Jackie Cooper directed this 1982 biopic based on Rosemary Clooney's first memoir. It highlights her difficult upbringing and early sister act, her marriage to José Ferrer, her drug addiction and nervous breakdown, and her successful comeback. Star Sondra Locke lip-syncs many lovely songs but unfortunately she's all wrong for the part. She's too thin, her eyes are too prominent, and she's shrill and hysterical and over-the-top most of the time. A young and unrecognizable Tony Orlando is a little better as the worldly womanizer Ferrer but he never captures the man's arrogance or charisma. Katherine Helmond is good as Rosemary's enigmatic mother and Kevin McCarthy plays the psychiatrist who treats Rosemary after her breakdown.
The movie isn't great and looks cheap and rushed, but it is a good companion piece to Rosemary's autobiography if you're a fan. She led a remarkably dramatic life, full of emotional highs and lows, and lived to find happiness again.
The movie isn't great and looks cheap and rushed, but it is a good companion piece to Rosemary's autobiography if you're a fan. She led a remarkably dramatic life, full of emotional highs and lows, and lived to find happiness again.