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:

Garden Hose | Female Nudity | Shower Scene | Hollywood | Lesbian

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:

Guy: Bud, this is Jerilee. She's Mr. Thornton's assistant.
Bud: Sure. I hope you can spell, darling.
Jerilee: D - A - R - L - I - N - G

Movie Connections:

References Reds (1981)

Soundtrack:

THE WAY YOU DO IT

"It's a cookbook!" or is that a cooked book?

Lloyd Bochner, totally sleazy, got second billing in two movies, The Lonely Lady and Drums of Africa. Mr. Bochner has done a magnificent job as a guest star on TV for 40 years. As a lead film actor, Mr. Bochner's presence suggests that the movie was done ona budget of $50,000 or less. In this case, it was more like 50,000 Lira.

Mr. Bochner of course is famous for the Twilight Zone episode, "To Serve Man" about an advanced alien race that regales humankind with many advanced benefits. Bochner finally translates their "Bible" to serve man, only to find that it is a cookbook, and the Aliens are bring earthlings to their planet to cook and eat them. Hence the line, that was well sent up in the one of the Naked Gun movies. And, it's appropriate here because they took Harold Robbins' sleazy book, cut away the book part, and just left the sleaze!

Actually, I didn't think Pia Zadora acted poorly at all. The character was a ridiculously bizarre caricature but so were all the others. Accomplished players who happened to be in Europe at the time such as Joseph ("Saturday Night Fever") Cali, Ray ("Field of Dreams") Liotta, Bibi Besch, and Shane ("Dr. Strangelove") Rimmer were all made to look equally ridiculous.

And all that being said, I'll disagree with many of the other reviewers. I did find it bad enough to be funny. I often think of the outrageous dialogue and inappropriate costumes, and just laugh out loud.

So, I don't think you should avoid it. It's short enough, and it gives you something to talk about for years afterward. Just don't take it seriously.