Christian Blackwood's portrait of singer Eartha Kitt was featured at several international film festivals in 1982, including Cannes, London and Toronto. Annette Insdorf, writing in the French paper, Le Matin, calls All By Myself "a superb film portrait of the singer Eartha Kitt, a volatile and still-mesmerizing performer. Directed by Christian Blackwood with both the necessary intimacy and distance vis-a-vis the subject, this film reveals the complexity of the Black American singer who burst upon the entertainment scene in the early 50s. Intercut with concert footage--where she performs such electric numbers as 'C'est si Bon', 'I Want To Be Evil', 'Mad About the Boy', and 'All By Myself'--are the other (and not made-up) faces of Eartha Kitt. We see her as a doting mother and a dance teacher to Black kids in Watts, as well as on-stage. And we are reminded of the political embarrassment she caused the White House when, as a guest of Lyndon Johnson, she spoke against the Vietnam War... All By Myself is at times a disturbing portrait as we grow uncomfortably close to the vulnerability and occasional arrogance of the driven singer. It is also a sensitive and engrossing exploration of her three interlocking identities--a woman, a Black, and a consummate performer."