The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday spent much of her career being adored by fans. In the 1940s, the government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial ballad, "Strange Fruit."

Cast

Andra Day

as Billie Holiday

Trevante Rhodes

as Jimmy Fletcher

Garrett Hedlund

as Harry Anslinger

Leslie Jordan

as Reginald Lord Devine

Miss Lawrence

as Miss Freddy

Adriane Lenox

as Mrs. Fletcher

Natasha Lyonne

as Tallulah Bankhead

Rob Morgan

as Louis McKay

Da'Vine Joy Randolph

as Roslyn

Evan Ross

as Agent Williams

Reviews

Manuel São Bento

If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @ https://www.msbreviews.com Even though I love listening to jazz, I've never been to a concert or a club specific to this type of music. Following this train of thought, I didn't know anything about Billie Holiday's real-life s...

Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots

Jazz musician Billie Holiday is a legend; one of the greatest musicians of all time. Most music fans can name their favorite Holiday tune, but none caused more controversy than her song about black lynching, “Strange Fruit.” Screenwriter Suzan-Lori Parks builds her story (based on the novel by Johan...

tmdb28039023

In a scene from The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Billie (Andra Day) is about to sing “Strange Fruit” in concert, which Harry J. Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund), the first commissioner of the US Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics, had forbidden her to do. Behind the audience is a row ...

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