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Lady Sings the Blues

Play trailer Poster for Lady Sings the Blues R 1972 2h 24m Biography Music Play Trailer Watchlist
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73% 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

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Joe Pollack St. Louis Post-Dispatch 04/05/2024
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. Go to Full Review William B. Collins Philadelphia Inquirer 04/05/2024
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. Go to Full Review G.J. Fleming Orlando Sentinel 04/05/2024
As a movie, it is a good debut for Diana Ross, though probably an inadequately slick testimonial to the tragic life of Billie Holiday. Go to Full Review James Baldwin The Devil Finds Work 05/01/2024
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. Go to Full Review Observer (UK) Staff Observer (UK) 04/05/2024
Purists may quibble at the way Billie's life is presented but, showbiz or no, we enjoyed it all hugely. Go to Full Review Montezuma Bay Area Reporter 04/05/2024
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. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Kenya 02/21/2022 A classic movie with Diana Ross. She was phenomenal as this was her first acting gig. My all time favorite movie. See more Steve Y @Cubby65 Nov 1 A largely fictionalized account of the life of Billie Holiday. Good period detail, a lot of one-dimensional characters, but the star here is the spectacular performance by Diana Ross; no disrespect to Liza Minnelli, but Diana Ross was robbed of an Oscar. See more Alec B 01/10/2024 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. See more S R @ScottR 05/09/2023 An important story, but just average in the making / telling. Not one I plan to see again. Saw on TCM. See more 02/14/2022 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 See more 08/03/2021 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. See more Read all reviews
Lady Sings the Blues

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Cast & Crew

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Sidney J. Furie

Director

Diana Ross

Billie Holliday

Billy Dee Williams

Louis McKay

Richard Pryor

Piano Man

James Callahan

Actor

Paul Hampton

Harry

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Lady Sings the Blues

Lady Sings the Blues (1972) Lady Sings the Blues (1972) Lady Sings the Blues (1972) View more photos

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
Weston Productions, Paramount Pictures, Motown Productions, Jobete Productions, Sidney J. Furie 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