**SPOILERS** Behind the scenes movie to one of show business' most shocking episode that took place on the eve of the legendary Vince Collins & Lenny Morris, Colin Firth & Kevin Bacon,Polio Telethon; the mysterious death of 23 year old collage student and editor of her collage paper Maureen O'Flaherthy, Rachel Blanchard.
Getting themselves up to finish the grueling 39 straight hour Veterans Day Polio Telethon the two comics, Morris & Collins,in their hotel suite at the Miami Versailles Hotel popped themselves up with uppers and had a whole load of hookers sent up, courtesy of hotel owner and mob boss Sally Sanmarco,Maury Chaykin,to both party and loosen up for the big shows grand finale televised live on network TV. One of the girls who stayed up in Morris & Collins room was a pretty hotel worker Maureen O'Flaheraty who ended up not only not surviving the evening but some 1,000 miles away the next afternoon at Sally's majestic Palace Del Sol Hotel in Atlantic City dead as a doornail and cold as a block of ice in the couples, Morris & Collins, hotel suite.
The movie then goes to 1972 15 years into the future as magazine writer Karen O'Connor, Alison Lohman, is assigned by a major publishing company to write her first book the biography of Vince Collins, with Vince's help, and the story behind the O'Flaherty death and what exactly both Lenny Morris and Vince Collins had, if anything, to do with it. Since their, Lenny & Vince, breakup Vince had been going downhill with no or little work in Hollywood and the night-club circuit offered to him. Lenny on the other hand had become a bigger star then he ever was with his long time partner Vince. This made Vince, who must have thought that he was the star of the two man comedy act, very depressed and bitter over his now shattered show business career.
Agreeing to take a one million dollar advance for his memories, with Karen doing most of the writing, Vince was still very shook up over what happened to Maureen back on that November evening in 1957. The fact that Lenny was still alive and very successful the truth if revealed would just about destroy his career. Not in what Vince did to Maureen but what went on between himself and Lenny that a very sharp eyed and career-minded Maureen witnessed.
The movie goes back and forth from that fateful evening in Miami and the present,1972, with Karen who has a connection to both Lenny & Vince that they don't realize. Karen was on stage with the two comics that night as a nine year-old "miracle girl" who survived polio thanks to the help and money that she received from the telethon that Lenny & Vince put on over the years.
Karen had been getting valuable information through the mail about that night from what she at first thought was Lenny Morris. In fact she had met Lenny on a flight to New York City who thought that she was, with Karen lying to him, her best friend elementary school teacher Bonnie Trouth, Sonja Bennett. Lenny ended up having a night on the town with her and then left Karen cold in her, or Bonnie's, apartment without as much as a farewell note or goodbye kiss.
We and Karen later find that it wasn't Lenny who was feeding her all this vital information but non other then***SPOILERS***Lenny's long time pal and gofer Reauben, David Hyman, who not only knew what Maureen was about to spill to the newspapers, unless she was paid off, but who was the person who murdered her! Vince getting more and more depressed later checks into the very same suite at the Miami Versailles Hotel where Maureen died, or was murdered, back in 1957. Guzzling down three bottles of expensive champagne and popping an entire bottle of uppers Vince ends up overdosing in the bathtub, fully clothed, that was filled with ice.
Devastated with the news of his friend and partner's Vince Collins tragic death Lenny slams the door on Karen in not having nothing to do with her book about Vince and the night that lead to his suicide. But Karen had already deduced to who was responsible for Maureen's death, or murder. Karen also knew that the truth would kill Maureen's grieving and widowed mother Mrs. O'Flaherty, Deborah Grover, and forgoes the million dollars she would get for writing the story; she'll have the secret of Maureen's death published only after Mrs. O'Flaherty, not Lenny Morris, death since she'll be hurt the most in knowing what was behind it.
Getting themselves up to finish the grueling 39 straight hour Veterans Day Polio Telethon the two comics, Morris & Collins,in their hotel suite at the Miami Versailles Hotel popped themselves up with uppers and had a whole load of hookers sent up, courtesy of hotel owner and mob boss Sally Sanmarco,Maury Chaykin,to both party and loosen up for the big shows grand finale televised live on network TV. One of the girls who stayed up in Morris & Collins room was a pretty hotel worker Maureen O'Flaheraty who ended up not only not surviving the evening but some 1,000 miles away the next afternoon at Sally's majestic Palace Del Sol Hotel in Atlantic City dead as a doornail and cold as a block of ice in the couples, Morris & Collins, hotel suite.
The movie then goes to 1972 15 years into the future as magazine writer Karen O'Connor, Alison Lohman, is assigned by a major publishing company to write her first book the biography of Vince Collins, with Vince's help, and the story behind the O'Flaherty death and what exactly both Lenny Morris and Vince Collins had, if anything, to do with it. Since their, Lenny & Vince, breakup Vince had been going downhill with no or little work in Hollywood and the night-club circuit offered to him. Lenny on the other hand had become a bigger star then he ever was with his long time partner Vince. This made Vince, who must have thought that he was the star of the two man comedy act, very depressed and bitter over his now shattered show business career.
Agreeing to take a one million dollar advance for his memories, with Karen doing most of the writing, Vince was still very shook up over what happened to Maureen back on that November evening in 1957. The fact that Lenny was still alive and very successful the truth if revealed would just about destroy his career. Not in what Vince did to Maureen but what went on between himself and Lenny that a very sharp eyed and career-minded Maureen witnessed.
The movie goes back and forth from that fateful evening in Miami and the present,1972, with Karen who has a connection to both Lenny & Vince that they don't realize. Karen was on stage with the two comics that night as a nine year-old "miracle girl" who survived polio thanks to the help and money that she received from the telethon that Lenny & Vince put on over the years.
Karen had been getting valuable information through the mail about that night from what she at first thought was Lenny Morris. In fact she had met Lenny on a flight to New York City who thought that she was, with Karen lying to him, her best friend elementary school teacher Bonnie Trouth, Sonja Bennett. Lenny ended up having a night on the town with her and then left Karen cold in her, or Bonnie's, apartment without as much as a farewell note or goodbye kiss.
We and Karen later find that it wasn't Lenny who was feeding her all this vital information but non other then***SPOILERS***Lenny's long time pal and gofer Reauben, David Hyman, who not only knew what Maureen was about to spill to the newspapers, unless she was paid off, but who was the person who murdered her! Vince getting more and more depressed later checks into the very same suite at the Miami Versailles Hotel where Maureen died, or was murdered, back in 1957. Guzzling down three bottles of expensive champagne and popping an entire bottle of uppers Vince ends up overdosing in the bathtub, fully clothed, that was filled with ice.
Devastated with the news of his friend and partner's Vince Collins tragic death Lenny slams the door on Karen in not having nothing to do with her book about Vince and the night that lead to his suicide. But Karen had already deduced to who was responsible for Maureen's death, or murder. Karen also knew that the truth would kill Maureen's grieving and widowed mother Mrs. O'Flaherty, Deborah Grover, and forgoes the million dollars she would get for writing the story; she'll have the secret of Maureen's death published only after Mrs. O'Flaherty, not Lenny Morris, death since she'll be hurt the most in knowing what was behind it.