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| View Larger Image | Smash Up: Story Of A Woman | Video On DemandStarring: Susan Hayward, Lee Bowman, Marsha Hunt, Eddie Albert, Carl Esmond
Directed By: Stuart Heisler
Also With: Martin Gabel (Producer), Walter Wanger (Producer)
| 1 New starting at: | $1.99 |
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| | Binding: | Video On Demand | | Run Time: | 104 minutes | | Studio: | Reel Enterprises | | Release Date: | August 12, 2009 | | Genre: | Drama | | Synopsis: | A nightclub singer, beset by emotional problems, seeks refuge in alcohol which drives away her husband and child. One of Hayward's best performances. This was her breakthrough role after a decade in Hollywood, and it deservedly earned her her first Academy Award Nomination for Best Actress. | | Sales Rank: | 49,706th |
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 15 reviews)
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Psychological Drama about Show Business by Acute Observer (North Jersey Shore)  2 Stars
June 17, 2009
The film begins with a view of the New York Hospital where a woman lies bandaged in bed. She needs a drink. Then we see her life before as singer Angelica Evans in a nightclub. [Who is singing?] She meets her friend Ken Conway (his band folded). Will her singing career be ended by marriage? Will a child bring happiness? Do personal relationships help in show business? Ken sings the Western songs popular in those days. [Who is singing?] Angie has to go to the hospital and delivers a girl. Ken becomes more popular. Life is beautiful. Success means worrying about income tax. A performer must be prompted to become successful. What was she scared of? Ken Conway becomes even more popular and successful. [What need does he fill?] They move to Sutton Place on the upper East Side. It overlooks the East River where they can look down on people.
Does Angelica begin drinking too much? Will she have nightmares? Is there stress? "Everything is just great." Or is it? Martha will assist Ken in Chicago. Angel drank too much. Her baby gets sick, a special nurse is needed. Is there a problem in communicating? The "bobby-soxers" love Ken Conway, Is idleness best for rich wives? Does it cause alcoholism? Can Angel cure herself? Should she take more responsibility? Will she grow suspicious? Or lose her self-respect? What next? An angry drunk? "He's gone, Mrs. Conway." She remembers nothing, its all a blank. Will there be a divorce? Can she resume her career? Will there e more conflict among those show-business people? Will Angelica drink too much? Can anyone save her? Will they cover up the news? Will a dropped cigarette cause a tragedy? Dr. Lorenz provides a diagnostic over their problems, an explanation that cures the problems like a magic spell. All will be well again. Hollywood needs a happy ending for commercial success even if it departs from the past story.
This film is a psychological drama about relationships in show business and other groups. How do their problems compare to "Ma and Pa Kettle" or other films that deal with ordinary people? The message of this movie is that some expert can solve problems by just talking about them. That does not always cure the underlying causes of problems. Do such problems occur when a husband becomes more successful in other areas of society?
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Dated, But Not Boring by CJ Sanders (Los Angeles)  3 Stars
February 11, 2009
Hayward was the anti-Crawford. Here she plays Angela, a neurotic and frazzled souse who flings herself onto the furniture in bouts of self-pity and whining. She is really hard to root for. You expect her to pick herself up by the bootstraps, but this is not a Cinderella story. It is a dated psychodrama about the hapless yearnings of the weaker sex. For that reason it's interesting to watch today. They couldn't have made Angela's worries more trivial, less substantial if they tried, but they're enough to send the damsel into a spiral of depression. Thank goodness most mid-century American women were not so fragile.
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I'LL DRINK TO THAT.....PERFORMANCE. by Kendrick Archie (CHARLOTTE NC)  5 Stars
March 31, 2008
THIS FILM IS THE SECOND BEST WORK THAT I'VE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE OF SEEING MISS HAYWARD IN....SECOND ONLY TO " I WANT TO LIVE ".THE FILM STARTS OFF SIMPLE ENOUGH WITH MISS HAYWARD IN RAREST OF FORM , BEAUTY AND CHARM....THE MUSIC SCORE IS A KNOCKOUT...AFTER THE RETURN OF A LONG GONE BEAU SHE DECIDES TO TURN HER BACK ON A RISING CAREER TO HELP NURTURE HER 'MAN'S " DREAMS...AFTER MUCH DRINK AND DRAMA THE STORY TAKES A TURN FOR THE BEST IN WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS INSPIRED WRITING AND ACTING...THE CATTINESS BETWEEN HER AND HER NOW HUSBAND'S ASSISTANT IS PHENOMENAL...THERE IS ALSO A FIGHT SCENE THAT RIVALS THOSE OF ALEXIS AND KRYSTAL OF DYNASTY FAME...THE STORY IS TRUE TO OLD HOLLYWOOD FORM IN THAT IT ENDS BITTER SWEETLY...KUDOS FOR " SMASH UP "
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It's Not Days Of Wine And Roses, But...... by Suze (Orlando)  4 Stars
December 24, 2007
Great Susan Hayward. Not quite as believable as an alcoholic, but still the story is over the top,good melodrama! Supposedly this the story of Bing Crosby's wife, Dixie Lee.
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Smash Up by Richard F. Rossell (Florida USA) 4 Stars
May 13, 2007
A good movie, Susan Hayward is always good in all she has done, but this film is medium and fairly predictable.
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