The movie doesn't come up to the height of Love Me or Leave Me. The reviews of the day called it a soap opera and it has that feeling. Love Me or Leave had a better script and a better cast. The reason that Blyth was miscast is the same reason that they didn't use her voice (Gogi Grant dubbed over all the singing). Blyth doesn't have the emotional heft to match the torch-singing quality that is necessary for the part or necessary to match the dubbed singing by Gogi. A more powerful actress would have made the scenes with her and Newman much better. His acting ability stands out of course, but it is mostly wasted on this script. Who would have been perfect for this?...easy...Judy Garland. She may have looked to old for the part at this point...she didn't have the beauty of Blyth...who was a good singer in her own right...but not for this. Blyth looked like Morgan...and she was fantastic in Kismet...perfect. I had the pleasure of meeting her about 10 years ago and shared some coffee with her and her husband. She's a lovely lady. This movie is just lacking.
Review of The Helen Morgan Story
