The life story of the musical star from her discovery in 1890 by bandleader Tony Pastor until her retirement in 1912, when she married newspaperman Alexander Moore.The life story of the musical star from her discovery in 1890 by bandleader Tony Pastor until her retirement in 1912, when she married newspaperman Alexander Moore.The life story of the musical star from her discovery in 1890 by bandleader Tony Pastor until her retirement in 1912, when she married newspaperman Alexander Moore.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
- Arthur Sullivan
- (as Claude Allister)
- Lew Fields
- (as Fields)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTo secure the part of Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Henry Fonda had to sign a long-term contract with Fox. Except for The Ox-Bow Incident (1942), Fonda disliked the other films he was forced to do, none more so than "Lillian Russell".
- GoofsWhen Russell sings to President Grover Cleveland over the long-distance telephone, she performs "After the Ball is Over." In actuality, she sang the "Sabre Song" from the show she was then doing, Offenbach's "The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein." The film sets the scene backstage, with Russell backed by a full chorus. In fact, the call was placed from her dressing room.
- Quotes
Charles K. Leonard: You'll be a success in whatever you do, Helen, because you're all woman, and there's nothing finer than that. You know, that's where your mother's suffragettes are all wrong. They're going to get equal rights ultimately, and the chance to act like men, maybe. But they're going to lose a lot of femininity. And when they do, something tells me that they're going to lose more power than they'll ever get back by voting. Uh, honey, you needn't tell your mother that I said that.
- SoundtracksAdored One
(1940)
Music by Alfred Newman
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Performed by Don Ameche (uncredited)
Also sung by Alice Faye (uncredited)
In the score as background music often
People spend a lot of time in this movie telling Alice Faye as Lillian Russell how beautiful she is. A lot of time, repeatedly warning her that her beauty is so magnificent that her life will be difficult because of it. Faye is told how gorgeous she is so many times that it starts to seem like a self-esteem exercise rather than a narrative. And I don't find Faye that pretty, to be honest, so it makes the repetition that much more noticeable. Ameche plays a grouch, and Fonda has to do his wide-eyed sincerity good-guy shtick, while Arnold hams it up repeating a role he had played in an earlier film, and Warren William is completely wasted. Fonda was said to have regretted this movie the most of any he did under contract to Fox.
The musical aspects are also lackluster, with no major musical numbers, just pieces of songs here and there, and a couple of minor full performances. Like many of these biopics, it's also an excuse for some nostalgia wallowing, this time with Eddie Foy Jr. Playing his father doing an old stage bit, and vaudeville comedy duo dinosaurs Weber & Fields doing some hoary bits. The movie earned one Oscar nomination, for Best Art Direction (Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright).
- How long is Lillian Russell?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime2 hours 7 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1