Tag Archives: biopic

Joy

It’s 2015 and it’s another year, and another Virginia Madsen biopic. Well, perhaps that’s not entirely fair to say, or even true – But she does seem to have been in her fair share of them.Joy isn’t a Virginia Madsen centric film though, far from it, she’s on supporting actress duties this time around.

The film is the story of Joy Mangano, who I’ll admit to having never heard of before I saw the film, and outside of America I guess I wouldn’t be on my own in not knowing who she is or what she did for the world.

Joy Mangano is the inventor of the Miracle Mop.

See, you’ve heard of that haven’t you? Well, hopefully.

And, Joy, is her story. Kind of.

It’s 1990 and Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) is annoyed and frustrated with many things in her life. She’s living with her two kids, her Mother (Virginia Madsen), her Grandmother (Diane Ladd) and her ex-husband Tony (Edgar Ramirez) is living in the basement.
If all of that wasn’t enough, her sister, Peggy (Elisabeth Röhm) is constantly on at her to sort her life out and to top things off, her Father, Rody (Robert DeNiro) also moves into her basement shortly after the story begins after the failure of his third marriage.

So, yes. Not an ideal world she was living in.

Much of that she could do little about, but what she could do something about was her mop. Yes, the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back and would change her life forever was the humble mop.

Taking out her frustrations on the mop, Joy is cleaning the messy house one day. She’s doing some mopping but when she goes to wring out the mop she cuts her hand on a piece of glass that has gotten stuck in the mop head. Because of this she decides the design needs an upgrade. The first mop was patented in 1893, so close to 100 years people have lived with the old design at this point. But not Joy. no Sir.

Joy would reinvent the mop with a continuous loop of cotton so that it could be wrung out easier and she wouldn’t have to faff around quite so much.

Which may sound like a simple enough change to make to a mop, in hindsight, but you didn’t think of it, and neither did I. And if we did, we didn’t do anything about it. But you know who did?

Well, yes. Joy.

Joy would take her invention all the way to the top. There’d be hiccups along the way of course, and it wouldn’t all be plain sailing.
The film documents a fictionalised version of the truth of the trials and tribulations she faced along the way, the basics are there in that she did invent the mop, she did face some troubles getting it into peoples homes until QVC let her on the air to sell the mop herself but Joy does take many short cuts through the whole story. It was never, ever supposed to be a “biopic” as you’d normally think of one – From the moment it was conceived it was always a “half truth”, Joys second name isn’t even mentioned in the film itself.

But, that doesn’t make any of it less entertaining. I liked this film, a LOT more than I thought I would. I first watched it on Disney+ some time after it was released. I had no clue what it was about, just that Virginia Madsen was in it. In fact, between me and you when I was looking at the cover I thought Jennifer Lawrence was being abducted by aliens or something.

I enjoyed it so much that I actually went and did some reading up on Joy Mangano off the back of it.

Virginia Madsen doesn’t have a huge part, and in truth I was reminded of her role in Crazy Kind of Love a little bit. In the film, Terri is a bit of an odd ball, she stays in her room all the time watching soap operas on the TV and being generally not very helpful to Joy and her extended family. But her role as Terri is fiction, well, the way she’s portrayed is at least and it’s said that Terri is likely a composite character of several people Joy knew.

It’s a good solid character though and I think one of those roles you wouldn’t necessarily have had down as a “Virginia Madsen” role, much like her role as Virgie Arthur in then Anna Nicole movie a few years before.

So, yeah – One to watch on a Sunday afternoon this one methinks.

Availability:

Good. Seems to be more or less freely available on DVD, Blu-Ray and streaming services depending on your location

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Ghosts of Mississippi

Ghosts of Mississippi sees Virginia Madsen head back into Biopic country with a film based upon the trial of Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist who in 1963 was accused of assassinating Medgar Evans, a racial equality civil rights activist in Mississippi.

Bryon was tried twice for the murder in the 1960s, but each time the (all white) jury was hung and no action was taken. Ghosts of Mississippi tells the story of how 25 years later Medgar’s widow was finally able to get some justice.

