The Rose (1979)

The tragic life of a self-destructive female rock star who struggles to deal with the constant pressures of her career and the demands of her ruthless business manager.

Director:

Mark Rydell

Writers:

Bill Kerby (screenplay by), Bo Goldman (screenplay by)

Stars:

Bette Midler, Alan Bates, Frederic Forrest

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bette Midler	...	Rose
Alan Bates	...	Rudge
Frederic Forrest	...	Dyer
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Billy Ray
Barry Primus	...	Dennis
David Keith	...	Mal
Sandra McCabe	...	Sarah
Will Hare	...	Mr. Leonard
Rudy Bond	...	Monty
Don Calfa	...	Don Frank
James Keane	...	Dealer
Doris Roberts	...	Rose's Mother
Sandy Ward	...	Rose's Father
Michael Greer	...	Emcee
Kenny Sacha	...	Female Impersonator (as Claude Sacha)

Storyline

Bette Midler plays The Rose, a female rock star strikingly similar to Janis Joplin. This movie follows Rose's career during her last tour, as she's determined to return to her Florida hometown. Although a success, she's exhausted and lonely, but continued working by her gruff and greedy manager. Though loud and brassy, Rose is an insecure alcoholic and former drug user who seems to crave approval in her life. She begins a romance with a limousine driver, who's actually an A.W.O.L. Sergeant from the United States Army. Her rock and roll lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and constant touring, lead her to an inevitable breakdown.

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Plot Keywords:

roses | bath house | f rated | drugs | awol | 

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Taglines:

The Fastest Selling Sound Track Album in the Country

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original home video release was separated into two parts. VHS could only hold two hours of videotape at the time, and the alternative would have been to edit the movie further.

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Goofs

The Rose shoots up heroin in a phone booth, even though she has no water - a necessity for intravenous usage of a powdered narcotic.

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Quotes

Rose: Ain't it just grand layin' there late at night in your bed, waitin' for your man to show up? And when he finally does, at oh about 4 o'clock in the mornin', with whiskey on his breath, and the smell of another woman on his person... Oh honey, I can smell another woman at 500 paces. That's a easy one to catch.
[crowd gets really noisy]
Rose: Oh, the women are getting nasty. So what do you do when he comes home with the smell of another woman on him? Do you say, "Oh honey, let me open up my loving arms ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Lyrics of "The Rose" are displayed at the end of the credit crawl, scrolling to the ending of the song.

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Alternate Versions

CBS edited 14 minutes from this film for its 1984 network premiere.

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Connections

Referenced in Fresh Off the Boat: Workin' the 'Ween (2018)

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Soundtracks

Keep On Rockin'
Music and Lyrics by Sammy Hagar and John Shakespeare (as John Carter)
Performed by Bette Midler (uncredited)

User Reviews

Bette Midler Grips You and Never lets go! Electrifying! Sensational!

This is a most exciting, gripping and fabulous film. Bette Midler's electrifying performance was worthy of best actress. The Janis Joplin type performance is stunning - her heart and soul is in her voice which pulsates and vibrates into your very being and sends shock waves of electricity tingling coolly down the back of your spine touching your very soul. This is a gut-wrenching experience that teaches nothing but makes you experience everything.

I love this film, the music and the voice and performance of Bette Midler. What a thrill it is to see an artist like Bette Midler perform to such an extreme and lofty level. What a dazzling radiant star that burned so brightly for so short a time and then was so suddenly and prematurely snuffed out. But when an artist gives so much of herself in every song she sings, it is no wonder that her life was slowly drained and eventually terminated by the fans who loved her.

I was working with The Canadian Film Institute in 1980, one year after the release of this film, and we put on a festival in Ottawa at the National Film Archives Theatre in July. We started out with "The Rose" at 8pm and then concluded with Crawley Films Academy Award winning Documentary film "Janis" at 11pm. It was just like a live Rock Concert. The crowd was in a frenzy. The only thing missing was Jimi Hendrix! Love this one. Real entertainment and excitement!

I should note that the director, Mark Rydell, does an overview commentary on the DVD version of this film and it is like taking a university level cinematic studies course. He makes interesting and relevant comments on every scene in the film and it is well worth listening to. Highly informative and fascinating!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Tour

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$793,063, 11 November 1979

Gross USA:

$29,174,648

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$29,174,648

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1