With quite a cast and that Lillian Russell was quite a colourful entertainer, 'Lillian Russell' could have been a great film and should have been better than it was. It's certainly not unwatchable, not by a long shot, but it isn't good enough for repeat viewings.The best thing about 'Lillian Russell' is the production values, so good in fact that one feels cheated that they didn't have the rest of a good film to match. Not just that the film is very beautifully and intricately shot, but the settings and costumes are just so exquisitely lavish. Also great are the music and songs, filled with energy and emotion as well as giving a real sense of period.Alice Faye lights up the screen with her allure and she is a real charmer in the acting stakes, injecting enthusiasm and substance despite the script fighting her a lot of the time. Helen Westley and especially Edward Arnold also significantly rise above their material, and Joe Weber and Lew Fields' scene is agreed theatrical magic that makes one pine why the rest of the film wasn't up to the same level.Henry Fonda is as stiff, colourless and as miserable-looking as one could possibly get, if he did indeed hate the film or making it that certainly comes through loud and clear. Don Ameche's role should have been tailor-made for him, but it is so blandly written that he is practically lost at sea. Leo Carrillo and Nigel Bruce are wasted.Crippling 'Lillian Russell' in particular are two big things. The very dreary script, high in clichés and awkwardness and very low on depth. Even more so the over-stretched and bloated story, with an incredibly plodding pace to boot, suffering from trying too cram in too much and too many scenes being over-produced. Despite an eye for detail, 'Lillian Russell' is very lethargically directed too, almost like a lot of care and effort went into the production values and song selection but lost enthusiasm for almost everything else.On the whole, visually exquisite but plodding and bloated, there are few biopics duller. 5/10 Bethany Cox

It is such a rare treat to see a biographical film which treats its subject with respect and class. Lillian Russell was kind of a wild woman; she would be an easy target for the right. However, instead of pandering to the right or left, this film presents her as completely charming, human, and lovable. There is something admirable about a film which is not afraid to show only the good in people, and forget the rest.Alice Faye is a treasure. The songs are first-class. The supporting cast is terrific; Henry Fonda is in particular easy on the eyes. Faye gets ample screen time, for once, and is lovingly photographed and gowned in every scene.The Fox DVD looks and sounds perfect.

I mostly agree what the others have said about "Lillian Russell", dullest biographical film ever made but Alice Faye is beautiful. "Lillian Russell" is lush, sweet but overly sentimental biography of the famous stage singer through her affairs with Edward Salomon (Don Ameche) and Alexander Moore (Henry Fonda). I'm a big Alice Faye fan and though "Lillian Russell" is throughly unexciting, I kept watching it because of Faye's presence. Her singing was a big plus.

--sings some of the old songs, has beautiful costumes and hair styles(wigs?), and Don Ameche, Henry Fonda, Edward Arnold and Lynn Bari as co-stars. The facts of the story may be wrong, but who cares? What biographical movie is about facts? On a cold day in a warm house(or vice versa), just sit down and listen to Alice sing and enjoy an old-fashioned film. 7/10