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Biography | Aspiring Singer
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Top Female Musical Performance | 1958 | Ann
The title role was declined by two actresses who had recently headlined successful biopics of troubled songstresses: Doris Day (Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me (1955)) and Susan Hayward (Lillian Roth in I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)), neither of whom wanted to (in a sense) "recycle" an earlier role.
Singing stars Peggy Lee and Patti Page were both considered for the title role: Lee had co-starred in two movies, being recently Oscar-nominated for a troubled songstress turn in Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) while Page's few cinematic forays were in the future. Also considered: lesser known singers Helen Grayco, Peggy King, Micki Marlo and Jaye P. Morgan; established singer/actress Julie London; veteran actresses Lizabeth Scott and Jennifer Jones; movie musical icons Judy Garland and Kathryn Grayson; and top model Nancy Berg.
This was Warner Bros. only feature in black-and-white CinemaScope.
Although Ann Blyth had done her own singing in her other movie musicals, her trained soprano voice was judged too operatic for the role of Helen Morgan, and pop singer Gogi Grant's voice was dubbed in. Ironically, the real Helen Morgan's light soprano voice was actually closer to Blyth's in quality than it was to Grant's. Ann Blyth revealed to writer-producer John Fricke that studio head Jack L. Warner had insisted on an intense, belting, Judy Garland-type sound for the film's Morgan.
As with many other films made in the 1950's, this movie was preceded by a television episode of an anthology series. The original, live production of Playhouse 90 (1956), starring Polly Bergen, was presented on CBS TV five months before the release of the film version. Miss Bergen won that year's Emmy Award for Best Single Performance, Lead or Support, by an actress.
"Larry Maddux: Do yourself a favor. Hire the kid. Whitey Krause: I hope your hooch is better than your suggestion, Larry. What's the canary to you. Larry Maddux: Nuthin'. I'm just a music lover. Besides, I don't go for that sad stuff she sings."
"Larry Maddux: This town's ready. I'm ready to open it for you like an oyster."
