Musicals On TV - Double Platinum

ABC, 1999

Starring Diana Ross, Brandy, Christine Ebersole, and Brian Stokes Mitchell

Directed by Robert Allen Ackerman

Music and Lyrics by various

We transition from Black History Month to Women's History Month this week with two TV movies featuring black actresses and singers. Ross mostly stayed away from films since The Wiz flopped in 1978, while Brandy Norwood was an up-and-coming R&B star who had a smash success in the lavish ABC version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella two years before. Ross finally returned to films with this soap soul drama that paired her and Brandy as a mother who tries to direct the career of the daughter she'd abandoned years before. How does all this look now? Let's begin in 1981, as a music executive tells aspiring singer Olivia King (Ross) that she might have a job waiting for her in New York and find out...

The Story: Olivia's husband Adam (Mitchell) is totally against her having a music career, so she leaves in the middle of the night, vowing to return for their daughter Kayla. 19 years later, Kayla (Brandy) is now an aspiring singer who admires Olivia King. She's thrilled when she wins a contest to see her idol in concert and enjoy a night out with her. She's so thrilled, she invites Olivia to see her perform in a local club. Adam's not as happy with Olivia's attempt to get back into their daughter's life...and neither is Kayla when she learns the truth. 

Olivia finally convinces Kaya to join her in New York. She introduces her daughter to everyone she knows in the music industry, finally getting her signed to a recording contract. Olivia wants to be in her daughter's life, but her attempts to direct Kayla's career drives her into the arms of handsome older music executive Rick Ortega (Allen Payne). Kayla's bitterness towards her mother boils over at a Grammy party and during a concert where her mother's performance steals her thunder. She moves in with Ric, just as the press gets word of her true parentage. Olivia flees to a cabin to avoid the scandal, followed by Kayla when she learns Ric's true colors. Mother and daughter have a lot of talking to do, but they finally come to realize just how much they have in common.

The Song and Dance: Ross and Brandy are backed by a terrific cast of stage actors, some of them making rare TV appearances. Mitchell plays off both well as the concerned father who worries he's losing both his ladies. Payne makes a suitably smarmy record executive who thinks he's the one in charge of Kayla's career. Some of the music isn't bad, either, including a decent "He Lives In You" from The Lion King. Ackerman specialized in TV movies revolving around strong women - he went on to do the Emmy-winning miniseries Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows two years later - and that shows in performances he coaxes out of Ross in particular. 

The Numbers: The film opens with Olivia singing "Back In Love With Me Again" at the lounge in 1981. Nineteen years later, she belts "He Lives In You" from The Lion King II at the concert Kayla wins tickets to.  Kayla's first number is the sultry "Almost Doesn't Count" at the club. She sees her mother sing "Someone That You Loved Before" at another concert, but she's not as happy to agree to join her backstage. The mellow R&B ballad "Have You Ever?" is the first song Kayla records after she gets that contract, and she's good enough to impress the producer (Harvey Firnstein). Olivia records her own sultry ballad, "Until We Meet Again." "Happy" is Kayla's number at her first major concert; "Carry On" is the upbeat dance number Olivia grooves to that upstages her. They finally come together in the finale for "Love Is All That Matters."

What I Don't Like: This is pretty obviously a TV movie that was shot in 20 days. The costumes are relatively lavish, especially Ross' sequined gowns, but the sets are minimal. The story is a huge pile of cliches that finally collapse onto themselves around the time Kayla suddenly realizes that mothers do know best in this case and Ric is more interested in his career than hers. This isn't for someone who's not into R&B or is looking for more action and less soap opera. The music is basically the two leading ladies bringing whatever they recorded in their last albums, and except for "He Lives In You," isn't terribly memorable.

The Big Finale: Worth checking out for fans of the two leading ladies or late 90's R&B for the songs and performances alone.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming. The latter is currently free at Tubi with commercials.

DVD

Tubi

Lady Sings the Blues

Paramount, 1972

Starring Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, and James Callahan

Directed by Sidney J. Furie

Music and Lyrics by various

Billie Holliday and Bessie Smith have a lot in common. Both lived troubled lives in the early and mid 20th century, though Holliday's heyday came slightly after Smith's. They survived abusive childhoods to live troubled lives, had extensive lovers of both sexes, were frequently abused and used by those they loved, earned a ton of money only to lose it all, and both died tragically in their 40's. If anything, Holliday may have had it even worse, suffering from drug addiction along with the abuse and ending up in prison several times. This was also intended to be a vehicle for a major R&B diva of the time, in this case Diana Ross. Ross had appeared on TV with the Supremes, but this would be her first major movie. How did she do as Holliday? Let's begin in 1936, as Holliday is being arrested for drug possession, and find out...

