Wonderful, well-researched documentary on the career of Broadway baby Carol Channing, looking physically frail these days but still sharp as a tack, with great love for her public--and lucky in love personally, having been recently reunited with her childhood sweetheart. Covering her early years in San Francisco, her immediate love for the theatre, and her swift migration to New York City (and, consequently, Hollywood, where she was paired with Clint Eastwood in her film debut), Channing is never less than a charismatic film subject. Mastering various imitations and accents got her in the theatrical door, yet it's her indefatigable personality--a sprightly, somewhat slap-happy or stupefied persona--which made Carol Channing a star performer (a personality which others concede is nearly impossible to separate from her famous stage roles in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Hello, Dolly!"). Intimate conversations with Carol at home reveal the woman under the wigs and gowns, though the film doesn't always dig so deeply (we learn very little about her son from her tumultuous first marriage). Following Channing down the streets of today's Broadway district gives us a delicious glimpse of well-earned celebrity--and how actors and passers-by respond to that celebrity. Her brilliance as a colorful talk-show guest or storyteller are not given short shrift in the interim, though more material about Ms. Channing's personal life would have been welcomed. Still, the journey she takes us on is rich and rewarding. *** from ****