The Bitch (1979)

The owner of a trendy disco starts having problems with the men in her life and the Mafia, which is trying to move in on her place.

Director:

Gerry O'Hara

Writers:

Jackie Collins (based on the novel by), Gerry O'Hara

Stars:

Joan Collins, Antonio Cantafora, Kenneth Haigh

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Collins	...	Fontaine
Antonio Cantafora	...	Nico (as Michael Coby)
Kenneth Haigh	...	Arnold
Ian Hendry	...	Thrush Feather / gangland boss
Pamela Salem	...	Lynn
Sue Lloyd	...	Vanessa / wife
Mark Burns	...	Leonard / husband
John Ratzenberger	...	Hal Leonard
Carolyn Seymour	...	Polly Logan
Doug Fisher	...	Sammy
Sharon Fussey	...	Sammy's Girl
Peter Wight	...	Ricky
George Sweeney	...	Sandy Roots
Maurice Thorogood	...	Paul
Bill Mitchell	...	Bernie

Storyline

Fontaine is a woman who always gets what she wants - they call her The Bitch. Now a divorcee and whilst she still leads an extravagant jet-set lifestyle, she no longer has the financial security of being a billionaire's wife and her once-successful London nightclub, "Hobo", is now failing. While on a flight returning to London from New York, she meets handsome Italian gambler Nico. In order to impress her, he pretends he is a wealthy businessman, though he is actually a conman who owes money to the mafia and he covertly uses her to smuggle a stolen diamond ring through customs which he intends to sell in London to pay off his debts. With the mafia now pursuing both Fontaine and Nico, they find themselves falling deeper and deeper into danger but she is not ready to give up her life and sets out to prove that she can beat anyone at his or her own game.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | extramarital affair | adulterous wife | adultery | female protagonist | 

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Taglines:

After The Stud

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dame Joan Collins (Fontaine Khaled) is the elder sister of Jackie Collins, who wrote the 1979 novel of the same name on which this movie was based.

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Quotes

Arnold Rinstead: Anger suits you.
Fontaine Khaled: How about contempt?

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Connections

References Saturday Night Fever (1977)

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Soundtracks

I Thought It Was You
Written by Herbie Hancock, Jeffrey Cohen and Melvin Ragin
Performed by Herbie Hancock

User Reviews

70's Jet Set trash film

"The Bitch" is one of countless exploitation films dealing with the sex lives of the "jet set" crowd, (today they are known as the '1 percenters.) This film offers a tawdry look into a very decadent lifestyle, led by people with no real morals or concern for anything other than their own pleasure. Days are filled with shopping sprees at Cartier and fashion shows, and nights are spent at tacky London discos, or bed hopping. The wealthy circle is rather small, so it seems like everyone has already slept with everyone else, and everybody knows everyone's secrets. Joan Collins is admittedly very good as Fontaine Khaled, the forty-something socialite who made her financial stake by marrying an Arab billionaire, who foolishly gave her everything she could want, before he discovered her extra marital affairs, and quickly divorced her. In this film, a sequel to "The Stud," which is a better film, Fontaine must use her own "skills" to survive. And survive she does, quite well actually.

This is super-trash on the highest level. We have violent mob bosses, nude swimming pool orgies, sex with the chauffeur, fixed horse races, jewel smuggling and endless discotheque scenes. And there is an endless display of thick mustaches, thick ties, and thick Euro accents. In fact "The Bitch" might just be the most "70's movie" ever made. Is it good? It is a bit uneven. Some might be put off by the lengthy dance sequences, while fans of the disco era styles and "Saturday Night Fever" will be entranced. "The Bitch," if nothing else, is supremely entertaining, and at times, fascinating. Of course it is all fantasy, but somehow we know that there are people who actually live like this, and this film provides a window into that World. Collins is a lot of fun here too. The first film, "The Stud" was somewhat of a commentary on how the working class are used and exploited by the upper class, and it condemns their decadent lifestyle. This sequel however, forgets all of that, and just embraces that lifestyle, and wallows in the decadence. The moral? There is none..other than "every man (or woman) for themselves, and the one who ends up with the most toys wins..

Update Sept. 2020 The advent of Bluray technology is allowing us to see these old, neglected films, restored to their original glory. Suddenly a movie that looked cheap, ugly and incompetent, suddenly looks gorgeous. This film's restoration is truly a revelation. "The Bitch" suddenly looks like a polished Hollywood movie with high production values. Everything looks stunning, from the neon color-saturated discos to the smoky casinos. The home of Fontaine Khalad is a 70's art-deco dream, with it's gleaming chrome, mirrors and zebra rugs. Even the scenes in the English countryside become poetically beautiful..even the soundtrack has been amped up, and those fun disco songs are given life...what a difference from those old, muddy transfers from Thorne-EMI video! Both this film and it's "brother" film, "The Stud," need to be seen in their restored glory, before they are properly judged.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1979 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

The Bitch

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brent Walker Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1