The Story: We jump back to 1928, where we see the young Elenora Fagan working as a cleaning girl in a brothel in Baltimore. After she's attacked at home by a drunk patron, she runs away to live with her mother Sadie (Virginia Capers) in New York. That doesn't turn out to be much better. She's right back to cleaning in brothels again. After realizing that being a prostitute isn't for her, she manages to get a job as a singer in nightclub with the help of a friendly piano player (Pryor). Her first night's work doesn't go well, until one interested patron (Williams) gives her a fifty-dollar tip. 

Billie finds her falling for that rich and handsome patron, Louis McKay. A year later, band leaders Reg (Callahan) and Harry Hanley (Paul Hampton) sign her to be their lead singer for a tour of the south in the hope of landing a network radio job. That job turns out to be more perilous than she anticipated when they encounter the lynching of an African-American man and are almost run down by the Klu-Klux-Klan. She's so shaken by what she's seen, it leads her to start taking drugs after she collapses onstage. Louis isn't thrilled about that and gets her to come home. 

Even when they return to New York, things don't come easy for Billie. She's unable to sing on the radio, due to the sponsors disapproving of her race. Trying to avoid her family's disappointment leads to drinking and returning to drugs. She ends up so desperate for a fix, she nearly attacks Louis. After her mother dies, she finally checks herself into drug rehab, but has no money. Louis pays her bills. Alas, even when Louis proposes to her, she's arrested for drug possession. Once out of prison, she tries to give up performing, but loves singing too much. Her agent (Vic Morosco) books her into Carnegie Hall in the hope that she'll be able to regain her cabaret license. While his ploy doesn't work, the show is a sell-out and cements her as one of the great jazz performers of all time. 

The Song and Dance: Ross made a smashing debut in this searing melodrama. She goes through every bit of heartbreak you can imagine, from drug addiction to abuse to landing in jail and manages to mostly make it believable. Suave Williams nearly matches her as the wealthy man who truly loves her. They're backed by a stylish and lavish production with gorgeous dresses for the ladies, dapper suits for the gentlemen, and beautifully done sets with just enough grunge to look like the Harlem and south of the 1930's and 40's. 

Favorite Number: Elenora's first favorite song, and the one heard throughout the first half-hour or so of the film, is "'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do" by Blinky Williams. She herself sings it later in the film as part of her second southern tour...and it's a perfect reflection of how she feels about life and herself. Her first song at the Harlem club is "All of Me." They're not impressed by "The Man I Love," either. She does better by "Them There Eyes" after she finally accepts that $50 from Louis. "Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer" is her song once she's settled in at the club and has become more popular. 

We see "Any Happy Home" during a montage of the tour, with her not able to get through her own "Don't Explain" without collapsing from exhaustion and fear. "Strange Fruit," which she records after the witnessing the lynching, was controversial at the time for its pro-Civil Rights themes. She gets her own "God Bless the Child" later. Even Louis realizes she's being "Mean to Me" when he comes to see her on tour. "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Our Love Is Here to Stay" depict her relationship with Louis, during her first year singing in Harlem and after she's gotten out of jail. She finally gets her own "'Tain't Nobody's Bizness" later before being arrested. 

Trivia: The movie and the soundtrack wound up being two of the biggest hits of 1972, and Ross was nominated for an Oscar. 

Other women considered for Holliday included Diahann Carroll, Lola Falana, and Cicely Tyson. Paul Winfield was considered for McKay. Dorothy Dandridge was considered for an earlier Holliday project, but died before it got anywhere. Ava Gardener had also been considered. Diana Sands and Abbey Lincoln were in the running when the project was revised.

Diana Ross' film debut. She and Williams would appear together again three years later in the non-musical drama Mahogany. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, there's a lot more to Holliday's tumultuous life than depicted here. Like Bessie Smith, she was bisexual and had affairs with women and men. Unlike Smith, her biopic centers on one relationship with McKay, but she had at least two other husbands and many male and female lovers. We don't hear about how she basically supported her mother in the 40's and 50's, or that she played Carnegie Hall two more times...and was arrested two more times, including while she was dying of liver disease in the hospital. Nor do we hear about her basically being an early Civil Rights advocate, a bit of a surprise given the era this was made in. 

Second, this is even more of a standard melodrama than Bessie's story...and even rougher stuff. Be wary of that R rating. There's several harrowing scenes of abuse in all forms, from verbal to physical to realistic portrayals of drug and alcohol abuse. This is not for someone looking for a more upbeat or romantic story. And Pryor, for all his importance in getting Billie recognition early-on, otherwise doesn't have a whole lot to do later in the film other than cheer Billie on and get beaten to a pulp. 

The Big Finale: If you love Ross, Williams, or Holliday and can handle the darker scenes, this is a highly recommended portrait of one woman's struggle to overcome addiction and her own fears. 

