Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman

Last updated
Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman
Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Stuart Heisler
Written byFrank Cavett
John Howard Lawson
Dorothy Parker
Lionel Wiggam
Produced by Walter Wanger
Starring Susan Hayward
Eddie Albert
Cinematography Stanley Cortez
Edited byMilton Carruth
Music by Frank Skinner
Production
company
Walter Wanger Productions
Distributed by Universal-International Pictures
Release date
  • March 1947 (1947-03)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,360,286 [1]
Box office$2,301,555 [1]

Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman, also called A Woman Destroyed, [2] is a 1947 American drama film with elements of film noir that tells the story of a rising nightclub singer who marries another singer and becomes an alcoholic after sacrificing her career for him.

Contents

The film stars Susan Hayward, Lee Bowman, Eddie Albert and Marsha Hunt. The screenplay was written by John Howard Lawson based on a story written by Dorothy Parker, Frank Cavett and Lionel Wiggam. Produced by Walter Wanger under his personal contract with Hayward, the film was directed by Stuart Heisler. Ethel Wales appears in an uncredited part.

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Hayward) and Best Writing, Original Story.

Because the film contains a story similar to that of A Star Is Born , it was rumored to be a cryptic biography of Bing Crosby and his stormy first marriage to Dixie Lee. A scene that has been popular with critics and fans is the violent slapping and hair-pulling fight between rivals Hayward and Hunt in the ladies‘ powder room (a scene repeated by Hayward 20 years later in Valley of the Dolls ). [3]

This film is in the public domain. [4]

Plot

In a hospital, nightclub singer Angie Evans, her face bandaged, recounts the events that brought her there.

Angie becomes involved with aspiring singer Ken Conway. Her agent Mike Dawson helps Ken and piano accompanist Steve Anderson secure a spot on a radio show singing cowboy songs. Ken sings a ballad on the day that Angie, now his wife, gives birth to their daughter. Ken's performance earns him a new career opportunity.

Ken soon achieves great success, gaining popularity and wealth, while Angie stays home. With her career at a standstill, she begins to drink. Ken counts on her to present a sophisticated image for his new high-society friends and contacts, but her alcoholism worsens, so secretary Martha Gray comes to Ken's aid.

Angie is certain that Ken and Martha are having an affair. Steve tries to intervene on Angie's behalf, but he can see that Martha has fallen in love with Ken.

Angie neglects her child, continues to drink, and then creates a scene at a party. Ken asks for a divorce and custody. Mike helps Angie find work in a club. She is determined to stay sober in order to regain custody of her daughter. Instead, she finds herself in a bar and wakes the next morning in the apartment of strangers who had found her unconscious on their stairs.

Angie kidnaps her daughter from the park and takes her to a house in the country where Angie dutifully gives the child dinner and puts her to bed. After she sings her daughter to sleep, Angie forgets a lit cigarette in the room. She begins to drink and indulges in memories before the child's shouts finally alert her to the fire. Angie rescues her daughter from the flames but suffers serious facial burns.

Realizing that she has hit rock bottom, Angie is positive that she can move forward happily. Ken has talked with her doctor and wishes to try to support her.

Cast

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "This irony of life might make for drama of a genuinely touching sort, as it did in that memorable picture of success and drunkenness, A Star Is Born. But, actually, in the writing, this complex tension has been so weakly drawn that the reason for the lady's dipsomania seems completely arbitrary and contrived. Furthermore, the writer, John Howard Lawson, has so muddled the lady with motherless love that the story becomes a wallow less in liquor than in mawkish sentiment." [5]

According to Variety, the film earned $2 million in U.S. box office receipts in 1947. [6]

The film lost $111,664 in its initial release. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Blossoms in the Dust</i> 1941 film by Mervyn LeRoy

Blossoms in the Dust is a 1941 American biographical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt, Fay Holden and Samuel S. Hinds. It tells the true story of Edna Gladney, who helped orphaned children find homes and began a campaign to remove the word "illegitimate" from Texas birth certificates, despite the opposition of "good" citizens. The screenplay was by Anita Loos, with a story by Ralph Wheelwright.

<i>Hold Back the Dawn</i> 1941 film by Mitchell Leisen

Hold Back the Dawn is a 1941 American romantic drama film in which a Romanian gigolo marries an American woman in Mexico in order to gain entry to the United States, but winds up falling in love with her. It stars Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard, Victor Francen, Walter Abel, Curt Bois, Rosemary DeCamp, and an uncredited Veronica Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Hayward</span> American actress (1917–1975)

Susan Hayward was an Academy Award-winning American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.

<i>My Foolish Heart</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by Mark Robson

My Foolish Heart is a 1949 American romantic drama film directed by Mark Robson, starring Dana Andrews and Susan Hayward. It relates the story of a woman's reflections on the bad turns her life has taken.

<i>Baby the Rain Must Fall</i> 1965 film by Robert Mulligan

Baby the Rain Must Fall is a 1965 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Lee Remick, Steve McQueen and Don Murray. Dramatist Horton Foote, who wrote the screenplay, based it on his 1954 play The Traveling Lady. This is Glen Campbell's film debut, in an uncredited role.

