Dusty Springfield was undoubtedly one of the major talents produced in Britain during the Sixties. Born Mary O'Brien, she first achieved prominence as a member of the combo The Springfields, but when she embarked on a solo career in 1963 she never looked back. One of the first British singers to perform music hitherto associated only with African American artists (soul, Motown, etc.) she was so successful that she was invited to record an album in Memphis with Aretha Franklin for Atlantic Records. By the late Sixties it seemed as if her career would never decline - although a perfectionist in the recording studio, she had secured her own television series, where she had introduced several American acts for the first time to British audiences (Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson). However her decision to emigrate to the United States proved her undoing; although continuing to release albums on a regular basis, her reputation slipped, and she took to drink and drugs. Apart from a brief revival in the mid-Eighties, when she performed with the Pet Shop Boys, Springfield's career was finished. This documentary tells a familiar tale of a basically shy person who became someone quite different while on stage; the classic case of Mary O'Brien vs. Dusty Springfield. The contradiction between her identities was especially evident at her funeral; whereas she had wanted it to be planned for Mary O'Brien, it was a grand affair that stopped the traffic in the British town of Henley-on-Thames, the kind of thing that Dusty Springfield would have welcomed. With contributions from a galaxy of friends and admirers, though not, alas, her brother Tom O'Brien, this documentary remains highly watchable.

I hesitated to watch this program before about Dusty Springfield's life. I thought it would spend too much time on personal life, sexuality, and addictions. But it was rather very pleasant and informative to watch people recall Dusty. For any Dusty fan, they would find this documentary as a short tribute. Unfortunately, it's too short and her brother, Tom O'Brien, is not in it. I respect Dusty's right to privacy but her love was celebrated in her music and she was very passionate about cats including her own. She would have made a wonderful mother. I still miss her after 3 years and this documentary is satisfactory for her fans. It's been 6 years since her death, the world is not the same without her.

Definately worth the watch. Dusty, the great 60's icon, was an enigma, but the interviews with her friends and associates shed some light on the mystery that was Dusty. Wish it had been longer as think there is a lot more to this story. She left too soon.