The Lonely Lady (1983)

A young aspiring screenwriter allows others to exploit her in the hopes of achieving success in Hollywood. She goes through affair after sordid affair in her attempt to write her own screenplay and have it produced.

Director:

Peter Sasdy

Writers:

Harold Robbins (novel), Ellen Shepard (adaptation)

Stars:

Pia Zadora, Lloyd Bochner, Bibi Besch

6 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Walter Thornton Jr.
Sandra Dickinson	...	Nancy Day
Shane Rimmer	...	Adolph Fannon
Nancy Wood	...	Janie

Storyline

Jerilee Randall, a simple schoolgirl living in the San Fernando Valley, dreams of becoming a famous screenwriter. While at a party, she meets the son of a famous screenwriter. The son invites her over to his house; she accepts. They drive away with some other people, and that night, she is assaulted by one of the son's friends with a garden hose. The friend is interrupted in his assault by screenwriter Walter Thornton, who arrives in time to save her from an even more disgusting fate. Walter's rescue of Jerilee begins a friendship between the two, and before you know it, the two fall in love. They marry. Their marriage falls apart when Jerilee's script rewrites actually improve one of Walter's screenplays and he feels one-upped. Jerilee then goes through affair after sordid affair in her attempt to write her own screenplay and have it produced.

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Plot Keywords:

female frontal nudity | female nudity | casting couch | screenwriter | screenplay | 

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Taglines:

Hollywood is a world of glamour, it is the world of Harold Robbins' "The Lonely Lady" and nothing.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harold Robbins' The Lonely Lady

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,223,220, 2 October 1983, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$1,223,220, 2 October 1983

Company Credits

Production Co:

Harold Robbins International Company, KGA, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the novel on which this film is based, the scene where Pia Zadora's character accepts Best Screenplay was set at the Academy Awards and featured Jerilee Randall dropping her dress to appear totally nude with an Oscar statuette tattooed across her torso, the head of which was buried in her crotch.

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Goofs

When Joe is in the pool, he's completely nude, but when he climbs out to assault Jerilee, he is wearing a pair of blue swimming trunks.

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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!

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Hercules (2014)

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Soundtracks

My Heart's on Fire
Written by Charles Calello and Roger Voudouris
Performed by Roger Voudouris

User Reviews

Lousy even by the low standards of Harold Robbins adaptations

This early Pia Zadora vehicle followed a familiar Harold Robbins formula: ambitious main character wallows in decadence while pursuing the path to the top of some randomly chosen but glamorous world, in this case the movie industry. But despite being so formulaic as to be completely predictable, this movie manages at the same time to be completely unbelievable. Zadora (to call her inexperienced as an actress is to be charitable) never convinces as a screenwriter. One would expect a movie about movie-making to have some insights into its own industry and creative process. But the script gives her none of the qualities which make writers interesting movie characters: observance, skill with words, a love-hate relationship with one's own creative abilities. Her character is as empty as a donut hole. And this is just a taste of the incompetence on display here. The cinematography is so murky that it is sometimes hard to see what is happening. And the scenes never really hang together, so everything seems like a succession of random moments at bad Hollywood parties. Avoid.