<i>Raw Deal</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Anthony Mann

Raw Deal is a 1948 American film noir crime film directed by Anthony Mann and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor and Marsha Hunt. It was shot by cinematographer John Alton with sets designed by the art director Edward L. Ilou. An independent production by Edward Small, it was distributed by Eagle-Lion Films.

<i>The Reckless Moment</i> 1949 film by Max Ophüls

The Reckless Moment is a 1949 American film noir melodrama directed by Max Ophüls, produced by Walter Wanger, and released by Columbia Pictures with Burnett Guffey as cinematographer. It starred James Mason and Joan Bennett. The film is based on The Blank Wall (1947), a novel written by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding. The 2001 film The Deep End is a remake based on the same source material.

<i>Cant Help Singing</i> 1944 film by Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ryan

Can't Help Singing is a 1944 American musical Western film directed by Frank Ryan and starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Paige, and Akim Tamiroff. Based on a story by John D. Klorer and Leo Townsend, the film is about a senator's daughter who follows her boyfriend West in the days of the California gold rush. Durbin's only Technicolor film, Can't Help Singing was produced by Felix Jackson and scored by Jerome Kern with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg.

<i>Johnny OClock</i> 1947 film by Robert Rossen

Johnny O'Clock is a 1947 American film noir crime film starring Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes, and directed by Robert Rossen.

<i>Jigsaw</i> (1949 film) 1949 film noir by Fletcher Markle

Jigsaw is a 1949 American film noir crime drama directed by Fletcher Markle starring Franchot Tone, Jean Wallace and Marc Lawrence. The feature was produced by the Danziger Brothers, Edward J. Danziger and Harry Lee Danziger, from a screenplay by Vincent McConnor and Fletcher Markle, based on a story by John Roeburt.

Ebbie or Miracle at Christmas: Ebbie's Story is a 1995 TV movie directed by George Kaczender, written by Ed Redlich, and starring Susan Lucci in the title role. It is a gender-reversed retelling of the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, with a hard-hearted female character in place of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge.

<i>Woman Obsessed</i> 1959 film by Henry Hathaway

Woman Obsessed is a 1959 romantic drama film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Susan Hayward, Stephen Boyd, Barbara Nichols, Dennis Holmes, Theodore Bikel, Ken Scott, James Philbrook, and Florence MacMichael. The screenplay concerns the hardships faced by a widow and her eight-year-old son on a rugged Canadian ranch.

<i>The Lusty Men</i> 1952 film by Nicholas Ray, Robert Parrish

The Lusty Men is a 1952 Western film released by Wald-Krasna Productions and RKO Radio Pictures starring Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum, Arthur Kennedy and Arthur Hunnicutt. The picture was directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by Jerry Wald and Norman Krasna from a screenplay by Wald, David Dortort, Horace McCoy, and Alfred Hayes that was based on the novel by Claude Stanush. The music score was by Roy Webb and the cinematography by Lee Garmes.

<i>The Lost Moment</i> 1947 film by Martin Gabel

The Lost Moment is a 1947 melodramatic psychological thriller film with elements of horror directed by Martin Gabel and starring Robert Cummings, Susan Hayward and Agnes Moorehead.

<i>Marry Me!</i> (1949 film) 1949 British film

Marry Me! is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Terence Fisher, and starring Derek Bond, Susan Shaw, Patrick Holt, Carol Marsh and David Tomlinson.

High Barbaree is a 1947 American drama war film directed by Jack Conway. It stars Van Johnson and June Allyson, in the third of their six screen pairings. The screenplay based on the novel High Barbaree (1945) by authors Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.

<i>Carnegie Hall</i> (film) 1947 film by Edgar George Ulmer

Carnegie Hall is a 1947 American musical drama film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Marsha Hunt and William Prince. The film was produced by Federal Films and released by United Artists.

<i>Mr. Music</i> 1950 film by Richard Haydn

Mr. Music is a 1950 film starring Bing Crosby and Nancy Olson, directed by Richard Haydn, and released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the play Accent on Youth written by Samson Raphaelson. Filming took place from October to December 1949 in Hollywood.

<i>Take One False Step</i> 1949 film by Chester Erskine

Take One False Step is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed by Chester Erskine and starring William Powell and Shelley Winters.

<i>The Marriage-Go-Round</i> (film) 1961 American comedy film

The Marriage-Go-Round is a 1961 DeLuxe Color CinemaScope American comedy film directed by Walter Lang and written by Leslie Stevens. It is based on the 1958 play The Marriage-Go-Round, also penned by Stevens. The film stars Susan Hayward, James Mason, Julie Newmar, Robert Paige and June Clayworth. It was released on January 6, 1961, by 20th Century Fox.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Matthew Bernstein, Walter Wagner: Hollywood Independent, Minnesota Press, 2000 p443
  2. Higham, Charles; Greenberg, Joel (1968). Hollywood in the Forties. London: A. Zwemmer Limited. p. 83.
  3. Eduardo Moreno, The Films of Susan Hayward, Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ, 1979, pp. 102, 115 & 275.
  4. "Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman". archive.org.
  5. Crowther, Bosley (1947-04-11). "'Smash-Up, Story of a Woman,' in Which Susan Hayward Is Seen as an Alcoholic, Makes Its Bow at Capitol Theatre". The New York Times . p. 31.
  6. "Top Grossers of 1947", Variety, 7 January 1948 p 63