The Bitch (1979)

The owner of a trendy disco starts having problems with the men in her life and the Mafia, which is trying to move in on her place.

Director:

Gerry O'Hara

Writers:

Jackie Collins (novel), Gerry O'Hara

Stars:

Joan Collins, Antonio Cantafora, Kenneth Haigh

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Collins	...	Fontaine Khaled
Antonio Cantafora	...	Nico Cantafora (as Michael Coby)
Kenneth Haigh	...	Arnold Rinstead
Ian Hendry	...	Thrush Feather
Pamela Salem	...	Lynn
Sue Lloyd	...	Vanessa Grant
Mark Burns	...	Leonard Grant
John Ratzenberger	...	Hal Leonard
Carolyn Seymour	...	Polly Logan
Doug Fisher	...	Sammy
Sharon Fussey	...	Denise (Sammy's Girl)
Peter Wight	...	Ricky
George Sweeney	...	Sandy Roots
Maurice Thorogood	...	Paul
Bill Mitchell	...	Bernie

Storyline

The owner of a trendy disco starts having problems with the men in her life and the Mafia, which is trying to move in on her place.

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Plot Keywords:

disco | female nudity | extramarital affair | adultery | unfaithfulness | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1979 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Dziwka

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first full length cinema feature film of Bill Nighy.

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Quotes

[On a popular disco]
Hal Leonard: It's a little bit on the gay side - but gay is *in*!

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Goldengirl (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Dancing on the Edge of a Heartache"
Performed by The Hunters
© Copyright Brent Walker Music Division

User Reviews

70's Jet Set trash film

"The Bitch" is one of countless exploitation films dealing with the sex lives of the "jet set" crowd, (today they are known as the '1 percenters.) This film offers a tawdry look into a very decadent lifestyle, led by people with no real morals or concern for anything other than their own pleasure. Days are filled with shopping sprees at Cartier and fashion shows, and nights are spent at tacky London discos, or bed hopping. The wealthy circle is rather small, so it seems like everyone has already slept with everyone else, and everybody knows everyone's secrets. Joan Collins is admittedly very good as Fontaine Khaled, the forty-something socialite who made her financial stake by marrying an Arab billionaire, who foolishly gave her everything she could want, before he discovered her extra marital affairs, and quickly divorced her. In this film, an inferior sequel to "The Stud," Fontaine must use her own "skills" to survive. And survive she does, quite well actually.

This is super-trash on the highest level. We have violent mob bosses, nude swimming pool orgies, sex with the chauffeur, fixed horse races, jewel smuggling and endless discotheque scenes. And there is an endless display of thick mustaches, thick ties, and thick Euro accents. In fact "The Bitch" might just be the most stereotype "70's movie" ever made. Is it good? Not really; it is very uneven. Some scenes are just awful, like the lengthy dance sequences that are obviously just time filler. But just when you are about to turn it off, it gets interesting again for a while. Because although it might not be good cinema, it is strangely entertaining, and at times, fascinating. Of course it is all fantasy, but somehow we know that there are people who actually live like this, and this film provides a window into that World. Collins is a lot of fun here too. The first film, "The Stud" was somewhat of a commentary on how the working class are used and exploited by the upper class, and it condemns their decadent lifestyle. This sequel however, forgets all of that, and just embraces that lifestyle, and wallows in the decadence. The moral? There is none..other than "every man (or woman) for themselves, and the one who ends up with the most toys wins..