Helen Morgan begins her career as a Chicago carnival dancer. She catches the eye of fast-talking, double-dealing Larry Maddux, whose promotion catapults her to fame as a Broadway performer in Show Boat and a headliner in her own nightclub. Helen is involved in two romantic relationships - with Maddux, and with wealthy attorney Russell Wade - each of which cause her great anguish. When she realizes the caddish Maddux has been merely using her to support the upscale lifestyle he has come to enjoy, she turns to alcohol. Wade, who is genuinely in love with Helen, is nonetheless married and a divorce is impossible; this helps drive her further into the bottle. She loses the bulk of her money to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Wall Street Crash of 1929, hits rock bottom and, finally is hospitalized in the alcoholic ward of Bellevue. Maddux has a redemptive change of heart and arranges a gala dinner, hosted by Walter Winchell and Florenz Ziegfeld, in Helen's honor. The film's ending suggests this was her first step on the road to recovery, success, and happiness; this, however, was not the case for the real Helen Morgan.
In 1950, Boxoffice announced Warner Bros. was planning to release a musical biography with Doris Day as Helen Morgan. This is one of the few studio projects Day refused to make, citing she did not want to portray the sordid aspects of Morgan's life, which were in direct contrast to Day's wholesome screen image. There was also considerable speculation and negotiation over the prospect that the film would be made with Judy Garland, following her Oscar-nominated performance in A Star is Born.
In his review in the New York Times, A.H. Weiler called the film "as uplifting as soap opera" and added, "The indestructible tunes and the producers' fairly honest approach to the sleaziness of the speakeasy era should generate genuine nostalgia, but Miss Morgan's career, on film, appears to be uninspired, familiar fare...It's all about as heart-warming as an electric pad. Ann Blyth...desperately attempts to capture the essentially moving qualities of the performer... is fragile, sweet and timorous in the role, but she cannot manage to project the idea that she is swaying audiences either by singing or emotional force." Variety called it "little more than a tuneful soap opera" and added, "The story line sometimes strains credulity and the dialogue situations occasionally give the production a cornball flavor...Director Michael Curtiz has done a good job with the material at hand, injecting a pacing and bits of business that help maintain interest, and the production gets added benefit from a series of hit tunes of the era...Blyth turns in a sympathetic but not always convincing performance. Newman is very good as the rackets guy, giving the part authority and credibility." TV Guide wrote "Helen Morgan was the greatest torch singer, a petite brunette who sat atop pianos plaintively warbling sad songs about the men who mistreated her. More a profile of those songs than a detailed exposition of her life, this film offers only a slice of a fabulous and unforgettable career...most of the wobbly plot is fictional, which is unfortunate since Morgan's true story was much more spectacular and, had it been followed, would have provided a finer film."
