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IMDbPro

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

  • 19871987
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 43m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
3K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
48,583
7,183
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)
ShortBiographyDrama
Karen Carpenter's battle with anorexia nervosa and the cultural influence of the Carpenters in the 70s.Karen Carpenter's battle with anorexia nervosa and the cultural influence of the Carpenters in the 70s.Karen Carpenter's battle with anorexia nervosa and the cultural influence of the Carpenters in the 70s.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
3K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
48,583
7,183
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Todd Haynes
    • Writers
      • Cynthia Schneider
      • Todd Haynes
    • Stars
      • Merrill Gruver(voice)
      • Michael Edwards(voice)
      • Melissa Brown(voice)
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Todd Haynes
    • Writers
      • Cynthia Schneider
      • Todd Haynes
    • Stars
      • Merrill Gruver(voice)
      • Michael Edwards(voice)
      • Melissa Brown(voice)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 43User reviews
    • 28Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • Photos

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    Top cast

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    Merrill Gruver
    • Karen
    • (voice)
    Michael Edwards
    Michael Edwards
    • Richard
    • (voice)
    Melissa Brown
    • Mother
    • (voice)
    Rob LaBelle
    Rob LaBelle
    • Mr. A&M
    • (voice)
    • …
    Nannie Doyle
    • Cherry
    • (voice)
    Cynthia Schneider
    • Dionne
    • (voice)
    Larry Kole
    • Announcer
    • (voice)
    Gwen Kraus
    • Narrator
    • (voice)
    Bruce Tuthill
    • Narrator
    • (voice)
    Joanne Barnett
    • Self - Singer
    Todd Haynes
    Todd Haynes
    • Todd Donovan, Disc Jockey
    Moira McCarty
      Laurie Stone
        Michelle Manenti
        • Michelle Hoyt, Musician
        Celia Pearce
          Barbara Epler
            Sarah Varnoe
              Richard Nixon
              Richard Nixon
              • Self - President of the United States
              • (archive footage)
              • (uncredited)
              • Director
                • Todd Haynes
              • Writers
                • Cynthia Schneider
                • Todd Haynes
              • All cast & crew
              • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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              Storyline

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              Did you know

              Edit
              • Trivia
                The film was pulled from circulation in 1990, after a cease-and-desist order for unauthorized use of The Carpenters' music. As of 2016, sale or distribution of the film remains illegal. Hundreds of bootleg copies have been sold.
              • Goofs
                In the opening sequence, as the camera rounds the corner on its way into Karen's bedroom, a crew member is visible at the end of the hallway.
              • Quotes

                Narrator: There is a discouragingly high failure rate in the treatment of anorexia. The refusal to eat is so annoying to doctors and family that intervention seems to focus entirely on trying to make the sufferer eat. When the anorectic is unable to comply with the dietary plan, she is often force fed. In these cases, the patient is considered officially recovered when the normal weight is reached and appropriate sex role functioning achieved. Ultimately treatments which assert absolute control over the patient's life only contribute to anorectic behavior, which is often the result of highly controlled, familial environments.

              • Crazy credits
                There are no ending credits, the film ends after shots of newspaper headlines detailing Karen Carpenter's death.
              • Connections
                Featured in Playing Columbine (2008)
              • Soundtracks
                Superstar
                Written by Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell

                Performed by The Carpenters

              User reviews43

              Review
              Review
              Top review
              8/10
              banning the film only made it more famous
              There's a certain brilliance behind the idea of using Barbie dolls to recount the story of singer Karen Carpenter, and the exchange of one plastic all-American icon with another results in an oddly respectful (if suitably macabre) show-biz biography, flirting at times with campy irreverence without ever becoming vulgar. By reducing Carpenter's tragic life to dollhouse proportions the film transforms it into a miniature image of the American Dream gone sour, carrying all the morbid fascination of a tabloid celebrity exposé. But this isn't a memorial to (or a mockery of) the singer's life and musical career; it's an artfully made, near-satirical reflection of how numb and destructive American values had become during the 1970s.

              I was lucky to catch a rare theatrical screening (at the York Theater in San Francisco) in the summer of 1988, three years before the film was banned for its unauthorized use of copyrighted music.
              helpful•6
              0
              • mjneu59
              • Jan 6, 2011

              Details

              Edit
              • Release date
                • July 15, 1987 (United States)
              • Country of origin
                • United States
              • Language
                • English
              • Also known as
                • Суперзвезда: История Карен Карпентер
              • Production company
                • Iced Tea Productions
              • See more company credits at IMDbPro

              Technical specs

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              • Runtime
                43 minutes
              • Color
                • Color
              • Sound mix
                • Mono
              • Aspect ratio
                • 1.33 : 1

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