I think the only reason they made "The Helen Morgan Story" is because of the success of similar movies such as "Love Me or Leave Me" and "I'll Cry Tomorrow"--both exceptional movies from 1955 about very hard luck singers of the 1920s. Like these other films, "The Helen Morgan Story" is about a lady with lots of talent--but also had a talent for screwing up her life. But, unlike these other films, you really never care about her or anyone in the films. For example, in "Love Me or Leave Me", Doris Day plays a real life lady who had a gangster boyfriend BUT she left him and cleaned up her life--so the notion of overcoming circumstances makes this an enjoyable film. In "I'll Cry Tomorrow" you like the story because Susan Hayward did a nice job of putting over the role. Here, there really is nothing good. With "The Helen Morgan Story", however, it feels like an episode of "The Jerry Springer Show" as her boyfriend (Paul Newman) slaps her around and treats poor Helen (Ann Blythe) like crap. It gets old very fast--it's just vicious and nasty. And, it's hard to care about her as well--she's just pathetic. Overall, I found it to be a real chore to watch this one--especially since in real life it only got worse and worse and worse until the lady was dead. Not pleasant nor particularly entertaining.
By the way, there is no narrator listed on IMDb but the beginning of the film sure sounded as if the voice was Efram Zimbalist Junior. If you can enlighten me on this, let me know.
By the way, there is no narrator listed on IMDb but the beginning of the film sure sounded as if the voice was Efram Zimbalist Junior. If you can enlighten me on this, let me know.