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Lady Sings the Blues

R Released Oct 12, 1972 2h 24m Biography Music List
71% Tomatometer 62 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Pop star Diana Ross portrays legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in this biographical drama. Beginning with Holiday's traumatic youth, the film depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay (Billy Dee Williams), her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.

Critics Reviews

View All (62) Critics Reviews
Joe Pollack St. Louis Post-Dispatch Furie does a generally good job, and it was cheering to see some of the old-fashioned techniques like railroad wheels, theater marquees and newspaper clippings used to show passage of time and space. They are corny, but they are effective. Apr 5, 2024 Full Review William B. Collins Philadelphia Inquirer The onetime lead vocalist of the Supremes [Ross] shows an amazing range as an actress, triumphing astonishingly in a movie which is nothing to brag about otherwise. Apr 5, 2024 Full Review G.J. Fleming Orlando Sentinel As a movie, it is a good debut for Diana Ross, though probably an inadequately slick testimonial to the tragic life of Billie Holiday. Apr 5, 2024 Full Review James Baldwin The Devil Finds Work It has absolutely nothing to do with Billie, or with jazz, or any other kind of music, or the risks of an artist, or American life, or black life, or narcotics, or the narcotics laws, or clubs, or managers, or policemen, or despair, or love. May 1, 2024 Full Review Observer (UK) Staff Observer (UK) Purists may quibble at the way Billie's life is presented but, showbiz or no, we enjoyed it all hugely. Apr 5, 2024 Full Review Montezuma Bay Area Reporter Whatever negative one can find in "Lady Sings the Blues", one thing shines through and that is the emergence of Diana Ross as a first class actress and star. Apr 5, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (283) audience reviews
Kenya A classic movie with Diana Ross. She was phenomenal as this was her first acting gig. My all time favorite movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/22 Full Review Alec B Ross, who you might think would be the weak link here, does give a good performance. She captures a kind of desperate sadness within Holiday that feels honest. It is a shame that the movie is just a cliched biopic that can't think of much to say about Holiday and never really earns Ross' work here. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/10/24 Full Review S R An important story, but just average in the making / telling. Not one I plan to see again. Saw on TCM. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Nothing to do with Billie Holiday. Not even a good period piece. Diana Ross just never gets over herself. Way too Hollywood fake glamour. Supporting cast did OK with crummy script. Billy Dee Williams band Richard Pryor, cant go wrong. Dont compare to "Ray.". Ironically I am watching " Stormy Weather" with Lena Horne. She did the most memorable song at a window the carpenters dragged in and nobody noticed Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Ross, who you might think would be the weak link here, does give a good performance. She captures a kind of desperate sadness within Holiday that feels honest. It is a shame that the movie is just a cliched biopic that can't think of much to say about Holiday and never really earns Ross' work here. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review william k The big surprise in this conventional biopic is Diana Ross' great empathetic portrayal of Billie Holiday (although one may argue whether her singing style can match up with the jazz legend); otherwise this is a straightforward, but highly simplified and cliche-ridden depiction of the artist's life. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Lady Sings the Blues

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Cast & Crew

Serpico 93% 88% Serpico Lenny 88% 88% Lenny Andrei Rublev 96% 93% Andrei Rublev Frances 67% 78% Frances Cheech & Chong Still Smokin' 10% 65% Cheech & Chong Still Smokin' Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Pop star Diana Ross portrays legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in this biographical drama. Beginning with Holiday's traumatic youth, the film depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay (Billy Dee Williams), her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.
Director
Sidney J. Furie
Producer
Jay Weston, James S. White
Screenwriter
Chris Clark, Suzanne De Passe, Billy Holiday, Terence Mc Cloy, William Dufty
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Sidney J. Furie Productions, Paramount Pictures, Motown Productions, Jobete Productions, Weston Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Biography, Music
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 12, 1972, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Oct 5, 2010
Runtime
2h 24m
Sound Mix
Stereo, Mono