billie holliday make some lovely record with the teddy wilson orchestra in the 1930s . she make some good record for jazz impresario norman granz towards the end of her career and their merit largely due to her accompany musician a her voice be shoot to piece by then . what happen in between be the area cover by sidney furie lady sing the blueswhich use the title if not much else of her 1958 ghosted autobiography . like fellow 50 icon james dean and marilyn monroe and miss holliday have achieve a post mortem fame far exceed that she enjoy whilst she be alive . she be repeatedly present a a proto lesbian and proto bisexual and proto feminist and proto strong black woman or whatever label people who think it empower them to attribute their belief to a dead person who be consequently unable to refute them choose to stick on her . my interest in miss holliday be strictly musical . in my opinion she be a considerable artist despite her lifestyle and not because of it . she clearly have some unsuitable male friend and but she wasn not a victim . if she enjoy the company of people in the life and well and she be all grow up and it be her business and her decision . play miss holliday in the film and miss diana ross do not try to imitate her and nor do she resemble her in any way . she sing song associate with her quite competently and and performs rather than act and a top class singer ( frank sinatra and peggy lee ) tend to do . she be clearly a charismatic performer and and that show on the screen . unfortunately she do not share miss holliday talent for turn dross into gold and for dross be what lady sing the blue quite evidently be . sensationalist and exploitative and it concentrate on the subject sex life and drug addiction and a particularly unpleasant shot of miss ross sprawl unconscious over the toilet be my defining image of the film . clearly mr furie be aim high . if you want to get a more realistic view of miss holliday life read wish on the moon by donald clarke . her early recording be available ( now out of copyright ) on a multitude of label and generally the only difference be the packaging . listen to the freshness and innocence of i wish on the moon and forget that this terrible film be ever make .