The Lonely Lady (1983)

Director:

Peter Sasdy

Writers:

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

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
Ed Bishop	...	Dr. Baker
Gianni Rizzo	...	Gino Paoluzzi (as Giovanni Rizzo)
Mickey Knox	...	Tom Castel
Kenneth Nelson	...	Bud Weston
Jay Benedict	...	Dr. Sloan
Robyn Mandell	...	Kim
Cicely Browne	...	Mrs. Stone (as Cecily Browne Laird)
Billy J. Mitchell	...	Gross
Glory Annen	...	Marion
Harrison Muller Jr.	...	Martin
David Mills	...	Kirk Anderson
Mary D'Antin	...	Margaret Ballantine
Carolyn De Fonseca	...	Joanna Smythe
Cyrus Elias	...	Nick Rossi
Kieran Canter	...	Gary James
Joe Murphy	...	John Casey
Beverly Skelton	...	Stacey Ryan
Melissa Corkel	...	Helen
Daphna Kastner	...	Annette
Cindy Leadbetter	...	Carol
Richard McNamara	...	Kick's Host (as Richard MacNamara)
Edward Mannix	...	Awards MC
Kate Harper	...	Actress in Film
Colette Hiller	...	Actress in Restaurant
Mario Viggiano	...	Actor in Restaurant
Russel Case	...	1st Man in Restaurant
Maurizio Fardo	...	2nd Man in Restaurant
Lee De Barriault	...	Agent's Receptionist
Eve Slatner	...	Nurse Receptionist
Ted Rusoff	...	Preacher (as Ted Russov)
Dino Scandiuzzi	...	Maitre D'
Ian Danby	...	Man in Kicks (as John Danby)
Adele Miller
Jason Klassi
Jack Gilling
Leslie Rothwell
Craig Kelly
Van Earl Patterson
Richard Oneto
John E. Gartmann
David Traylor		(as D. Zed)
Eleonor J. McDonald
Denise Elland
Susan Telford
Antonio Maimone
Achille Brugnini		(as Achille Brunini)
Persiano Pasquale
Lisa Treadway
Robert Sommer
Victoria Zinny
Philomena Lonergan

Directed by
Peter Sasdy

Writing credits
Harold Robbins		(novel)
Ellen Shepard		(adaptation)
John Kershaw		(writer) &
Shawn Randall		(writer)

Produced by
Tino Barzie	....	associate producer
Robert R. Weston	....	producer

Original Music by
Charlie Calello

Cinematography by
Brian West

Film Editing by
Keith Palmer

Production Design by
Enzo Bulgarelli

Art Direction by
Adriana Bellone
Luciano Spadoni

Costume Design by
Giorgio Desideri

Makeup Department
Rino Carboni	....	makeup artist: Pia Zadora
Ennio Cascioli	....	hair stylist
Iole Cecchini	....	hair stylist
Corrado Cristofori	....	hair stylist: Pia Zadora
Bette Iverson	....	hair stylist: second unit
Luigi Rocchetti	....	makeup artist
Ray Sebastian	....	makeup artist: second unit
Gabriella Trani	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Giuseppe Auriemma	....	production manager
Sanford Hampton	....	unit production manager
Jefferson Richard	....	production manager: second unit
Gianni Sarago	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques De Longeville	....	second assistant director
George 'Buck' Flower	....	assistant director: second unit (as Buck Flower)
Gerald Morin	....	first assistant director
Gil Rossellini	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Fabrizio Alvaro	....	set dresser
Carlo Cascioli	....	property master
Mario Gentilini	....	property master
Luigi Marchione	....	set dresser
Luigi Sergianni	....	set constructor

Sound Department
Michael Crouch	....	dubbing editor
Claude Hitchcock	....	sound engineer
Gerry Humphreys	....	dubbing mixer
Giulio Viggiani	....	boom operator

Camera and Electrical Department
Alberto Altibrandi	....	gaffer
Deborah Imogen Beer	....	still photographer
Brad Bush	....	camera operator: second unit
Maurizio Calvesi	....	assistant camera
Fabio Conversi	....	assistant camera
Trevor Coop	....	camera operator
Michael Mileham	....	director of photography: second unit
Agostino Pascarella	....	key grip
Morgan Renard	....	still photographer
Franco Vitale	....	still photographer
Ronald Woodward	....	key grip: second unit
Romolo Eucalitto	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Phyllis Kasha	....	casting: New York
Rose Tobias Shaw	....	casting: London

