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Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman

"Love-Wrecked!"

A nightclub singer uses alcohol in excess to sooth her painful life.

Top Cast

  • Susan Hayward

    Susan Hayward

    Angie Evans

  • Lee Bowman

    Lee Bowman

    Ken Conway

  • Marsha Hunt

    Marsha Hunt

    Martha Gray

  • Eddie Albert

    Eddie Albert

    Steve Nelson

  • Carl Esmond

    Carl Esmond

    Dr. Lorenz

  • Carleton Young

    Carleton Young

    Fred Elliott

  • Charles D. Brown

    Charles D. Brown

    Mike Dawson

  • Janet Murdoch

    Janet Murdoch

    Miss Kirk

  • Sharyn Payne

    Sharyn Payne

    Angel Conway

Overview

A nightclub singer uses alcohol in excess to sooth her painful life.

Rating

6.4 / 10
24 Reviews
0 Popular

1 Reviews

  • CinemaSerf
    CinemaSerf
    6 Jul 7, 2022

    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.

Recommendations

Madame X

Holly Parker, the wife of a wealthy diplomat, is compromised by the accidental death of a man who has been romantically pursuing her. She is forced by her mother-in-law to assume a new identity in order to save the reputation of her husband and infant son. She wanders the world, trying to forget her heartbreak with the aid of alcohol and unsavory men. Eventually returning to the city of her downfall, she murders a blackmailer who threatens to expose her past. Amazingly, Holly is represented at her murder trial by her now adult son, who has become a public defender. In the hope of protecting her family, she refuses to reveal her real name and is known to the court as "Madame X".

Madame X

6.4 1966