Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947)
A nightclub singer uses alcohol in excess to sooth her painful life.
- Stuart Heisler
- Dorothy Parker
- Frank Cavett
- John Howard Lawson
Rating: 6/10 by 21 users
Alternative Title:
Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman - US
Smash-Up: Story of a Woman - US
A Woman Destroyed - US
Smash-Up - US
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 43 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: alcoholism, alcoholic, nightclub singer, alcoholic singer, alcoholic woman
A sort of role-reversal of "A Star is Born" as Susan Hayward portrays a successful nightclub singer who marries a struggling lyricist - Lee Bowman. When his career takes off, she becomes disheartened and turns to the bottle - putting herself and her young daughter at risk. Hayward is rather good in this - she is convincing as both a singer (thanks, largely, to the tones of Peg La Centra) and a drunk; and does engender a feeling of sympathy. Regrettably, the rest of the cast are unremarkable and the ending reduces her performance to little more than that of a pathetic failure. It's worth a watch, but only because you can see the star quality in Hayward's performance rather than anything peculiar to this story.