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bianca Erba	....	seamstress
Luciana Mancini	....	seamstress: Pia Zadora
Adalgisa Mosca	....	wardrobe assistant
Mary Lou Reinbold	....	wardrobe: second unit
Alberto Tosto	....	wardrobe master

Editorial Department
Giorgio De Vincenzo	....	assistant editor
Len Tremble	....	assistant editor
Giorgio Venturoli	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ira Hearshen	....	orchestrator

Other crew
David Amiri	....	financial coordinator
Rosalba Di Bartolo Tonti	....	production secretary
Lyda Garozzo	....	accounting secretary
Marco Giannoni	....	production assistant
Leila Kirkpatrick	....	secretary to director: London
Lynn J. Lewin	....	assistant to producer
Dorina Mari	....	cashier
Marion Mertes	....	continuity
Chuck Painter	....	unit publicist
Gina Pietralunga	....	secretary to director: Rome
Claudio Sabatilli	....	cashier
Gregory Kent Simmons	....	production assistant: second unit
Pippo Spoletini	....	crowd marshall
Stefano Trani	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Harold Robbins International Company
• KGA
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1987) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Universal Pictures (1983) (USA) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• GSE  titles and opticals
• Scotti Brothers  music coordination
• Studios CTS  music recording

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:

When touring the talk show circuit to promote this film, Pia Zadora repeatedly portrayed it as "a cross between Rocky (1976) and Emmanuelle (1974)".

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:

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

Soundtrack:

THE FANATIC

"Maybe THIS is more your 'kick'!!!!"

The memory banks of most of the reviewers here must've short-circuited when trying to recall this Cubic Zirconia of a gem, because practically everyone managed to misquote Lloyd Bochner's Walter Thornton, when in a fit of peevish anger, he hurls the phallic garden nozzle at his new wife, Jerilee Randall-Thornton, (a nearly comatose Pia Zadora) which was used to sexually assault her earlier in the movie...but I'm getting ahead of myself. In any case, poor Lloyd could've been snarling that line at the speechless audience as much as he was his put-upon co-star.

Hard as it is for most of us to believe, especially these days, nobody in Hollywood sets out to INTENTIONALLY make a bad movie. This is certainly not the most defensible argument to make, since there just seem to be so damn many of them coming out. But then again, there is that breed of film that one must imagine during the time of its creation, from writing, casting and direction, must've been cursed with the cinematic equivalent of trying to shoot during the Ides of March.

THE LONELY LADY is in that category, and represents itself very well, considering the circumstances. Here we have all the ingredients in a recipe guaranteed to produce a monumentally fallen soufflé: Pia Zadora, a marginal singer/actress so determined to be taken seriously, that she would take on practically anything that might set her apart from her peers, (which this movie most certainly did!); a somewhat high-profile novel written by the Trashmaster himself, Harold Robbins (of THE CARPETBAGGERS and DREAMS DIE FIRST fame); a cast who probably thought they were so fortunate to be working at all, that they tried to play this dreck like it was Clifford Odets or Ibsen; plus a director who more than likely was a hired gun who kept the mess moving just to collect a paycheck, (and was probably contractually obligated NOT to demand the use of the 'Alan Smithee' moniker to protect what was left of his reputation.) Like Lamont Johnson's LIPSTICK, Meir Zarchi's I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, Roger Vadim's BARBARELLA, Paul Verhoeven's SHOWGIRLS or the Grandmammy of Really Bad Film-making, Frank Perry's MOMMY DEAREST, THE LONELY LADY is still often-discussed, (usually with disgust, disbelief, horrified laughter, or a unique combination of all three), yet also defies dissection, description or even the pretzel logic of Hollyweird. Nobody's sure how it came to be, how it was ever released in even a single theater, or why it's still here and nearly impossible to get rid of, but take it or leave it, it IS here to stay. And I don't think that lovers of really good BAD movies would have it any other way.