“The Helen Morgan Story” isn’t a great movie, but it isn’t bad either. Directed by Michael Curtiz. Helen Morgan begins her career as a Chicago carnival dancer. Despite requests to delay the television version, it aired five months before the release of the motion picture.[1][2]. Morgan was married three times, which wasn’t shown in the film. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1957 Vinyl release of "The Helen Morgan Story" on Discogs. An ambitious young executive chooses a loveless marriage and an unfulfilling personal life in exchange for a successful Wall Street career. (Personnel On Camera). Helen spends most of her spare time anguishing over the on-and-off affections of her boorish boyfriend (Paul Newman), who had discovered Helen during her carnival days and promoted her to stardom. She also died of liver failure due to alcoholism in 1941, yet the film unsurprisingly painted a happy ending. As the Nobel Prize winners come to Stockholm to receive their awards, their lives are overturned and perturbed in various ways. A soundtrack album is available on compact disc. Ann Blyth as Helen Morgan, Rudy Vallee, Jimmy McHugh. (The real story of Helen Morgan has plenty of drama and soap opera itself and would probably have made for a more compelling film.) "I'm just wild about Harry" by Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake; "Charleston" by Cecil Mack, James P. Johnson. "I'm just wild about Harry" by Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake; "Charleston" by Cecil Mack, James P. Johnson. Even in today's headlines we see talented performers who achieve fame and fortune only to stumble due to relationship difficulties, substance abuse and shady characters in their entourage. Directed by Michael Curtiz. "[5], Variety called it "little more than a tuneful soap opera" and added, "The story line sometimes strains credulity and the dialogue situations occasionally give the production a cornball flavor...Director Michael Curtiz has done a good job with the material at hand, injecting a pacing and bits of business that help maintain interest, and the production gets added benefit from a series of hit tunes of the era...Blyth turns in a sympathetic but not always convincing performance. Helen is involved in two romantic relationships - with Maddux, and with wealthy attorney Russell Wade - each of which cause her great anguish. View production, box office, & company info. Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA. She also died of liver failure due to alcoholism in 1941, yet the film unsurprisingly painted a happy ending. After his employer is murdered by rival cattlemen, a troubled and uneducated young cowboy vows revenge on the murderers. The Helen Morgan Story is een Amerikaanse dramafilm uit 1957 onder regie van Michael Curtiz.In Nederland werd de film destijds uitgebracht onder de titel De koningin van het nachtleven. Helen Morgan has beauty, talent, success. I still have the original vinyl LP with the same soundtrack, recorded by Gogi Grant, who did all of the singing for Ann Blythe in the movie. Torch singer Helen Morgan rises from sordid beginnings to fame and fortune only to lose it all to alcohol and poor personal choices. From Wings to Parasite, here's a look back at all of the Best Picture Oscar winners in the history of the ceremony. The fashion industry and Paris provide the setting for a comedy surrounding the mistaken impression that Samantha Blake is a high-priced call girl. [3][4] There was also considerable speculation and negotiation over the prospect that the film would be made with Judy Garland, following her Oscar-nominated performance in A Star is Born. Her sins. The Helen Morgan Story is a formula biopic with equal parts soap, song and gin. Complete your Gogi Grant collection. She loses the bulk of her money to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Wall Street Crash of 1929, hits rock bottom and, finally is hospitalized in the alcoholic ward of Bellevue. Gogi Grant ghosted vocals for actress Ann Blyth. Find album release information for The Helen Morgan Story - Gogi Grant on AllMusic motion picture | Feature film (over 60 minutes). He later wrote The Helen Morgan Story, and as a television writer in the 1950s and 1960s he wrote for Playhouse 90. If you can buy into that kind of crazy history, you might just enjoy this tuneful 1957 drama, the rise-fall-comeback of a tragic showbiz figure (which neglects to include the tragic final act). "[6], TV Guide wrote "Helen Morgan was the greatest torch singer, a petite brunette who sat atop pianos plaintively warbling sad songs about the men who mistreated her. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. The Helen Morgan Story is a 1957 American biographical film based on the life and career of torch singer/actress Helen Morgan. For reasons unknown, Ann Blyth, an excellent singer in her own right, was dubbed in The Helen Morgan Story by songstress Gogi Grant.~Hal Erickson Torch singer Helen Morgan rises from sordid beginnings to fame and fortune only to lose it all to alcohol and poor personal choices. In his review in the New York Times, A.H. Weiler called the film "as uplifting as soap opera" and added, "The indestructible tunes and the producers' fairly honest approach to the sleaziness of the speakeasy era should generate genuine nostalgia, but Miss Morgan's career, on film, appears to be uninspired, familiar fare...It's all about as heart-warming as an electric pad. With Ann Blyth, Paul Newman, Richard Carlson, Gene Evans. Paul Newman’s role as the fictional Larry Maddox is a warm up for his Hud Bannon heel role a few years later. Her involvement with Larry Maddux, a gin-runner and con-man, and Russell Wade, a prominent, married New York lawyer, and her decline thanks to these failed romances and alcohol are punctuated by performances of many of the songs she made famous. Steve Sherman is the journalist interviewing her for insights on her profession. In 1943, when 5 captured Allied one-star generals cannot agree on an escape plan, the HQ promotes an escape-savvy private to 2-star general and sends him to coordinate the captive VIPs. Larry Maddux (Paul Newman), a bootlegger, recognizes her talent and agrees to p… Also seen is her poor choices,such as her affair with a married man, her short marriage to a much younger man, a court fight over an adopted baby and her fatal descent into booze addiction. Use the HTML below. Newman is very good as the rackets guy, giving the part authority and credibility. In 1950, Boxoffice announced Warner Bros. was planning to release a musical biography with Doris Day as Helen Morgan. The movie "The Helen Morgan Story" may have been mediocre, although it did feature a good cast, but the music was a standout and still is. The Helen Morgan Story: The Man I Love (arranged by Heindorf) [Live] is a popular song by The John Wilson Orchestra & John Wilson | Create your own TikTok videos with the The Helen Morgan Story: The Man I Love (arranged by Heindorf) [Live] song and explore 0 videos made by new and popular creators. Set in the roaring 20s, The Helen Morgan Story is also Madduxs story. As in the lyrics of the tune from Showboat that she makes famous on Broadway, America's first superstar singer gains fame and fortune but never wins the prize she desires above all else--the heart of the man she loves--in The Helen Morgan Story. 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