Is there a Billie Holiday film?

[cookie]

Round Midnight

generally i hate biopics of musicians. The only decent one i've seen is Around Midnight. And it's probably only good because it stars someone who knows something about the life of a jazz musician.

Clint Eastwood did one on Charlie Parker which was an absolute turkey. Was it Cuba Gooding Jr.? Terrible, terrible, terrible portrayal of Parker while playing.

A Holiday biopic would be interesting. But i'll bet it would sugar-coat an awful lot. It would reserve all the blame for her self-destructive behaviour for others - her men, 'the whites', overbearing band leaders, etc. - without seriously questioning why she did what she did.

Has anyone noticed that they only make biopics about black jazz musicians who were self-destructive addicts? (I'm thinking Lester Young, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday.) And for the white musicians it's the bandleaders, ignoring the self-destructive addicts. Why is that?

Apparently there's a Chet Baker movie in the works - isn't there always? - which may begin to address this issue.

bk

BK any more details on this film? I do not know about it. Cheers

 

[Baron Kurtz]

It's an amalgam of the lives of Bud Powell and Lester Young in Paris circa 1955. Stars the great Dexter Gordon as an ailing and drink-addicted tenor saxophonist (clearly based on Young). The story is basically the one told by Francis Paudras of his friendship with Bud Powell.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090557/

Dexter Gordon is amazing in this movie.

bk

 

[Salv]

It's an amalgam of the lives of Bud Powell and Lester Young in Paris circa 1955. Stars the great Dexter Gordon as an ailing and drink-addicted tenor saxophonist (clearly based on Young). The story is basically the one told by Francis Paudras of his friendship with Bud Powell.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090557/

Dexter Gordon is amazing in this movie.

bk

It's a wonderful film. I've got a VHS copy of it somewhere in my pile of old tapes - I'll have to dust it off and watch it again. I remember completely identifying with Francois in his adoration of an ageing Afro-American musician.

O/T but I think it helps that it had a European director - there's a distance from the subject matter that seems to make for better films. There were a few films made in the same period by European directors about America and Americans that I don't think an American director would have made as well at the time - 'Round Midnight was directed by Bertrand Tavernier, Hammett by Wim Wenders and Once Upon A Time In America by Sergio Leone. The Leone is still one of my favourite gangster films, up there with Mean Streets and Godfather II, and Wenders perfectly captured the myths of 1920s fictional San Francisco, and made a visually stunning film at the same time.

 

[PA Dancer]

Billie Movies

All movies that she appeared in:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0390507/

Billie Holiday - Life & Artistry of Billie Holiday (2004)

The legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday changed the face of pop music forever during the 1930s and 40s, imbuing her every song with the richness and tragedy of her own life and experiences. With a troubled childhood, and later an equally difficult romantic life, as well as substance abuse problems, Holiday's personal story ensured her notoriety; yet it was just this sense of pathos that made her music so affecting. With a broad range of emotion that was always intense and heartfelt, Holiday deviated from traditional notions of jazz singing to create her own style of singing that was passionate, poignant, and heartbreaking. THE GENIUS OF LADY DAY collects rare TV clips, as well as her sole appearance in a feature film, playing a maid in Arthur Lubin's NEW ORLEANS (1947). Completing the bill is the extremely rare 15-minute short presenting Count Basie and his Sextet, Billie Holiday, and Sugar Chile Robinson. The documentary also includes footage of Holiday contemporaries Lester Young, Doc Cheatham, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Gerry Mulligan, Mal Waldron, and others.

Strange Fruit (2002)

Genre: Documentary
Starring: Billie Holiday, Amiri Baraka, Abbey Lincoln, Pete Seeger, Cassandra Wilson
Director: Joel Grey, Joel Katz

:::Synopsis
In 1937, after seeing a photo depicting the lynching of an African-American man in the south, Bronx-born schoolteacher Abel Meeropol wrote a poem entitled 'Strange Fruit' that begins with the words 'Southern trees bear a strange fruit/ Blood on the leaves and blood at the root.' After the poem was published to acclaim in a publication entitled New York Teacher, Meeropol set it to music. Published under the name Lewis Allan, the song gained a reputation in political circles, but much wider attention came when Billie Holiday performed it at a Manhattan nightclub called Caf?© Society in 1939. Holiday's record came out shortly thereafter, and became one of her signature songs, as well as a symbol of a grim period in American history. Through interviews and archival footage--including a striking performance of the song by Holiday from British television--director Joel Katz explains the origins of the song, then gives copious evidence of its social impact--on both the public and the generations of musicians who have performed it. He explains the rocky history of the song, such as Holiday's claim that she took part in its composition, as well as its appearance in the McCarthy hearings. Then Katz bravely relates the song's significance to more recent hate crimes. STRANGE FRUIT is a fascinating journey that intertwines family, music, human rights, and tolerance in general.

 

[Hondo]

STOP! In the name of love.... :eusa_doh:

I guess I was prejudices having liked "Diana Ross and the Supremes" and whole Motown sound 60's. Sorry I thought (what do I know?) it was good, I still have the paperback from the film, but Doc seems to have it right on the nail. I won't get into her personal bouts, troubles as aging diva.
But I agree with ya Lady, a new Billie Biopic would be great

I thought "Lady Sings the Blues" well...sucked. Im not a Ross fan, and I thought she was a horrible choice for Lady Day. But she was the queen of the time when the movie was being made so wha you gonna do.

A new Billie biopic is needed tho.

LD