The film, “Anita O' Day: The Life Of A Jazz Singer,” and looks at this gifted woman whose career spanned seven decades. Her bumpy life included a 20-year heroin addiction that she kicked, several failed marriages and jail time served.

The filmmakers use archival footage from her early days when she sang with bandleader Gene Krupa, to many of her show-stopping performances over many years that were fortunately preserved on film. Perhaps the most amazing is a show she gave at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958, where her rendition of “Sweet Georgia Brown” brought down the house and drew accolades.

Also interspersed are interviews with Anita from vintage TV talk shows as well as a more recent extensive interview with the songstress herself that was shot shortly before she died in 2006 at the age of 87.

The documentarians spend a good deal of time showcasing Anita O'Day's remarkable voice and give you insight into her unique style of jazz improvisation that made her one of a kind.

The filmmakers look extensively into her heroin addiction, but where they fall a bit short is not spending enough time on some other stories in her personal life which had the potential to be riveting.

Despite that negative, what does come through is a look at a woman who is revered in jazz circles and who never quite received the level of fame with the mainstream public that a few other greats have. Anita O'Day's voice still has the power to dazzle you.

If you like jazz, you'll appreciate listening to the great talents of Anita O'Day and you'll also get some interesting backstories along the way.

“Anita O' Day: The Life Of A Jazz Singer” is now playing in theaters.

Neil Rosen’s Big Apple Rating: 3 apples.