Home Media: Only on disc at the moment, but they're easily found, often for under $10.  

DVD

Blu-Ray

Cult Flops - The Wiz

Universal, 1978
Starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Music and Lyrics by Charlie Smalls and others

This will be the first of several musicals with all-black casts I look at in February in honor of Black History Month. We kick off with one of the bigger flops of the late 70's. This R&B adaptation of The Wizard of Oz was a huge hit on Broadway in 1975, and it would do well in a live TV version in 2015 (which we'll look at a bit later this month). So what happened here? For an answer to that question, we'll head to a Harlem apartment at Thanksgiving, where one young schoolteacher is about to go on a journey that will change the way she looks at her life...and family...

The Story: Dorothy Gale (Ross) is a shy schoolteacher who still lives with her parents in their Harlem apartment. She's been deliberating getting a better teaching job and moving out on her own, as she's introverted an uncertain of herself. She chases after her beloved dog Toto when he runs out into a blizzard. A snow whirlwind whisks her and Toto off to the strange urban land of Oz, which basically resembles a fantasy New York. They land in a playground, where the graffiti comes to life. According to the witch Miss One (Thelma Carpenter), they killed the Wicked Witch of the East and rescued the Munchkins from being chalk drawings for the rest of their lives. Miss One gives Dorothy a pair of silver shoes that once belonged to the Witch and sends her off to the Emerald City to find the Wizard.

Along the way, Dorothy makes some unusual friends. She befriends the Scarecrow (Jackson) when she rescues him from crows in a cornfield. He's fond of pulling papers filled with quotes from his own straw and claims he lacks brains. They encounter the rusted old Tin Man (Russell) at an abandoned carnival. He's chatty when he's not rusted, but can be sarcastic, and says he lacks a heart. They're nearly knocked over by a lion (Ross) hiding in front of the New York Public Library, but he turns out to be a cowardly critter who wants courage badly. Even after they do make it to the glamorous Emerald City at the World Trade Center, the capricious Wizard (Richard Pryor) won't do what they want until they shut down the sweatshop of Evilene, the Wicked Witch of the West. But she's already hot on their trail and will stop at nothing to make sure they don't complete their quest!

The Song and Dance: The supporting cast is the key here. Russell and especially Jackson, the latter in his film debut, make a great tin con-man and a very sweet and thoughtful Scarecrow. Ross makes for a decent lion, and Lena Horne is a lovely and elegant Glinda the Good Witch of the South.
When the camera moves in for a closer look, it can ably capture New York during the height of it's gritty decaying late 70's period (including shots of the World Trade Center - the Wizard is supposed to live at the top of one of the towers). The colorful costumes and odd and unique set design were Oscar-nominated, as were the cinematography and score.

Favorite Number: For all the problems this movie has, some of the singing is first-rate. All three versions of "Ease On Down the Road" are a blast. Ross and Russell really tear into their respective solos "I'm a Mean Ol' Lion" and "Slide Some Oil to Me." While the number itself is kind of weird (with people stripping down half-way through), the Luther Vandross-penned "Everyone Rejoice/Brand New Day" after they've defeated Evilene is the movie's most energetic and toe-tapping number. Jackson has fun with those nasty crows, who keep telling him "You Can't Win, You Can't Break Even."

What I Don't Like: Sidney Lumet was not the right director for this. He clearly didn't know how to make a musical work. Most of the numbers are filmed in long shots. You can barely see any of the dancing or what anyone's doing, or even ogle the designer costumes in the Emerald City number. Things would have looked a lot better if he'd given us a few more close-ups and actually focused on the dancing, rather than those elaborate New York sets.

Some characters, like Glinda, Evilene, and the Cowardly Lion, have limited roles compared to other retellings of this story. They should have built up Evilene throughout the film, like the Witch shadowed Dorothy in the 1939 version. The Wizard sending the group after her seems kind of abrupt. And why would someone who can melt have sprinklers in her sweatshop?

And that brings us to Diana Ross. She tries, but the role of Dorothy was meant for a young girl. No amount of re-writing or tossing her in a cutesy, frilly dress could make her look younger. While some of her vocal performances are outstanding (her impassioned "Believe In Yourself" is really touching), her acting wavers between stiff and shrill. To date, this has been her final screen performance.

The Big Finale: This movie was a huge flop in 1978, and despite the good cast and some decent numbers, it doesn't really hold up now. Only come here if you're a really big fan of Jackson or Diana Ross.

Home Media: The solo DVD is out of print, but it is available on Blu-Ray and most streaming services. Your best bet may be to pick it up as a double-feature with The Wiz Live like I did.

DVD - The Wiz/The Wiz Live
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime