Paul Anka: His Way
He faced it all, stood tall, and did it his way. Get the inside scoop on the life and career of Paul Anka, the Canadian-born son of immigrants who rocketed to the top of the charts not just as a teen heartthrob, but as the songwriter of some of America’s greatest standards.
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Friday, May 23, 2025
- Limited Availability
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- Matinee
Sunday, May 25, 2025
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- On Standby
- Matinee
If you don’t already know, try to guess where Paul Anka grew up. Brooklyn? Hoboken? South Philly? One of the exits in between? Nope, Ottawa. Because of his strong association with late-’50s teen idoldom at the dawn of his career and Sinatra at its climax, I didn’t know until I saw John Maggio’s doc that Anka was Canadian. (And not Italian.) As a voiceover by son-in-law Jason Bateman informs us, he had a Billboard Top 100 hit in SEVEN consecutive decades; and in 2022 at age 80 launched a global tour, which Maggio filmed extensively. Anka’s secret to music-biz longevity: Don’t try to stay young; start old. Moving to NYC at 15 with songsmith ambitions, he was cute enough to be groomed as a pop star but knew right away that a career catering to screaming teenyboppers clearly had a shelf life. Only a few years after his first hit, 1957’s “Diana,” he branched out into the adult cigarette-smoke-and-martinis milieu of nightclubs, then Vegas, looking back to the Rat Pack for inspiration—at 21 already a nostalgia act. Anka’s performed and recorded steadily since, but his career has really been sustained by songwriting (his royalties from the Carson-era “Tonight Show” theme alone put his five daughters through college, and then some), dashing off hits for stars from Buddy Holly to Michael Jackson (posthumous releases). Biggest of all, he gave Sinatra his signature anthem, this doc’s subtitle. Aretha and Sid Vicious covered it, while he’s recorded Pet Shop Boys, Van Halen, and Nirvana songs, a dizzying network of connections that’s covered every niche of Western pop.
—Gavin Borchert
- Director: John Maggio
- Principal Cast: Paul Anka
- Country: USA
- Year: 2024
- Running Time: 99 min.
- Producer: Caroline Kimmel, Irving Azoff, Laura Michalchyshyn, Randy Lennox, Lawrence Mestel
- Cinematographers: Justin Zweifach
- Editors: Seth Bomse
- Music: Paul Anka
- Filmography: Milano: The Inside Story of Italian Fashion (2023), A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks (2021), The Perfect Weapon (2020)
- Language: English
- Format: DCP
- International Sales: Ark Media