The film starts with an overview of the events in the 1960s before fast- forwarding to 1989 where we find DA Bobby DeLaughter (Alec Baldwin) reopening the case after some new evidence comes to light. DeLaughter was a man of personal pride and the idea that an injustice had been served and never corrected didn’t sit right with him.

But reopening the case would not be a popular move as reopening the case brought back all the racial tensions from the original days and folks liked things the way they were at the moment. Never the less.Bobby follows his sense of right and wrong and perseveres through it all to make sure justice is served, even if it is a little too late.

It’s another film where you know what you’re getting before you even start to watch it. If you like the legal drama kind of film then this isn’t something you’ve not seen before. That isn’t to make light of the subject, especially given the nature of it – But it’s all very formulaic in its presentation.

Virginia Madsen plays the part of Dixie DeLaughter, Bobby’s wife, or she was when the trial first started. Unfortunately Dixie wasn’t quite as enlightened as Bobby and she believed all the racist rhetoric around the case. This would ultimately cause the marriage to fail and they would divorce before the end of the trial.
She is, however, excellent in the role, but unfortunately we don’t get to see that much of her. Or, fortunately given the character she’s playing is utterly detestable in this one.

The rest of the movie. Not so much. I don’t know if it’s aged badly but it never really felt like I was watching a “cinema” movie, it wouldn’t have surprised me to find that it had been made for TV. Bit odd like that given the calibre of the cast. No that I have anything against made for TV Biopics, A Murderous Affair I enjoy, and Just Ask My Children is some of Virginia Madsens finest work in my opinion.

James Woods plays Byron De La Beckwith in fine style, he easily steals the movie from everyone else. Whoopi Goldberg plays Myrlie Evans, the widow of Medgar. She also does well but this almost goes without saying in this kind of role. I get the feeling she could have done this in her sleep.

It’s worth a watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon, don’t expect too much and you’ll be fine. Perhaps that’s where it always belonged.

Availability:

Not the easiest film to find on DVD. but if you keep a good solid pair of eyes out then you should be able to find a copy.

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Becoming Colette / Colette

Becoming Colette, or Colette, as it is known outside of the US is a 1992 biopic film detailing the life of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, or simply Colette as she liked to be known…

Colette was a French Author, Intellectual, Mime, Journalist and Actress. She’s best known today for her 1944 novella, Gigi.

Becoming Colette is filmed as a series of flashbacks, Colette (Mathilda May) tells her story after spotting her ex-huband in the audience of a theatre performance, we see her meet Henri Gauthier-Villars, known as Willy (Klaus Maria Brandauer) who should later marry to help out her Father.

Willy would see an untapped resource in Colette and encourage her to write, for which he would then take credit. He would introduce her to a different world than what she was used to, but Colette would embrace it wholeheartedly. One evening Willy would take Colette to the Moulin Rogue where she would meet his Mistress, Polaire (VIrginia Madsen). Polaire would take Colette under her wing somewhat, in more ways than one.
And that’s pretty much all I dare write on this one. My copy of the film is in German and so I wasn’t able to rewatch it. I have it on VHS as well but no VHS player these days so I was pot out of luck.

The story of Colette was also retold more recently in 2018, with Keira Knigtley as Colette and Aiysha Hart as Polaire. I’ll confess to getting the stories muddled in my head somewhat and as with all biopics, what can be seen on screen isn’t necessarily a reflection of real life.
Becoming Colette is worth a watch if you can find it. And I’ll say that as someone who doesn’t normally period films (as you might have noticed). The new version is also worth a watch if you can’t.
Colette was certainly an interesting woman.

Availability:
This one’s tough. I picked up a DVD out of Germany that turned out to be a Laser Paradise disc and was German language only, no English track, and not an official studio release.As far as I can tell, there’s never been a proper DVD with the original audio. VHS copies do turn up in the US, but they’re NTSC, so you’d need the right player.

I’ve got a UK VHS myself, but that’s the only one I’ve ever seen in the wild, so it does exist but it’s going to pure luck and chance if you do find a copy.

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Amelia

Ha. Yeah, Amelia. It’s a bit confusing when searching for “Virginia Madsen” on sites like eBay and Amazon as Amelia always seems to pop up in the results. It’s confusing and, a little insulting when you work it out.

