The HELEN MORGAN Page

Yes, we're still constructing, but let's try this on for size.

Before Judy ... before Ethel ... before Liza, Babs, Patti, Betty, Elaine, Bernadette, Bette and the rest ... there was Helen Morgan.

She was the orginal torch singer; the first woman to get really drunk, sit on top of a piano and sing sad songs about how she loves her man but he treats her like dirt but she loves him anyway. During her hey-day, the 1920s and '30s, she ruled supreme from atop a Steinway in dozens of cabarets. Her sad songs made even the hardest bootlegger cry in his beer. Literally placed on a pedestal, she was the true "untouchable" of the Jazz Age. Men worshipped her but couldn't save her, while she desperately sought a love she could never hope to obtain. And no one since wielded the same magical control over an audience.

This page is not only being created in preparation of my upcoming biography of the chanteuse. More importantly, it aspires to be a forum to celebrate her life, her times, and her art. Links to her stage shows, recordings and movies appear below.

If you like what you see, want more, or have other information, contact me at cconnelly@mindspring.com ... or check out my personal web page.

Happy browsing!

Links

Discography - Helen's discography, as near as I can tell. Does not include re-issues or the numerous "custom" recordings she made for individuals at the end of her carreer under the auspices of Helen Morgan Enterprises.

Stageography

1923 Sally - tour only, chrous.
1925-26 George White's Scandals - first princiapl role, understudied Helen Hudson on the road.
1926-27 Americana - introduced "Nobody Wants Me".
1927 American Grand Guignol - The Marchioness in one-act Reign of Terror exercise A Minuet
1927-29 Show Boat - Julie. Introduced "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" & "Bill".
1929-31 Sweet Adeline - Addie Schmidt. Introduced "T'was Not So Long Ago", "Here am I", "Why Was I Born?", "The Sun About to Rise" & "Don't Ever Leave Me!".
1931 Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 - sang Noel Coward's "Half-Caste Woman".
1932-33 Show Boat - revival. Ziegfeld's last show. Played Julie throughout tour, eventually with her name above the title - the only original cast member so honored.
1934 Memory - Memory Drake. One week disaster, Biltmore, Los Angeles. Sang "A Fool there Was".
1940 Show Boat - Los Angeles Civic Light Opera.

Filmography

1923 Six-Cylinder Love - Famous Players Lasky. Extra. (Lost?)
1923 The Heart Raider - Famous Players Lasky. Extra. (Lost?)
1929 Show Boat - Universal. Appears in prologue (lost) singing "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" & "Bill".
1929 Applause - Paramount. Kitty Darling. Sings "What Wouldn't I Do For that Man" & "Give Your Little Baby Lots of Lovin'".
1930 Glorifying the American Girl - Paramount. Herself. Sings "What Wouldn't I Do For that Man".
1930 Roadhouse Nights - Paramount. Lola Fagan. Sings "It Can't Go On Like This".
1931 The Gigolo Racket - Paramount. Helen Marlowe. Two-reel short. Sings "Nobody Breaks My Heart" & "I Know He's Mine".
1933 Manhattan Lullaby - Fox Educational. Herself. One-reel short. Sings "The Stork Song".
1934 The Doctor - Fox Educational. The Mother One-reel short. Sings "One Little Smile".
1934 Frankie & Johnnie - Republic (released 1936). Frankie. Sings "Give Me a Heart to Sing To" & "If You Want My Heart".
1934 You Belong to Me - Paramount. Bonnie Kay (some sourcs claim "Madame Alva"). Sings "When He Comes Home to Me".
1934 Marie Galante - Fox. Tapia. Sings "Song of a Dreamer" & "Serves Me Right for Treating You Wrong".
1935 Sweet Music - Warner Bros. Herself. Guest shot. Sings "I See Two Lovers". Also "Winter Overnight" (cut).
1935 Go Into Your Dance - Warner Bros. Luana Bell. Sings "The Little Things You Used to Do".
1936 Show Boat - Universal. Julie. Sings "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" & "Bill".

... more to come ...

Rev. 8/25/98