Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
Director:
Sidney J. Furie
Tagline:
« Diana Ross IS Billie Holiday »
Actors:
Billie Holiday
Louis McKay
Piano Man
Reg Hanley
Harry
Rating:
(5’264 votes)
(5’264 votes)
Quotes:
« Billie Holiday: [after Louis discovers that Billie shoots up] Sure I've taken a few shots, but only when I needed it,
»
[Louis sighs]
« Billie Holiday: but i'm not hooked, Louis. I'm not.
»
« Louis McKay: Only when you needed it. What do you think hooked is? All I had to do is listen to your voice on the telephone and I knew. Who the hell do you think you're talking to? One of those ofay cats you be running around with? I've been on those streets all of my life. I know what that shit is!
»
« Billie Holiday: It's good, ain't it?
»
[Louis then gets up and takes her suitcase and starts packing her stuff]
« Billie Holiday: Wait, Wait, Baby! Oh, no.
»
« Louis McKay: We're going home. Now!
»
« Billie Holiday: [Stopping him] Wait, hey, baby, wait. See, you don't understand. Now, you don't know how it is when people are looking down at you and laughing at you and think that I'm a loser. And if I go home now, I'll think that I'm one, too. I gotta prove it to them. I gotta prove it to myself.
»
« Louis McKay: What're you proving with that needle? That you're not woman enough to make it without a crutch? A magic way out when the going gets a little too rough? I want you to make it, too, baby. But not this way. Not this way.
»
« Louis McKay: [offering Billie a $20 bill] You want my arm to fall off.
»
« The Rapist: I see what I want.
»
[motioning to Billie]
« The Rapist: And this is it.
»
« First Madame: Well, you can't always get what you see.
»
[Pulling him to the door]
« First Madame: And since you don't want what you CAN get, you know where you can go. And this is it!
»
Trailer:
Lady Sings the Blues
Runtime:144 minutes
Plots:
The story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
Born Elinore Harris, Billie Holiday had a difficult teen and young adulthood period, which included working in brothels, both as a cleaning woman and a prostitute, and being raped. Through this difficulty, she dreamed of becoming a jazz singer. She got her initial singing break when she applied at a Harlem club that was looking for a dancer, but where she got hired as a singer. There, she met and fell in love with the suave Louis McKay. After this initial break, Billie wanted her singing career to move to the mainstream clubs in downtown Manhattan. She took a risk when she agreed to be the lead singer for the Reg Hanley Band, a primarily white group, who convinced her that she would have to make her mark in regional tours before her Manhattan dream could happen. As Billie tried to advance her career, pressures of life, including being a black woman, led to her not so secret substance abuse (especially of heroin), not so secret because of her increasingly erratic behavior, both on stage and off. As those around her, including Louis, worked to support Billie emotionally to get off drugs, Billie faced other issues, such as open narcotic use being a criminal offense, which in combination with the effects of the heroin use itself could be Billie’s downfall despite her singing talent.