Briefly – Amelia is the 2009 biopic film telling the story of Ameila Everart (Hillary Swank) and her life up to and including her famous disappearance in 1937 flying over the Pacific Ocean.

Virginia was / is in this movie, but all of her scenes were deleted from the final film. Which, is a little bewildering. She’s briefly in one scene getting out of a car, but… Yeah, everything else she did is gone.

(That’d be the second scene below by the way)

She played Dorothy Binney, George Putmans (Richard Gere) first wife.

No real reason for her to be cut, suggestions I can find from other sources on the net suggest that it was to either tone down the “scandal” that Amelia Everart played in the two splitting, or for timing reasons. The deleted scenes don’t really show any “scandal” and in one Dorothy admits to having an affair as well, so I doubt it was “scandal”, but I don’t know for sure.

And, honestly? Either way I think it kind of sucks and is just another way that Hollywood rewrites history when making movies. Nothing new there, I know – It just annoys me on many levels that it happens, not just with this one.

Not that it matters, the film was highly anticipated but left people who watched it wanting. It was criticised for not really being an accurate portrayal of events in any sense of the word, Hillary Swank even caught some flak for her acting which is unusual.

Ah well. I’m including it here because people might wonder why Virginia Madsen is associated with the film at all as she’s not listed on the iMDB page for the film.

She can be seen in three of the deleted scenes on the DVD and Blu-Ray though, which I guess is as good a reason as any to add this one to your collection.

1. The Queen of Diamonds, Mabel Boll

2. Dorothy Putnam

3. Dorothy’s Departure

Availability:
Good, lots of copies knocking around on DVD and Blu-Ray for cheap. Disney+ have it as part of their streaming offerings.

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Anna Nicole

Anna Nicole, it should come of no surprise, is a Biopic about the life and ultimately tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. It’s a TV movie made for the Lifetime Movie Network in 2013.

Agnes Brucker fills the shoes of Anna Nicole. The film follows her life from plain old Vicky Lynn Hogan from Houston in Texas through to the height of her fame as the Marilyn Monroe styled Playboy Pinup married to Howard Marshall (Martin Landau), an 89 year old Billionaire.

The marriage between Anna and Howard would last 14 months, Howard would die on Pneumonia leaving Anna his widow.

Anna would lose her only son, Daniel (Graham Patrick Martin), 20, just three days after the birth of her Daughter, Dannielynn on the 10th September 2006.

Less than six months later, Anna Nicole Smith would be found dead on February 8th, 2007.

Much, very much, has been written, filmed and discussed about Anna Nicole Smith, I don’t think I need to go over that again here. It’s well documented at this point. My own thoughts aside, it is without doubt a sad tale of fame and fortune gone wrong.

Virginia Madsen plays her Mother, Virgie Arthur. She’s not in the film a lot, making a brief appearance in the beginning, middle and end. You’d be forgiven for not even realising she was in it.
This is far from the Virginia we are used to seeing in movies, in a good way. Her “sex symbol” qualities gone behind rollers in her hair and an overweight body. In a good way, it’s acting, it’s just not often you get to see her like this. She does, as always being a certain something to the role that is unmistakably her.

The films Director, Mary Harron, would have nothing but praise for Virginia in how she handled the role;

“Virginia Madsen is a very beautiful woman. How can we, you know…Anna Nicole Smith’s mother does not look like Virginia Madsen, but we had a long conversation before she came on, about how she wanted to change her appearance. She wanted to do, I want to be careful how I say this…A character part. Virginia Madsen really went for it in this tough moment. You wouldn’t normally think of her playing this type of character, because she is playing against type. I think actors like that opportunity. Actors like that, because it allows them to show their range.”

The film, I think, is done well. It’s quite sympathetic towards Anna Nicole considering the way it could have gone. Watching her grow up in this movie it’s hard not to feel a little empathy towards her. It’s almost an uplifting ending the way it frames Anna’s death, almost a relief that she managed to escape the wreck of her life.

It’s a hard watch, but a good one. Obviously there are some things glossed over. I’ve already mentioned it seems sympathetic towards Anna, and, there is a lot you shouldn’t feel sorry for with Anna Nicole. She was no angel, but this movie glosses over a lot of that. It’s not a bad thing, and there is only so much you can do in one movie.

