Review of The Helen Morgan Story (1957) by Greg W — 21 Feb 2016

The biopic of a woman who, despite her connections with the wrong men and the tumult of the roaring twenties, rises to showbiz prominence.

I don't know anything about the real Helen Morgan, so the comparisons between the film and actual events are lost on me. If there are inaccuracies, they should've elected to make the story more interesting. As it is, the rise to fame is rather basic, and the film's chronicle of Morgan's rise is uneven. As a film, the story is interrupted by musical numbers that only occasionally reflect the action that we're supposed to be most concerned with.

Also, Ann Blyth and Paul Newman have almost no chemistry, which is odd considering the fact that Newman made a career out of leveraging his irresistible charm. When Newman's character says that he's "stuck on her" and when Morgan sings love songs in his general direction, I can't understand why or what motivated their romance.

Overall, if you like the music of the roaring twenties, those beginnings of jazz, then you'll love the soundtrack, but try to ignore the attempts at a story interrupting the songs.