Susan Hayward won the Best Actress prize at Cannes and earned an Oscar nomination for her stunning portrayal of singer Lillian Roth in this emotional biopic. Deprived of a normal childhood by her pushy stage mother (Jo Van Fleet), Lillian reaches the height of fame while still a teenager. But the pressures of stardom and the death of her childhood sweetheart shortly before their marriage send her on a downward spiral into alcoholism and despair.