Worth a watch if you’ve only ever seen and or heard negative things about Anna, it might give you a different perspective on it all.

Availability:
Not hard to find at all. Pretty much freely available on DVD and lots of streaming services seem to carry it.

Gallery:

Anna Nicole - Production Stills 3 images

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The Hearst and Davies Affair

The Hearst and Davies Affair is a made for TV Movie from 1985 broadcast on the ABC Television Network.

The film is based on the true life romance, or affair, of William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies. The interest in the scandal primarily being because of the age difference between the two. Virginia Madsen takes on the role of Marion Davies.Hearst was said to be in his 60’s / 70’s with Davies being in her late teens / early twenties. Quite the eyebrow raiser, even today. It’s hard to give a definitive answer to how old the pair were due to historical records not being what they are today.

Marion Davies first met Marion Hearst when she was 19 and he was 53. William Davies was a part of the Ziegfield Follies production at the time and already a success in her own right.

William Hearst would take over the management of her career and by 1924 she would be a major success in Hollywood. Though, it’s believed that William Hearst would in fact stifle her career somewhat by promoting her as a serious actor rather than letting her lean into her natural comedic talents.The affair would become one the worst kept secrets in Hollywood at the time. William Davies was written off as a gold digger by some but she would prove them wrong by staying with William Hearst till his end in 1951.

This particular movie isn’t as kind to William Davies as it could have been, as history hasn’t been in general to be fair. Virginia has spoken of her part in this adaptation with some regret as it was marketed as “the scandalous love affair between one of the richest and most powerful men in America and the obscure Ziegfeld girl he promoted to stardom”.

Years later Virginia Madsen would take part in the Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies which sought to dispel some of the untruths about her from public record, how much good that will have done though is anyone’s guess.

On the flip side to this Virginia would become a real fan of Marion. In preparation for the role she would watch all the movies she could, read books on her, collect Marion Davies memorabilia. Even this early in her career and at just 23 years old it was a sign of just how seriously Virginia took her roleThe movie is worth a watch, though the two have been portrayed on screen several times since in varying degrees of authenticity. If you’re after a broader understanding of it all then this is a good a place to start as any.

Availability:
It’s not easy to get hold of physically. It was only ever released on VHS and while you can find copies on DVD then they are just home made transfers. Copies on VHS show up from time to time on eBay so if you’re a completionist then you might have to settle for one of those to add to your collection. Even then it’s likely it’ll be an NTSC copy of the film which you might have trouble with outside of America, and that’s if you can track down a VHS Player in good working order.

If you just want to watch the movie then, well you can find it easily enough. And you might want to remember there are tools you can use to do your part and preserve the film digitally if you do.

Gallery:

The Hearst and Davies Affair - Production Stills 2 images

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Mussolini: The Untold Story

Well. Another one I couldn’t actually rewatch completely. Mussolini: The Untold Story. Not even for a dose of Virginia Madsen goodness.

It’s not because it’s bad, it’s because it’s LONG, and not my thing. I’ve really no interest in this kind of TV show / Movie. It clocks in at nearly seven hours in total, and I’ve other things to be doing. I remember the first time I watched it, years ago, I put it back in it’s case knowing it’d never see the light of day again. Well, until recently when I popped it out to grab the captures.Mussolini: The Untold Story is what it sounds like it’s going to be. A look at the Italian Dictators life that some may not have known about beforehand. George C. Scott plays Benito Mussolini and the series follows his rise and fall from 1922 through to his execution in 1945.

Virginia Madsen once again inhabits the personality of a historical figure, this time the one of Clara Petacci, Petacci was the long term Mistress of Mussolini, despite being 28 years younger than him (with hindsight, this might be typecasting at this point). They first met when Mussolinis car overtook the one that the Petacci family where driving, on seeing who the passenger in the other car was Clara would shout for them to stop so she could met him. She’d been writing to him for years and took her chance to meet her idol.The story of Mussolini isn’t hard to find out for yourselves these days, and as I didn’t rewatch it I won’t try and go through all of the details here and compare them to historical fact.

