by Christopher James
Billy Dee Williams was present at a screening of Lady Sings the Blues for a Q&a as part of a tribute to him at the TCM Film Festival.It wouldn’t be a trip to the TCM Film Festival if I didn’t catch some of the great romances of yesteryear.
In particular, the enemies to lovers romantic comedy troupe was alive and well. Ernst Lubitsch’s The Shop Around the Corner provides the foundation for this trope. Decades later, Doris Day and Rock Hudson would use this dynamic to great success in many collaborations, including the bonkers comedy Send Me No Flowers. Romance isn’t all fun and games though. The Billie Holliday biopic Lady Sings the Blues borrows less from the biopic genre and focuses more on the troubled relationship between Holliday (Diana Ross) and Louis McKay.
Did all these pairs sell us on their celluloid love?...
Billy Dee Williams was present at a screening of Lady Sings the Blues for a Q&a as part of a tribute to him at the TCM Film Festival.It wouldn’t be a trip to the TCM Film Festival if I didn’t catch some of the great romances of yesteryear.
In particular, the enemies to lovers romantic comedy troupe was alive and well. Ernst Lubitsch’s The Shop Around the Corner provides the foundation for this trope. Decades later, Doris Day and Rock Hudson would use this dynamic to great success in many collaborations, including the bonkers comedy Send Me No Flowers. Romance isn’t all fun and games though. The Billie Holliday biopic Lady Sings the Blues borrows less from the biopic genre and focuses more on the troubled relationship between Holliday (Diana Ross) and Louis McKay.
Did all these pairs sell us on their celluloid love?...
- 4/28/2024
- by Christopher James
- FilmExperience
You'd have to be the world's biggest grump to grouse over Billy Dee Williams returning to the role of Lando Calrissian for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" 36 years after the character's last appearance in the series. First off, it's Billy Dee Williams. The man defined 1970s suave as Louis McKay opposite Diana Ross' Billie Holiday in "Lady Sings the Blues," and was denied a bevy of further star turns for infuriatingly obvious corporate/cultural reasons. Williams didn't disappear from the movies, but he should've been topping marquees for at least a couple of decades.
If only J.J. Abrams had given the smoothest rogue in the galaxy something more interesting to do than provide a bit of crucial info, catch us up on his tragic post-original trilogy doings, and help save the day at the end of what is by far the worst entry in the series' nine-film cycle.
So...
If only J.J. Abrams had given the smoothest rogue in the galaxy something more interesting to do than provide a bit of crucial info, catch us up on his tragic post-original trilogy doings, and help save the day at the end of what is by far the worst entry in the series' nine-film cycle.
So...
- 2/9/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
In “Is That Black Enough for You?!?,” Elvis Mitchell’s highly pleasurable and eye-opening movie-love documentary about the American Black cinema revolution of the late ’60s and ’70s, Billy Dee Williams, now 85 but still spry, tells a funny story about what it was like to play Louis McKay, the dapper love object and would-be savior of Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings the Blues.”
The year was 1972, and African-American audiences had rarely (if ever) been given the chance to gawk at a movie star of color who was not just this sexy but this showcased for his sexiness. Louis was like Clark Gable with a dash of Marvin Gaye; when he was on that promenade stairway, Williams says, with a chuckle, that he just about fell in love with himself. That’s how unprecedented the whole thing was. The actor recalls how the lighting was fussed over (we see a shot...
The year was 1972, and African-American audiences had rarely (if ever) been given the chance to gawk at a movie star of color who was not just this sexy but this showcased for his sexiness. Louis was like Clark Gable with a dash of Marvin Gaye; when he was on that promenade stairway, Williams says, with a chuckle, that he just about fell in love with himself. That’s how unprecedented the whole thing was. The actor recalls how the lighting was fussed over (we see a shot...
- 10/10/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
In honor of Billy Dee Williams’ 80th birthday Thursday, we take a look back at his 10 best roles. “Brian’s Song” In his Emmy-nominated role, Williams plays Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers. The movie documents Sayers relationship with Brian Piccolo (James Caan), a teammate dealing with cancer. The 1971 film was nominated for several Emmy awards and a Golden Globe for best television film. “Lady Sings the Blues” Williams plays opposite Diana Ross as the love interest of Billie Holiday, Louis McKay. The 1972 film was nominated for five Academy Awards. “Mahogany” Williams and Ross are back as love interests in the 1975 romantic drama.
- 4/6/2017
- by Ashley Boucher
- The Wrap
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