The Lonely Lady (1983)

Director:

Peter Sasdy

Writers:

Harold Robbins (novel)
Ellen Shepard (adaptation)

Release Date:

30 September 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Screenwriter | Screenplay | Hollywood | Writer | Party

Awards:

6 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Harold Robbins' The Lonely Lady (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:14 | USA:R | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Harold Robbins International Company

Trivia:

Pia Zadora attended an opening night showing of this film in West Los Angeles, where half of the audience were voting members of the RAZZIE Awards, and the film was greeted with hoots and howls of derisive laughter throughout. After the showing, Zadora gamely stood in the lobby and signed autographs for anyone in attendance who wanted one.

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!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Werewolf (#10.4)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

GIVE IT UP

Entertaining Swill

As soon as you hear the theme song for this movie, sung by Larry Graham, you know you're in for a trashfest. The tune is very reminiscent of 60's camp-trash movie themes for "Where Love Has Gone" (sung by Jack Jones) & "Harlow" (sung by Bobby Vinton) among others. It gives this movie a very dated feel, even in 1983. What exactly was up with that hair-don't & hideous dress they gave the "teenage" Pia to wear?? She looked like a disheveled Pippy Longstocking. It's amazing what they crammed into one hour & 32 minutes: Rape with hose nozzle, dysfunctional mother, May/December romance, impotence (Pia couldn't doodle with her older hubby's dead noodle), nudity, lesbianism, abortion, bad 80's fashions, overwrought breakdown scene followed by nut house, rags-to-riches clichés (heroine finally writes an "award" winning screenplay), etc. etc. etc. Pia Zadora (a better singer than actress) did the best she could with this script. The amazing thing about this movie is that it's made by people who are supposed to know what they're talking about firsthand. Watch this movie if you like trashy stories about show biz.