On the bits I did stop and watch while I was capturing Virginia seemed to be doing her part well. There is something about her early performances that has her incredible talent just bubbling away, just something raw and pure about it all. Not that she not talented, now, but she does seem to get thrown in to a lot of similar roles and yet back here there seemed to be so much more on promise.
Mussolini: The Untold Story is also notable for a strong showing from some serious talent, both established and those who would become bigger names further down the line. As well as the immense talent of George C Scott you’ve got David Suchet, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Raul Julia, Robert Downey Jr and Gabriel Bryne showcasing their talents.

It’s hard for me to recommend this one too hard. I know it’s a well done production and as you can see, some proper talent behind it. But the story is both, horrible and long. Definitely worth a watch if this kind of thing is your bag but probably one to avoid as a casual Virginia fan.

Availability:
All good here, relatively easy to find on DVD. One of those that never seems to go out of print for some reason.

Gallery:

Mussolini: The Untold Story - Production Stills 1 image

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Ironclads

Ironclads is a TV Movie from 1991, it’s a drama based around the Battle of Hampton Roads, more specifically the creation of the CSS Virginia from what was left of the USS Merrimack from the American Civil War.

So, it’s 1862 and although it’s only just started, the American Civil War is well and truly under way. The South is working on a secret weapon, the aforementioned CSS Virginia. It’s basically a floating tank.

Though it’s based in reality, the events of the film aren’t. Our heroine plays Betty Stuart, an entirely made up character for the purposes of the film. It gives her a good excuse to go full on Southern Belle again if nothing else. Betty isn’t all that she seems, we soon find out she’s actually a spy for the North.The North as it turns out are working on their own floating tank, the USS Monitor.

These boats are the titular Ironclads of the movie. Before these ships were created then they’d be made of wood. Making them out of iron and steel like they started to do here would change the face of naval warfare forever.

Betty is engaged to Lt Catesby Jones, a Confederate Officer, who is actually a real life person. Although Betty is conflicted between her love for Catesby she still stays true to her beliefs and feed secrets about the CSS Virginia back to the North to help them with their battle. Even if it does land her in jail at one point. A nice jail though, because you know – Appearances.
Despite this made up love story, the film is actually praised for its historical accuracy when it comes to the technology and the battle.

I’ll be honest, this isn’t my kind of film at all – I only saw the movie recently for the first time and it didn’t exactly hold my attention. That’s purely down to me, I’m not really one for war movies, even less so when it comes to things I care little about. It is actually held in high regard by those that enjoy these kinds of movies and that’s fair enough.

Virginia for the most part does her job as well as she ever does. Smouldering around the screen in the type of role I personally think she was born to play. I have to say, I found her character a bit odd when I watched the film. I didn’t realise until afterwards that she was made up for the film which I guess some ways to explain it and some of the peculiarities.

It’s the early 90’s and she’s well established as an actress at this point. We’ve seen her do the Southern Belle thing before a few times and she’s totally got that thing down which allows her to take on the role of the (overly?) complicated character with obvious relish.

As I said, it’s not my kind of film but I can tell that it’s well made – If you’ve any interest in this kind of thing then I’d say it would be worth a watch. Just bear in mind the clash between reality and fiction as you do.

Availability:
Another of Virginia Madsen films that isn’t available on DVD, and given it’s TV Movie status it’s unlikely it ever will. It is available on VHS and copies do turn up from time to time on eBay (where I got mine) but you have to be patient waiting for it.

Trailer:
Unfortunately not, another one where it’s easier to find the movie on YouTube than the trailer…

Gallery:

Ironclads - Production Stills 3 images

Pseudo DVD Cover:
If you took advantage of the tools to preserve a copy of the film digitally and you want to slot it into your collection and have it look natural, then you might want to make a DVD cover for it, this is the one I bodged together for such a purpose from the original VHS artwork.

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A Murderous Affair – The Carolyn Warmus Story

Here we get to see Virginia Madsen do both her Femme Fatale and her Biopic thing in one handy place. We see Virginia take on the persona of Carolyn Warmus, the infamous killer in a TV Movie from ABC. It aired on 13th September 1992 just months after she was convicted in May 27th of the same year.The film tells the true to life story of a former Elementary School Teacher who embarked on a passionate affair with Paul Solomon (played by Chris Sarandon), the only problem being that Mr Solomon was already married to Betty Jean Solomon. In 1989 Carolyn would (allegedly) murder Betty in a fit of jealousy. Carolyn would be sentenced to 40 years in prison for her supposed crimes.

