JCP's World of Hits (Similar to playlist on The JCP Television Network) · 2:29pm Aug 24th, 2016

A world of hits is yours today on JCP!

SHOW 1 (Play from 11-1PM ET)
THE HELEN MORGAN STORY.

The 1920's and 30's career of singer Helen Morgan is followed from her early days singing outdoors in a carnival, through her speak-easy and chorus-girl days, to her stardom on Broadway in Ziegfeld's "Show Boat". Her involvement with Larry Maddux, a gin-runner and con-man, and Russell Wade, a prominent, married New York lawyer, and her decline thanks to these failed romances and alcohol are punctuated by Gogi Grant's performances of many of the songs she made famous. Paul Newman, Ann Blyth.

HIGHLIGHT: ''The Wayward Wind'' did more than simply put Gogi Grant into the select list of million-selling record artists. It led, in an accidental way, to the ghosting job she did as the singing voice of Ann Blyth in this film two years later, an effort for which she not only received screen credit but, in general, better reviews than the film itself. When it was decided to use a ''ghost'' voice for Miss Blyth, Ray Heindorf, the film's musical director, auditioned more than 50 female singers and listened to a variety of their records. He found no luck until one day, when he heard what was then Gogi Grant's only Lp, while driving in his car. Heindorf found the Lp, listened to it carefully and carefully and then cast Grant into the ''ghost'' voice role. She got that role without even auditioning for it!

SHOW 2 (Play from 1-2:45PMET)
AUTUMN LEAVES. 1956.

Joan Crawford stars as Millicent Wetherby, a middle-aged woman whose life is devoid of love and affection. Millicent's solitary existence changes when she encounters Burt Hansen (Cliff Robertson), a charismatic younger man. As Burt successfully woos her and wins her hand in marriage, rumors begin to surface that Millicent's newfound beau is in fact a deranged maniac. Things grow even more complicated for Millicent when a woman (Vera Miles) claiming to be Hansen's first wife shows up. As Burt begins to lose control of himself, Millicent ponders the most radical of actions against her husband. Director Robert Aldrich (KISS ME DEADLY) infuses every frame of his film with a shadowy sense of impending desolation, making the world of AUTUMN LEAVES one that is rife with aching loneliness and dark, ominous fissures. Crawford contributes mightily to the impact of this foreboding tone by foregoing her characteristic steeliness to play the role of Millicent with poignant vulnerability. Nat King Cole memorably introduces the standard of the same name.

SHOW 3: (Play from 2:45-4:45PM ET)
MOULIN ROUGE. 1952.

The original hit movie! Join Jose Ferrer as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a painter who frequently visits the Moulin Rouge, where he drinks cognac and draws sketches of the dancers and singers. Though the son of a French count, Henri's legs were badly deformed by a childhood fall, and his personal life is often unhappy as a result. While he is going home one night, a spirited young woman of the streets, Marie, asks him for help. He falls in love with her, and the two become involved in a tumultuous relationship. It becomes increasingly difficult for Toulouse-Lautrec to balance his personal feelings, his artistic abilities, and his family name and position. Includes the popular standard ''Where Is Your Heart''.

"If you can't catch this in color, skip it." - Leonard Maltin