt to make the crimes and act sound more lighthearted. How they thought it was a good idea to praise a criminal and fraudster like this is beyond rational belief. We all know it is only because she was trans, and therefor should be praised no matter what. This really could have been so much better.

Better than I expected

[rrtiverton · 8/10 · 3 February 2021]

Intriguing HBO documentary about a serial con man. Better than "McMillions".

Annoying story board. I get dizzy watching.

[harrison-gary · 6/10 · 4 February 2021]

The overuse of paper cut out animation to depict a potentially interesting story makes this show unwatchable. I can only assume this show's creators thought their story was not interesting enough so they resorted to a cartoonish, paper cutout graphic with rapid frame to keep your attention. I found it very annoying. 1 episode and done for me.

Not a sympathetic subject

[keberg2003 · 5/10 · 18 February 2021]

It was a good documentary until the filmmakers decided to excuse all of Liz's grifing, worker exploitation and greed by claiming transphobia. This was not a case of bias - this was a con-woman getting what she deserved. Despite fleeing the law for so many years. Pick another person if you want to show transphobia. This subject and her family are NOT sympathetic.

Dick Carlson is a prejudiced pig

[electronica-uk · 7/10 · 1 March 2021]

That's all I have to say about that. I really hope that society as whole is much better than that now.

Not as advertised

[Saw-it-on-Tubi · 6/10 · 9 March 2021]

Watching the promotional materials, it seems like this would be your standard true-crime documentary, though as the series progressed, it seems like that wasn't what the team behind this project wanted. The later episodes seemed to focus more about issues transgender individuals face in the criminal justice system, which I think would've made more sense at the beginning, and I get the sense that what they wanted to make the whole documentary about. It's an interesting subject, but it's not what I thought I was going to watch.

I don't think I've seen a true-crime documentary so uninterested in the actual crime.

Bizarre and fascinating.

[holcomb-87433 · 9/10 · 4 March 2021]

I remember seeing a very condensed version of this story years ago on some crime show, but nothing about the bigger picture. This is a really crazy story about someone who not only lived for years scamming and running from the law, but also had a family that they loved and became pulled into a wild lifestyle as well . I also loved the way cut-outs were used in a visually satisfying technique to keep the viewer engaged in parts of the story that have little photo or video archive to show. Whatever your views on the main character are, this is a truly interesting part of American history that few are familiar with.

Oddball Story Centered On Failed Automobile

[AudioFileZ · 7/10 · 22 March 2021]

There have been car failed car mavericks but there is only one that was a woman born a man. That's enough for a story right there, but there's more. The Lady & The Dale attempts to bring as much of the backstory and quite unusual facts surrounding Elizabeth Carmichael to light. It's a humdinger. The story itself is interesting enough, even with irritating animated segments filling in for whatever it fill-ins for. Sometimes you just wish Carmichael would have been shut-down long before all of this transpired. But, you may also root for her vision a three-wheeled gas-sipping automobile may have found a market the Big Three would never pursue. Of interest, at least to me, Tucker Carlson's adopted father broke the story which, at the time, gave him needed credibility as an apparently "iffy" story he wrote for Look magazine led to the publications demise due to a large settlement and Look's declining popularity. So oddball is this story it does stun and entertain...sadly there was more than just monetary loss.

Maybe he is just like his father or worse.

[vilj-1 · 8/10 · 14 March 2021]

Across four episodes, viewers learn about Carmichael, a convicted fraudster whose biggest scheme saw her peddle a three-wheel, fuel-efficient vehicle known as the Dale in the 1970s. Consumers threw money at Carmichael as a deposit for a vehicle that was never produced. While fleeing justice, she and her family (including her five kids and their mother) moved all over the country. We also learn about Richard Warner Carlson, a former "Gonzo Reporter" who is the father of the equally poisonous elder son Tucker Carlson (Fox News). Liz was found living in Florida under an alias and was arrested and extradited to Los Angeles, where she was convicted on 31 counts of grand theft, fraud, and corporate security violations. It was through her arrest and incarceration that the world discovered Carmichael's dead name and her long-running criminal history. She died in 2004 from various health issues, mainly cancer. While The Lady and the Dale provides definitive answers to many questions, one major one remains: Did Carmichael plan for the Dale to be a money-grabbing scheme all along, or did she seriously want to challenge the automotive industry?