Carolyn was teaching Computers at Greenville Elementary in 1987. It was there should meet Paul, who was quite a bit older than her – He was 40, she a mere 23. Paul had been married to Betty for nearly 20 years, they had a fifteen year old daughter together, Kristan. They weren’t particularly well off and both worked to earn enough money to pay the bills.

Carolyn and Paul would embark on an affair, we see it play out as a mutual attraction with Carolyn pushing the boundaries first, even though she knew he was married.

We begin the story on the fateful night of the murder, we see the deadly deed itself, then a quick meet up between Carolyn and Paul at a bar before Paul goes home to find Betty dead. We don’t see the killer, just that she’s been killed.

From there, the film takes a very sensationalistic view of the events. It does its best to betray Paul Solomon as a kind of victim of Carloyns. The press at the time were calling this the “Fatal Attraction” murder and that’s certainly the angle the film tries to play up.How much of a victim he actually is, is debatable. In the film, and in real life events Paul would end his relationship with Carolyn and move on to a student at the school within months of his wife’s death. Now, call me sceptical but a supposed grieving widower who drops his young mistress for another young woman within a six month or so period – Isn’t that much of a victim. Although the film does show this, it’s somewhat downplayed as opposed to the actions of Carolyn.

Virginia is, as always, in fine form here – I think she hams it up a bit, but, again, that’s the kind of movie it is. While it’s a biopic you’ve always got to remember that this isn’t *really* how things happened. Virginia’s version of Carolyn is very much a sex kitten for want of a better way of putting it. It’s almost as though she was doing her Femme Fatale thing. but as a jealous school teacher. There are several scenes which are sexed up. Carolyn’s police interview where she seemingly flirts her way through the interview while being ogled by several nearby Policemen.
The interview with the PI who took pictures of her in various degrees of undress in sexy clothes. Carolyn losing it when she found out about the new lady in Paul’s life.
Sure, Carolyn had issues, before she met Paul. And the murder would seem like an escalation of past behaviour. But, even that is all a little too convenient at times if you read into the full story beyond the movie.

If you find the film interesting for whatever reason it’s worth taking a look at the reports for the actual murder, there is plenty about it to read online. The real Carolyn has always maintained her innocence and some of the items that were allowed into evidence were quite suspect when you take a proper look at them.

I don’t know, I’ve always had half an interest in this story since I originally saw the film and did some looking into it then. Watching the film again as I was doing this project I noticed how biased the film was. It was like watching a tabloid article. There is no doubt with the filmmakers that Carolyn went in with her being guilty with little to no room for any chance of her being innocent.

The ending of the movie does relent on this a little. Carolyn is given a little more sympathy towards the end, particularly after she is sentenced. It’s a shame then that they didn’t / wouldn’t or couldn’t do more with this film. It would have been just as interesting with a bit more objectivity.
Carolyn would serve 27 years before she was released on parole. She still does claim she isn’t guilty of the murder and is hoping to exonerate herself with DNA evidence.

Availability:
This really, really isn’t a hard film to find on DVD, and for cheap. I think it remains a popular one to keep releasing due to all the early appearances by people who are more famous now than they were then.

Trailer:

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Tag Archives: biopic

Joy

Ghosts of Mississippi

Becoming Colette / Colette

Becoming Colette - Production Stills 5 images

Becoming Colette - Promotional Shoot 1 image

Amelia

1. The Queen of Diamonds, Mabel Boll

2. Dorothy Putnam

3. Dorothy’s Departure

Anna Nicole

Anna Nicole - Production Stills 3 images

The Hearst and Davies Affair

The Hearst and Davies Affair - Production Stills 2 images

Mussolini: The Untold Story

Mussolini: The Untold Story - Production Stills 1 image

Ironclads

Ironclads - Production Stills 3 images

A Murderous Affair – The Carolyn Warmus Story