Smash-Up, The Story of a Woman: A Review

SMASH-UP, THE STORY OF A WOMAN

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Susan Hayward.

Our heroine is living too much of a lush life in Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman. Strong performances and an engaging story make Smash-Up less exploitative than it could have been. 

We begin with a shocking scene: a woman, heavily bandaged and in shock. Who is she, and what led her to this precarious position? We then flash back to learn her story. 

Angelica Evans (Susan Hayward) is a chanteuse who has been steadily rising in her career. She has moved up from small clubs to chic nightclubs. Angie may need a nip of something to overcome a shyness that is criminally vulgar, but she still knows how to entertain. Angie is also devoted to Ken Conway (Lee Bowman). He is a struggling singer/songwriter who is still looking for his break big or small. Angie is fiercely devoted to Ken. 

Angie uses what influence she has to get Ken and his songwriting partner Steve Nelson (Eddie Albert) onto a local radio show. Ken's show is at 6:00 AM where he is billed as the "Melancholy Cowhand", singing cowboy ballads with Steve accompanying him. While the now-Mr. and Mrs. Conway are struggling, they are also happy. The addition of a baby girl elevates their happiness. Ken makes a bold move to sing his and Steve's new song Life Can Be Beautiful on the radio, dedicating it to his wife and daughter. 

The gamble pays off. Audiences respond wildly to both Life Can Be Beautiful and Ken Conway. His star is on the rise. Angie has turned to being a stay-at-home wife and mother. She has also started turning to the bottle for comfort. Ken's career is going from strength to strength. Her career is dead. There is no way that Angie will be a guest on Ken's new radio show, An American Sings. This is especially true given how radio station secretary Martha Gray (Marsha Hunt) has opted to take on so many responsibilities for Ken.

Now, Angie has begun to lose all her self-respect. Ken is not blind to Angie's growing alcoholism. He is also told that he is partially responsible by removing all work from Angie. It is not just her career. He pays for nannies and maids and, albeit unintentionally, gives her nothing to do except the chance to drink. Something as to give and what gives is Angelica Evans. She attacks her love rival. She skips out on her comeback. She even puts her beloved daughter in danger. Will Angie be able to make a personal comeback or is this woman too smashed up?

The subject of alcoholism in film was still relatively rare when Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman premiered. It was, I believe, rarer to have said subject from a woman's perspective. Smash-Up does a good job in showing how Angie fell into her sorry state. We do see her take a drink right before she performs for the first time. This was a good way to show the audience that the seeds were already sown. However, for most if not all of the first act, we rarely see Angie drink, let alone to excessive levels. What makes Smash-Up work well, thanks to John Howard Lawson's Oscar-nominated story, is that the descent into alcoholism is shown gradually. We see Angie turning slowly into a lush due to the mix of Ken's success and her empty life.

Smash-Up also did well to show us how Angie and Ken were prior to his success. We see that these two people genuinely loved each other. Angie rushes out of her club engagement when Ken first arrives. "What about your job?", the broke Ken asks. "You're my job at the moment", Angie cheerfully replies. Angie's transformation moves through the film at a steady pace. That allows us to both sympathize and be shocked at her downfall.

The film also has a magnificent central performance from Susan Hayward. Hayward earned the first of five eventual Best Actress nominations for Smash-Up (finally winning for I Want to Live!). She runs the gamut from the joyful, upbeat, even flirtatious Angie to the defeated shell of a woman that she became. There are some wonderful moments from Hayward in the film. Near the end, she attempts to lull her daughter to sleep with an old lullaby. Through her voice and face, Hayward communicates Angie's blend of hope, fear, despair and unawareness of just how low her condition is. There is a nice montage of how she got to that state before she meets a fiery disaster of her own making.

One of the best or perhaps most memorable moments in Smash-Up is when Angie finally confronts Martha about Ken. Earlier, we had seen Hayward's Angie stumble her way across the room, with Ken oblivious due to performing his signature song. When Angie finally faces off against Martha, Hayward goes in on it with complete abandon. As Angie pulls Martha's hair and smacks her a bit, Martha seems unable to fight back.

Personally, I was Team Angie in that catfight. I got a small thrill seeing the smug Marsha Hunt get whacked about the ears. Martha, as played by Hunt, at first seemed pleasant and professional. As Smash-Up went on, however, Martha grew more unlikeable. At one point, it is Martha who answers the phone in Ken's hotel suite. This was meant to be Angie and Ken's delayed honeymoon (albeit mixed in with some personal appearances). Again, to be fair, Angie was now too much into the booze to make the trip possible. However, hearing Martha's voice on the other end would enrage anyone.

As this is The Story of a Woman, it is the men who suffer in terms of performances. Lee Bowman was decent enough as Ken, the man who set female hearts aflame with his voice (which was dubbed by Hal Derwin). I found him a bit flat as the male lead. Bowman did have some good moments, such as when he arrives unexpectedly early and finds Angie already boozed up in the early afternoon. For the most part, Bowman played Ken as a nice guy, but one with no real fire.

As a side note, Peg La Centra dubbed Hayward in her musical numbers. 

That was better than Eddie Albert as the BFF. Though Smash-Up was made six years before Roman Holiday, Eddie Albert pretty much gave the same performance in both. I do not know if Albert was condemned to play the male lead's best friend. I do know that Albert played Steve as someone who was a bit too upbeat in almost all situations. One thing I found curious was his claim that he could talk Ken into staying with Angie despite her drinking. It makes Steve look almost clueless about the extent of her problem.

Smash-Up has been criticized for its ending. Angie states that now that she knows she's hit rock bottom, she and Ken can build up again for a brighter future. Honestly, I do not see why the film had to end on a dour note. Having seen a woman come apart slowly, why should audiences not be given a bit of hope?

Smash-Up, The Story of a Woman is a well-acted portrait of one woman in crisis. It is respectful of the subject matter. It does not sensationalize nor trivialize alcohol addiction. And it does have Susan Hayward smacking Marsha Hunt around, for those who like such things.  

DECISION: B+