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
Now, I enjoy Alice Faye and her singing. She was a very good singer. But her low, sultry voice was far different from the voice of Lillian Russell's. Perhaps that's why there is so very little singling by Faye in this film. And, that 's a waiving sign that this would not be a film very much about the talents and the person.
Lillian was born Helen Louise Leonard on December 4, 1861, and raised in Iowa. In real life, her mother left her father and moved to New York with Helen, in the hopes of her becoming an opera singer. It wasn't her father or grandmother who supported her singing, as the film shows. She did get training, as shown, from Leopold Damrosch. And, her voice was near operatic soprano. Alice Faye's voice, on the other hand, was a low or husky contralto. One can hear a recording of Lillian Russell on You Tube. It's from 1912, after her return to performing, and she sings "Come Down Ma Evenin' Star."
One can't fault Alice Faye for her excellent voice, because it's different than Russell's. But one can wonder why someone closer to Russell's character and voice wasn't cast in the part for this film. For instance, Jeanette MacDonald. There are pictures of Russell and MacDonald in which they even look somewhat alike. A person's size and physical shape otherwise isn't very important in making biopics, with the possible exceptions of portrayals of prize-fighters and Olympic weight-lifters. Except for Russell's buxom and full shape, at five and half feet, she was just one inch taller than Faye and two inches taller than MacDonald
And, Jeanette MacDonald had more going for her. She had made many musicals and had the persona and character of someone with a great stage presence. Indeed, with her soprano voice, the film could easily have had some more songs that Russell sang.
This film has one huge plus that enables me to rate it five stars. And that is the very good and considerable portrayal of Russell's relationship with Diamond Jim Brady. Edward Arnold was the right choice to play Brady, since he had played the lead role in the 1935 biopic about him, "Diamond Jim." That was a very good biopic, and while it showed some of Brady's relationship with Lillian Russell, it begged for more on that. Binnie Barnes played the role of Lillian Russell in that film and sang one number that very closely resembled Russell's voice. Early in her career, Barnes had worked as a chorus girl.
Hollywood has made many movies about the lives of historical figures and famous people of the past. Most of the good biopics have been based on biographies or autobiographies. While some have included a number of scenes at different times in a persons life, most of these concentrate on special adult years of achievements, discoveries, or works. Naturally, condensing a life's story or even a period of a few years into a movie of less than two hours requires many short cuts. But most movies about historical figures have tried to include the key aspects of the person's life and relationships that were of prominence during their lives. And, while some things are touched up, softened or glazed over, the films seldom tried to completely cover up some aspects of the life of the person.
Many musical biopics also have tried to closely follow the lives of their subjects, including controversies, conflicts and personal problems and trials. So, there are many very good and great musical biopics, such as: "The Fabulous Dorseys" of 1947, "With a Song in My Heart" (Jane Froman) of 1952, "The Glenn Miller Story" of 1954, "The Benny Goodman Story" of 1956, "The Five Pennies" (Red Nichols) of 1959, "Amadeus" of 1984, "Ray" (Ray Charles) of 2004, "Walk the Line" (Johnny Cash) of 2005, "La Vie en Rose" of 2007 (Edith Piaf).
Perhaps one day there will be a very good biopic done about Lillian Russell. One with a truer portrayal of her life. And, with an actress with a similar voice, beauty and presence. And with some good songs and scenes from operettas and shows that Russell performed in.
- How long is Lillian Russell?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime2 hours 7 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1