"Lady Sings the Blues" - Not as Good as I Remember

I agree.

In the scene where she's sitting outside at the drug rehab facility, which would have been in the 1940s, she's wearing a pair of sunglasses from the 1970s.

The theme of the whole movie seemed to be, "Billie took drugs because she could never quite hold on to Mr. Right."

It's like Berry Gordy really just wanted to make a love story and decided to use Billie Holiday as a character just so Diana could sing in it.

I thought Diana Ross and Richard Pryor were great in this movie, but I wish it had been a more honest portrayal of Billie Holiday.

They probably couldn't do that back in 1972, though.

They ripped off Funny Girl. Watch how close it resembles it, from the opening flashback to the ending of My Man. The dance audition is also a direct steal from Roller Skate Rag. That said, Diana Ross was so wonderful. The reason we remember the sunglasses is because when Billy Dee takes them off and Ross says "Not so hot, huh?", we believe her and we're with her all the way.

Same as Faye in 'Mommie Dearest': entertaining, but they didn't portray the real woman.

R6 I thought Faye and MD was incredibly close to Crawford.

R5 It did parallel "Funny Girl" in a lot ways, right down to the big concert ending. It was also anachronistic like "Funny Girl."

Diana Ross was fantastic in it; she should've had a bigger career as an actress. Unfortunately, she listened to Barry Gordy, who steered her into the dismal "Mahogany" and the film career killer, "The Wiz."

I thought it was alright. Not a great film, but not bad either. I like Diana. Not that she would ever pass for Bille Holliday in any way, ever.

[quote]Same as Faye in 'Mommie Dearest': entertaining, but they didn't portray the real woman.

They probably couldn't do that back in 1981, though.

I started to watch it but found it dated.

Did Diana get the boobs out?

Liza deserved her Oscar that year.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen it, how did Diana sound singing Billie Holiday standards?

R14, completely different and nothing like her. But good in her own way.

R14 Nasally.

Pauline Kael made an interesting observation. She loved the movie and Ross but said that while she hit all the notes and inflections and brought the songs close to the originals, there was really something missing in interpretation. Also musicianship. But I think Ross did fine pop versions of the classics, which is what many objected to.

Diana was a revelation and more than ready for her close-up

It's a shame she didn't do more movies, especially a comedy or two. She has a natural, easy going charm. And she doesn't overwhelm the screen like Streisand does in some of her flicks. She would have been a first rate movie star.

Even though it riffs off of Funny Girl, LSTB is really a Susan Hayward, Joan Crawford flick. They even do an homage to Queen Bee in one scene.

For me, some of Ross' renditions were preferable to Billie's, perhaps because I think Holiday is something of an acquired taste. Good Morning Heartache was a big hit for her. The only song Ross does very poorly is Strange Fruit, which has none of Holiday's anger and horror.

There were a lot of Ross TV specials in which she played a young girl, even appearing on The Danny Thomas Show like that. It wasn't that big a surprise that she would end up as Dorothy, but it was strange that she was made up to be a 30 something schoolteacher.

Mouthing est slogans, too.

R17, that's a good way of putting it actually. Her renditions are very different and they aren't the "blues". But they are good pop music.

Ross doing "Good Morning Heartache". She's quite good and you can see why it was a hit for her.

Was her not doing more movies a case of, "But Berry talked her out of it?"

TCM recently ran “New Orleans(1947)”. Set in NOLA around the birth of jazz, featured Louis Armstrong’s band and Billie Holiday. Supposedly the only studio film Billie was in. If you like history of NOLA - especially jazz and Storyville, worth a watch. It dramatized the closing down of Storyville. IMHO for the time, the number of black actors, albeit a lot of maids and waiters in the production, was striking. Poor production values - I think this was a Paramount production, so a lot of rear projection of NOLA scenes rather than location work or authentic sets. Billie is in good voice.

Audra Mcdonald was a revelation as Billie on Broadway

R19 Apparently, she was asked to play Ruby, Tracee Ellis Ross' mother-in-law on "Black-ish," but she turned the part down.

Jenifer Lewis is great as Ruby, but it would have been interesting to see what Diana could have done with it.

I hate the part where Porgy beats her.

Lady Day shagged ladies as well. Most famously Tallulah Bankhead

[quote]the number of black actors, albeit a lot of maids and waiters in the production

It was true of the times. Many blacks were domestics/waitstaff during this period. I hate this recent trend of reimagining the past to suit modern left-wing sensibilities.

Especially the early 20th century South.

R30, old films can be as misleading as new ones, though. There has always been a black middle class, even in the South after the Civil War. Arguably segregation itself made that a necessity.

But I digress . . . Lady Sings The Blues has next to nothing to do with Billie Holiday's real life; it doesn't show her bisexuality, her multiple marriages, or her attraction to men who beat her. It's about Diana Ross being a star, which she is. Her recordings of Billie's trademark songs are valid on their own terms. Ross, like Billie, doesn't have a great voice, but she's a fantastic musician. "Strange Fruit" is the only failure.

Loved this movie - and her in it. Richard Pryor was also a revelation. As was the smooth Billy Dee. Of course, I also love Mahognay - from different reasons. I think LSTB was Diana at Her peak - great movie, great role, great singing.