Lady Sings the Blues (DVD, 2005, Special Collector's Edition/ Widescreen)

This classic movie has finally come to DVD and it's really worth the wait! The film itself is amazing, and it's a great addition to anyone's DVD collection. Diana Ross, (who had never acted before and had no formal training), gave a performance that got her an oscar nomination (which she truely deserved)! Instead of imitating the legendary Billie Holiday, Ms. Ross took the essence of her charactor and made it her own.The film also helped establish Billy Dee Williams as a sexy leading man.
Richard Pryor gave a brilliant dramatic performance as "Piano man", and proved he too had incredible range as an artist, in this touching role as Billie's good friend.
The special features interview section of this DVD is a real treat! Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, and Suzanne De Passe (along with others), talk candidly about the making of this film and reveal very interesting facts about the process. They discuss the importance of Barry Gordy's vision and determination to make a quality historically relevent drama, at a time when "Blaxplotation" films were the norm. The film is accompanied by a fabulous sound track of jazz classics, made famous by Ms. Holiday and beautifully sung by Diana Ross.
Now perceived as ahead of it's time, "Lady Sings The Blues" chronicles the icon Billie Holiday and offers tour de force performances by a great cast! They tell her tragic story with dignity and brilliance! Thank god Barry Gordy had the resources to get this movie to the big screen! For me this is a must have DVD.

One of my all-time favorite singers Diana Ross was a Best Actress contender in 1972 for her amazing performance in this musical biography of the enigmatic Billie Holiday.

The 1930s story begins in Baltimore with our teenage heroine working in a house of prostitution and getting raped while her aunt-custodian was away with her family. A skinny, poor waif, Eleanora-Billie listens to records too much, and after the rape goes to New York to see her mother Sadie. Again working in a house of prostituton, Eleanora walks across the street to try and break in to show business at the Dean and Dean night club owned by Jerry Dean (Sid Melton). She cannot dance, but Jerry is impressed with her singing. With help from the piano player, Piano Man(Richard Pryor), Billie Holiday makes her debut. The rest is history. Or almost.

After her initial discovery, we see the grueling work that it took for Billie to reach the top or almost. Besides the racial discrimination that she endured while touring in the 1930s South, the story emphasizes the drug addiction that does our heroine in. She was a pre-Elvis that just got involved with drugs to keep going and doing her best to sing.

The real hero of the movie is Louis McKay (Billie Dee Williams), a rich playboy who becomes impressed with Billie and changes his lifestyle to marry her and become her protector. But it is too late, for Billie is too addicted plus the police and the establishment are against her because she is black.

This production by Berry Gordy does have a wonderful ending, however, which I am not going to disclose. In the meantime, we are entertained thoroughly by Billie Holiday standards: Good Morning Heartache, Aint Nobodys Business, My Man, and many more.

In a special feature to the DVD, we are treated to the legend Diana Ross and her take on her performance. With no previous acting training and with this role tailor-made for her by Berry Gordy, Ross looks beautiful as she explains how she immersed herself in the role and made it her own. With gardenia in her hair, she becomes Lady Day even though the singing is her own.

This movie earned 5 Academy Award nominations: Best Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Scoring, Best Screenplay, and Best Costume Design (Bob Mackie). With no wins, Ross explains that she would have given all the thanks to Berry Gordy who at one point had to buy the picture back from Paramount to keep it alive.

This movie is a visual treat but a bit depressing as our Lady Day is doomed. However, as you watch it, keep in mind that Billie Holiday blazed trails for those who have since appeared.

Diana Ross has about as much in common with Billie Holiday as George W. Bush has with intelligence!

That being said, the thin ebony glamazon knocks the stuffing out of this tale of rape, drugs and pain.

While Diana does "gloss" Billie, she's also raw and very very moving in her portrayal of Lady Day. She can really freeze your blood with her pathos during the withdrawal scenes in the woman's prison, and almost have you believing that the ghost of Billie resides in her when she croons her version of Billie's great melodies on the soundtrack.

This picture holds up over thirty years after it's theatrical release, and still serves as a glimpse into the harrowing life, a life that created the greatest blues singer of all time.

All the critics noted, Lady Sings The Blues was loosely based on Billie Holiday. But Diana Ross captured the essence of all those beautiful songs and her acting along with the whole ensemble was incredible. The score was both sad and romantic. This is in my top ten for favorite movies of all time. There is nothing to dislike about this movie, it's hauntingly beautiful.

Diana Rosses award ( but didnot win) winning preformance in this movie portraing Billie Holliday was a movie to never forget. ZI can still after all these years hear her with that voice, that melts your soul. I believe this was her firts time out on the big screen, and she should have won every awar that year for this movie, but that was then, and this is now. what a shame. Billy Dee Williams was also a stand out up and coming star when this movie was made. . its a true treasure and I invite everyone to enjoy this film the way that I did. a++++++