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The Lady in Red (1979) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
5.6/10   386 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 11% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
John Sayles (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Lady in Red on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
July 1979 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
She's made of bullets, sin & bathtub gin!
Plot:
1930's gangster era film about Dillinger and his last girl. Written by John Sayles. | add synopsis
User Comments:
Fun, Thrills, and Wholesale Cheese more (5 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Pamela Sue Martin ... Polly Franklin
Robert Conrad ... John Dillinger
Louise Fletcher ... Anna Sage

Robert Hogan ... Jake Lingle
Laurie Heineman ... Rose Shimkus
Glenn Withrow ... Eddie
Rod Gist ... Pinetop
Peter Hobbs ... Pops Geissler

Christopher Lloyd ... Frognose
Dick Miller ... Patek
Nancy Parsons ... Tiny Alice
Alan Vint ... Melvin Purvis
Milt Kogan ... Preacher
Chip Fields ... Satin
Buck Young ... Hennessey
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Guns, Sin and Bathtub Gin (USA) (reissue title)
Touch Me and Die (USA) (reissue title)
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Runtime:
93 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Sound Mix:
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Cameo: [Robert Forster] more
Quotes:
Satin (a prostitute): The day I can't handle the likes of him, I best get me a needle and thread and sew it shut. more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful.
Fun, Thrills, and Wholesale Cheese, 17 August 2000
7/10
Author: (Guy_T) from London, England

Clearly a product of the Corman School, Sayles's first major screenplay shows that he already knew how to tell a great story from an interesting angle, something he has never forgotten how to do.

Director Teague keeps the pace rattling along, and hammers the message home fast (he was an occasional assistant to Sam Fuller, of course).

The plot's quite straightforward, and all the better so - this packs something of the punch of the 30's classic gangster films, but with distinctly 70's sensibilities to violence.

Where the film becomes more interesting than your average low-budget 'gangster-exploiter', however, is in the telling of the story through her eyes, rather than his (a distinctly 70's approach). Yet it's wonderfully ambiguous, on reflection, as to whether the film champions her willingness to break away and start acting for herself (she's a great strong character), or whether she just goes from one woman in peril situation to the other (which is the plot, basically).

I've probably over-analyzed it already, but if you've got a spare hour and a half on your hands, give it a chance. A classic of its kind.

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A classic from the HBO glory days buy_to_own
HBO randomly played this the other nite brewski69jrl
Rare 35mm screenings in US + UK, July 2009! djsmokingjam
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versions ???? dvd Hobbet1
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