The Lady in Red (1979)

Director:

Lewis Teague

Writer:

John Sayles (writer)

Release Date:

July 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance

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. |

Plot Keywords:

1930s | Gangster | Female Nudity | Murder | On The Run

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Guns, Sin and Bathtub Gin (USA) (reissue title)
Touch Me and Die (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-12 | Norway:18 | USA:R

Trivia:

Cameo: [Robert Forster]

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.

Fun, Thrills, and Wholesale Cheese

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.