University of Virginia Library

CINEMA

Diana Sings In Cliched Film

By FRANK WILLIAMS

Lady Sings the Blues is a
splendid tribute to Billie
Holiday. It is based on a book
of the same name written by
William Duffy and the singer.
But, as a film, the story suffers
from over-romantic cliches.

The film follows the story
of Billie from washing steps in
Baltimore to working as a
prostitute in New York City. It
then elaborates on her fantastic
singing career and drug
experience.

In her book, Holiday
describes "some little old
Spanish man," she had seen on
TV- Pablo Casals. He had said
that music was always changing
and that it would die if you
had to interpret the same song
the same way each time. This is
why Holiday did such a good
recording of Ain't Nobody's
Business But My Own, a song
Bessie Smith made famous.

For the same reason, Billie
would have approved of Diana
Ross' rendition of this song
and several others in the film:
Lover Man Where Can You
Be?. Them There Eyes (a song
by Count Basie) and I Cover
the Waterfront.

Ms. Ross belts out the songs
with a light yet full voice and a
sexy bat of her eyes. She is a
fine actress in this, her film
debut, especially in her
portrayal of a desperate junkie.

Major actors in the film are
Billy Dee Williams, who plays
Billie's persistent lover, and
Richard Pryor as a pianist who
first saves Billie from an
overdose of junk, but later
gives the drug to her. Pryor is
especially good when he
persuades Billie backstage, that
she should shoot up.

Despite their excellent
performances, the two actors
are overshadowed by the smiles
and whiles of Ms. Ross. In fact,
she is not the ideal actress for
Billie Holiday's life story,
because there is too much of
herself in the role. It is hard
to imagine Ms. Ross, the rich
nightingale of the sixties, in the
high-heels of Holiday, who
never even made royalties on
her recordings. The song
Strange Fruit about a hanging
Holiday once saw in the South,
does not come across as
meaningful when we see this
jet-set figure of Ross
envisioning it.

Although the plot is
authentic, the director placed
too much value on drug scenes
and mushy romance, and
payed too little attention to
the hard side of Holiday's live.

If you want to know more
about Holiday, read the book
and listen to her earlier
recordings(The later ones have
had the treble somewhat
deleted.) But if you like Diana
Ross, a scintillating personality
sings and dances before your
eyes. She is a woman possessed
of cunning and yet docile
enough to go along with the
producers : She does not
negate the suffering of Billie
Holiday, but the film itself
glorifies her out of the
proportion we would expect of
the real star.

The style of both talented
singers is suggested in this
movie; Ross depends on
Holiday's story, Holiday on
Ross's version of her. The
music is not exactly the blues,
but both ladies really sing.

(Now at the Cinema)