Sunday, July 3, 2011

THE HELEN MORGAN STORY

The Helen Morgan Story
Warner Bros., 1957, B/W, 118 minutes, ***
Released October, 1937

Mostly fictional story of the life of popular singer Helen Morgan. Miss Morgan was a legendary cafe singer and stage musical star of the early part of the 20th Century. She can be seen in the 1936 screen adaptation of Show Boat, where she reprises her role as Julie in the original 1927 stage production.

This film is more of a drama with music than a true musical. But it has many good musical numbers and the background score is great. I have no idea how accurate the story is, but if it's like most biopics, it's probably more fiction than fact. Being a fan of Gogi Grant, I find it distracting to hear her voice coming from Ann Blyth. Though I must say the lip-syncing is great (I don't know if Ann Blyth is singing to Gogi's playback, or if Gogi did voice-overs). Ann Blyth seems to have studied Helen Morgan's style. It's a good film, though, with some really fine acting.

Produced by: Martin Rackin
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Assistant Director: Paul Helmick
Written by: Oscar Saul, Dean Riesne, Stephen Longstreet and Nelson Gidding
Musical Numbers Staged by: LeRoy Prinz
Songs Sung by: Gogi Grant
Vocal Arrangements by: Charles Henderson
Makeup Supervisor: Gordon Bau
Art Director: John Beckman
Set Decorator: Howard Bristol
Costumes Designed by: Howard Shoup
Sound by: Francis J. Scheid, Dolph Thomas
Director of Photography: Ted McCord
Filmed in CinemaScope
Film Editor: Frank Bracht

Cast: Ann Blyth [Helen Morgan], Paul Newman [Larry], Richard Carlson [Wade], Gene Evans [Whitey Krause], Alan King [Ben], Cara Williams [Dolly], Virginia Vincent [Sue], Walter Woolf King [Ziegfeld], Dorothy Green [Mrs. Wade], Edward Platt [Haggerty], Warren Douglas [Hellinger], Sammy White [Sammy], De Castro Sisters [Singers], Leonid Kinskey [Accordion Player], Jimmy McHugh [Himself], Rudy Vallee [Himself], Walter Winchell [Himself], Gogi Grant [singing voice for Ann Blyth]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture: Why Was I Born? (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:08] If You Were the Only Girl in the World (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [0:11] Avalon (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth and Chorus Girls); [0:30] Girl Friend (sung and danced by Mixed Chorus, fades to background); [0:32] The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [0:35] Love Nest (short excerpt sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [0:39] Medley: Do, Do, Do / Breezin' Along with the Breeze (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [0:42] My Time Is Your Time (excerpt sung by Rudy Vallee, fades to instrumental behind dialogue); [0:44] Tip Toe Through the Tulips (used instrumentally in background score); [0:47] The Man I Love (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [0:54] Do It Again (used instrumentally in background score at Larry's nightclub "The Helen Morgan Club"); [0:58] On the Sunny Side of the Street (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [1:00] Tea for Two (used instrumentally in background score); [1:03] I Want to Be Happy (sung by trio of two men and one woman [I don't know who they are]); [1:08] Why Was I Born? (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth, also used instrumentally throughout the background score); [1:16] Why Was I Born? (used instrumentally in background score); [1:17] Medley: Someone to Watch over Me / Deep Night / April in Paris (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [1:22] Sweet Georgia Brown (short excerpt sung by Cara Williams, danced by Cara Williams and Chorus Girls); [1:26] Somebody Loves Me (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [1:32] Bill (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [1:35] You Do Something to Me (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); [1:36] unidentified jazz number (played in nightclub, fades to background); [1:40] Why Was I Born? (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth in background); [1:55] Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man (sung by Gogi Grant dubbing for Ann Blyth); I've probably missed some tunes in the background score - it's almost wall-to-wall song tunes. I've intentionally left out a number of very short excerpts.

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