The Lonely Lady (1983)

Hoping to achieve success in Hollywood, a young aspiring screenwriter allows others to exploit her. 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. She meets the son of a famous screenwriter at a party and accepts his invitation to come to his house. They drive away with some other people, and that night one of his friends assaults her with a garden hose. The attack is interrupted--just in time--by screenwriter Walter Thornton. Jerilee and Walter become friends, then fall in love and marry. Their marriage falls apart when Jerilee's script rewrites actually improve one of Walter's screenplays and he feels one-upped. Jerilee then tries to write her own screenplay and have it produced, which ends up involving her in endless sordid affairs.

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Plot Keywords:

female frontal nudity | female nudity | casting couch | screenwriter | garden hose | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie's entire American marketing campaign - Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots and Radio Ads - was written by Razzie Awards founder John Wilson, who argued with its producer to restore several especially funny scenes because he wanted to use them as clips in his Razzie Awards for Worst Achievements in Film. The scenes eventually did appear in the released movie, and at the fourth Annual Razzie Awards ceremonies.

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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

Doctor: [Jerilee's mother comes to the hospital after Jerilee's nervous breakdown] A neighbor brought her in, Mrs. Randall. She was suffering from paranoia and hallucinations.
Veronica Randall: There's never been anything like that on my side of the family.
Doctor: Her condition was drug induced at the time. Tranquilizers, cocaine, amphetamines, alcohol. Would you know about her... eh... problems?
Veronica Randall: She's always been difficult.

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Alternate Versions

UK video versions are cut by 3 seconds for an "18" rating. The cinema release, with the same certificate, was uncut.

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Connections

Featured in Cinematic Excrement: The Lonley Lady (2018)

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Soundtracks

The Lonely Lady
Written by Charles Calello and Roger Voudouris
Performed by Ellis Hall Jr.

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.

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

Gross USA:

$1,223,200

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,223,200

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