Editing Liberace (section)

===Films===
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[[File:Liberace Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|upright|Liberace in 1968]]
Before his arrival in Hollywood in 1947, Liberace wanted to add acting to his list of accomplishments. His exposure to the Hollywood crowd through his club performances led to his first movie appearance in Universal's ''[[South Sea Sinner]]'' (1950), a tropical island drama starring [[MacDonald Carey]] and [[Shelley Winters]], in which he was billed as "a [[Hoagy Carmichael]] sort of character with long hair".<ref name=pyron124>Pyron, 2000, p. 124.</ref> Liberace appeared as a guest star in two compilation features for [[RKO Radio Pictures]]. ''[[Footlight Varieties]]'' (1951) is an imitation-vaudeville hour and the little-known sequel ''Merry Mirthquakes'' (1953) featured Liberace as master of ceremonies.

In 1955, Liberace was at the height of his career when tapped by Warner Bros. for his first starring movie ''[[Sincerely Yours (film)|Sincerely Yours]]'' (1955), a remake of ''[[The Man Who Played God (1932 film)|The Man Who Played God]]'' (1932), as a concert pianist who turns his efforts toward helping others when his career is cut short by deafness. In April 1955, ''[[Modern Screen]]'' magazine claimed [[Doris Day]] had been most often mentioned as Liberace's leading lady, "but it is doubtful that Doris will play the role. Liberace's name alone will pack theatres and generous Liberace would like to give a newcomer a break." ([[Joanne Dru]], an established movie actress, was the leading lady.) When ''Sincerely Yours'' was released in November, the studio mounted an ad and poster campaign with Liberace's name in huge, eccentric, building-block letters above and much larger than the title. "Fabulously yours in his first starring motion picture!" was a tag line. The other players and staff were smallish at the bottom. The film was a critical and commercial failure because Liberace proved unable to translate his eccentric on-stage persona to that of a movie leading man. Warner quickly issued a [[pressbook]] ad supplement with new "Starring" billing below the title, in equal plain letters: "Liberace, Joanne Dru, [[Dorothy Malone]]". TCM's [[Robert Osborne]] recalls a dramatic demotion: When ''Sincerely Yours'' played first run at the Orpheum in Seattle, the billing was altered even more: Joanne Dru, Dorothy Malone, and [[Alex Nicol]] above the title (with big head shots of all three) and below the title in much smaller letters: "with Liberace at the piano". Originally, ''Sincerely Yours'' was meant to be the first of a two-picture movie contract, but it proved a massive box-office flop. The studio then bought back the contract, effectively paying Liberace not to make a second movie.

The experience left Liberace so shaken that he largely abandoned his movie aspirations. He made two more big-screen appearances, but only in cameo roles. These were ''[[When the Boys Meet the Girls (film)|When the Boys Meet the Girls]]'' (1965), starring [[Connie Francis]], where Liberace essentially played himself. He received kudos for his brief appearance as a casket salesman in ''[[The Loved One (film)|The Loved One]]'' (1965), based on [[Evelyn Waugh]]'s satire of the funeral business and movie industry in Southern California.