Fans remember Betty White on her 100th birthday with one-night-only documentary viewing

 

WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- This past weekend CBS 58 brought you a special look at the Betty White documentary from the filmmaker himself.

Monday night, his work celebrating Betty White's life is on the big screen.

Originally Marcus Cinemas was only going to have one time slot for "Betty White, a Celebration," but after Betty's passing, they added a few more options. 

Fans filled a little more than half of the theater for Monday night's showing.

It's showing Monday night only, at 1,500 theaters around the country.

Fans young and old who bought tickets to see "Betty White, a Celebration," were excited for the laughs.

"I want to hear laughs, I want to hear jokes. I want to hear stories," said Pam Beining of Brookfield.

Wisconsin native Steve Boettcher meant for his documentary to be shown on Betty White's 100th birthday with her watching it, but she died 18 days ago.

"And we heard from Betty's team later in the day and they said Betty would want you to go forward, Betty would want this celebration to happen," Boettcher said. 

Fans, too, were happy to see her team felt the show must go on.

"But she's just great, I liked the fact that she was just a smart aleck the whole time," said Mike Ewens of Brookfield.

"You couldn't see the funeral, it was private. So it's kind of nice to be a part of it," said Beining.

The documentary features clips from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Carol Burnett Show, and the Golden Girls. 

She also swooned a new generation when she became the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live. 

"But television sort of -- and in a case like this almost made you feel like she was an extended member of your family," said Keith Schmitz of Milwaukee. 

"I was so excited for her to turn 100 so I was really sad to find out she, you know, died a few weeks short of 100," said Ellie Ewens of Brookfield. 

The documentary filled in the details of her life. Betty was the first woman producer and the first woman nominated for an Emmy. 

"We've been filming for about 10 years, this project, and she always says Steve was embedded with me, and she always kind of winks and smiles about it," said Boettcher.

You can watch the trailer on the Marcus Cinemas website.