The Lonely Lady (1983)

A young screenwriter allows others to exploit her in the hopes of "making it" in Hollywood.

Director:

Peter Sasdy

Writers:

Harold Robbins (novel), Ellen Shepard (adaptation),

Stars:

Pia Zadora, Lloyd Bochner, Bibi Besch

6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pia Zadora	...	Jerilee Randall
Lloyd Bochner	...	Walter Thornton
Bibi Besch	...	Veronica Randall
Joseph Cali	...	Vincent Dacosta
Anthony Holland	...	Guy Jackson
Jared Martin	...	George Ballantine
Ray Liotta	...	Joe Heron
Carla Romanelli	...	Carla Maria Peroni
Olivier Pierre	...	George Fox
Kendal Kaldwell	...	Joanne Castel
Lou Hirsch	...	Bernie
Kerry Shale	...	Walt Thornton Jnr
Sandra Dickinson	...	Nancy Day
Shane Rimmer	...	Adolph Fannon
Nancy Wood	...	Janie

Storyline

Jerilee Randall, a simple schoolgirl living in San Fernando, dreams of becoming a famous writer. While at a party, she meets the son of a famous screenwriter. The son invites her over to his house; she accepts. They drive away with some other people, and that night, she is assaulted by one of the son's friends with a garden hose. The "friend" is interrupted in his assault by screenwriter Walter Thornton, who arrives in time to save her from an even more disgusting fate. Walter's rescue of Jerilee begins a friendship between the two, and before you know it, the two fall in love. They marry. Their marriage falls apart when Jerilee's script rewrites actually improve one of Walter's screenplays and he feels one-upped. Jerilee then goes through affair after sordid affair in her attempt to write her own screenplay and get it produced.

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Plot Keywords:

screenwriter | screenplay | hollywood | writer | garden hose | 

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Taglines:

From the sensual world of Harold Robbins comes the story of a woman's struggle for fame in Hollywood.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harold Robbins' The Lonely Lady

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Harold Robbins International Company, KGA, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pia Zadora was cast in the lead role of Jerilee Randall after source novelist Harold Robbins saw her in Butterfly.

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Goofs

When Joe is in the pool, he's completely nude, but when he climbs out to assault Jerilee, he is wearing a pair of blue swimming trunks.

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Quotes

Jerilee: [reading a review] : 'Sensitive and perceptive stories which vividly demonstrate the inadequacy of liberal values in the face of evil.' What does that mean, Walter?
Walter: It means your stories vividly demonstrate the inadequacy of liberal values in the face of evil!

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Connections

Referenced in Crash: Calm Like a Bomb (2009)

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Soundtracks

"The Lonely Lady"
Written by Charlie Calello (as Charles Calello) and Roger Voudouris
Performed by Larry Graham

User Reviews

Not the worst of all time, but in the top 5

The depth of the creative bankruptcy in this film is most evidence in the final scene. The writers gave Pia Zadora's character a reasonably interesting name, Jerilee. (That's as close as I'll come to complimenting this picture). Then, when the nominees at the Oscars are being read, another screenwriter is named Jerilee, too. Bafflingly stupid.

This is one of the few movies so bad that it would even be passed over by nude-scene-hunting horny teenagers. Everything about is bad. There is not a single redeeming quality, not one scene that works, not a single character that isn't a benign, idiotic one-dimensional drip.

I can't call this the worst film ever made but it's close. However, the single worst scene in a movie I have ever seen is Pia Zadora's nervous breakdown.

Quite simply a waste of vital resources. 1/2* out of ****.