I think Liz bit off more than she could chew and that was her shot to be a successful entrepreneur. She had been aiming for that for so long but her past as a criminal was always going to catch up to her."

"I think she was being genuine about the Dale, and there's no telling how much unconscious behavior was happening." (Zackary Drucker)

Three different shows awkwardly joined together

[mikedean77 · 6/10 · 4 October 2021]

There's an interesting story to be told here. Many, in fact, but this documentary hasn't decided how it wants to tell them, and takes wild, jarring mood swings mid-course as it changes its mind on what it wants to be about. Its first act is a rapid collage chronicling the early life of a career confidence trickster, told from a distant, historical, perspective. Act 2 focuses on the building and promoting of the car company, told from a much more interpersonal and present-tense narrative, with inevitable, ever-encroaching disaster ratcheting the drama. The final act mostly tells the post-collapse story, now from a perspective of reminiscence, with a very blurred focus that alternates between the central character and an exploration of the broader topic of transgenderism in society, often losing relevance to the Liz Carmichael story.

Overall, the documentary feels like a TV show that's twice been canceled and switched networks, each time being revived in a different form by new creators who are OK with abandoning the continuity of previous seasons for the sake of the new ideas that they want to promote. We're used to that happening over long-running TV series, but when it happens within episodes of a short miniseries, it's just... weird.

Rationalization of a sociopath via wokeness

[hewlett61 · 2/10 · 30 September 2021]

Liz Carmichael was born a man who initially was an undoubtable criminal, who ditched 3 women he had children with, and while in his late 20's, eloped with a 16 year old girl, and continued to be a criminal. He ended up with 5 more children, and around 1969, while being a federal fugitive since 1961 for counterfeiting cash, started to transition into a woman. The cons continued. Then in 1974, she creates an obvious scam to sell a 3 wheeler car for $2K claiming it is bulletproof and gets 75 MPH, even though the prototype was non functioning. After conviction for fraud, she jumps bail, only to continue shady practices. The second half of this is basically a misguided history of transgendered people and how her treatment was the actual crime committed by this clear cut sociopath. The focus continues to be how her involvement with the car, called The Dale, was over prosecuted because she is transgendered. She was a fugitive dragging 5 children around the US for 12 or more years, never staying anywhere longer than 2 months. But, according to every person she ever encountered, she was the most wonderful person in the world. Never mind her decades of fraud victims. Ironically, I lived in the LA area while this was a heavily covered news item in the 70's while in high school. I have no memory of any of it, which is even stranger as my name is Dale.

Fascinating Documentary

[jerimichael · 10/10 · 1 February 2021]

Great true story of a fascinating human being. Extremely riveting entertainment!

Glossing over crimes using trans as an excuse

[kathymcc123 · 3/10 · 9 February 2021]

Gerry/Liz Carmichael committed crimes. Was Carmichael transsexual? Sure but it has nothing to do with the fact that Carmichael was a CON ARTIST AND CRIMINAL. Terrible documentary

Trailblazer and Outlaw

[bomme-65152 · 10/10 · 20 March 2021]

I see a lot of comments here that want to be outraged by a sympathetic portrayal of a fascinating and complicated human being. There are accusations that the filmmakers have weaponized transphobia to explain away her crimes. However, I have to cry foul here. So many criminals are allowed to be glamourized and celebrated through film and media. From The Godfather to Bonnie and Clyde or Margot Robbie's Tonya Harding...go to the comment section of these characters and you won't find the storytellers roasted for portraying them as more then criminal. I do think Liz and her transness is the source of a certain vitriol even to this day as evidenced by these 'reviews'. My hope is that the viewer can watch The Lady and the Dale and be in awe of a highly intelligent, courageous, inventive person light years ahead of her time. It's hard enough to to survive in this world even if you are lucky enough to have the privilege of being white, straight and gender normative. I cannot even imagine the courage and strength one would have to possess to attempt to soar as high as Liz did in a world that is quite literally organized in a way to keep her othered and invisible. She led an interesting life and I'm glad I was able to witness her story just a little bit.

Fantastic movie!

[bld-67543 · 10/10 · 1 February 2021]

Absolutely incredible story! Great filmmaking and story!