The X-rated Motown movie that went straight to the Oscars
Beginning in the 1960s, Motown Records dominated the airwaves and forever changed the music industry. Founded in 1959 by songwriter and former boxer Berry Gordy, the label was instrumental in elevating Black musicians during a time when racism was deeply entrenched in the legal fabric of the United States. At its peak, Motown’s roster boasted legendary acts such as The Supremes, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder—who signed with the label at just 11 years old—and Marvin Gaye.
While Motown and its artists dominated the music scene in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, it wasn’t as powerful a force in Hollywood. Most of its artists were musicians through-and-through and didn’t have any acting aspirations. However, Gordy himself had plans for expansion, and by 1972, had moved the company’s entire operation from Detroit to Los Angeles. The plan was to branch out into the film industry, and while Motown never became a power player in that arena, it did score one major hit right off the bat.
Lady Sings the Blues was a biopic about legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday. Directed by Sidney J Furie, who had made the Michael Caine spy thriller The Ipcress File, the film starred the former ‘Queen of Motown Records,’ Diana Ross, in her feature debut. It was the first film produced by the record label, and it was an ambitious gamble. Ross was an unknown quantity as an actor, and the two-and-a-half-hour film rested on her performance.
To make it even more risky, it featured enough explicit material to be slapped with an X rating in the UK. The reason for this is likely the brutal depictions of racism and the racist slurs that were included as an intrinsic part of Holiday’s story. Her addiction to heroin is also shown in unflinching detail.
Although reviews for the film were mixed, critics were united on one front: Diana Ross could act. She received rave reviews for her performance, which exuded both charisma and technical skill in a role that would have challenged even the most seasoned actor. Not only was Holiday a famous public figure with an iconic voice, but the film delved into theexcruciating lows and stratospheric highs of her life, requiring Ross to convincingly touch on a broad spectrum of emotion.
When the Oscars rolled around, it came as no surprise that Ross was nominated for ‘Best Actress.’ More surprising was the fact that the film earned four other nominations for ‘Best Music’, ‘Best Costume Design’, ‘Best Art Direction’, and ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’. The nomination made Ross only the second Black actor to be nominated for ‘Best Actress’ after Dorothy Dandridge’s 1954 nomination for Carmen Jones, though she lost to Liza Minnelli for her performance in Cabaret.
Motown continued to produce movies throughout the 1970s, buoyed by the accolades and box office success of Lady Sings the Blues. After the financial failure of 1978’s musical The Wiz, however, it shifted toward the less expensive medium of television.
The last feature film that Motown produced was, appropriately enough, titled The Last Dragon. Released in 1985, it was an elaborate martial arts movie that fared well at the box office but was met with mixed reviews. Gordy sold the movie branch of Motown three years later.
