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 | 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

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pia Zadora was the first actress to win back-to-back consecutive Razzie Awards winning first for Worst Actress for Butterfly (1982) then won the same award for this movie the next year.

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Goofs

In one of the sex scenes, there is a cut-away in which Pia Zadora's feet appear to be attached to her legs backwards.

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Quotes

Jerilee Randall: [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 Thornton: It means your stories vividly demonstrate the inadequacy of liberal values in the face of evil!

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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

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: God's Compass (2019)

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Soundtracks

Give It Up
Written by Jeff Harrington and Jeff Pennig
Performed by Jeff Harrington

User Reviews

No, it's not to my liking, but I couldn't stop watching

I haven't been able to decide if this movie is so bad it's good, or, to quote Enid Coleslaw, "so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again." No matter, it forced me look much the same way a pile of weird coloured vomit might, and it offers up a number of scenes that you won't forget even if you want to. There's a sneering young Ray Liotta telling a pigtailed Pia that her creative writing trophy looks like a penis. A bit later, there's Ray again, molesting Pia, not with the appropriately shaped trophy but a garden hose. There's a firm chinned Pia telling her domineering Mom that she wants to go to bed with Ray's geezer father, Walter. There's the actress in the graveyard scene yowling the best line ever written by Pia or anyone else: "WWWWHHHYYYYYYY!" There's that garden hose again, as Walter waves it Pia's face and roars "Is this more to your liking!?" There's Pia and her date so turned on by closeups of each other masticating salad that they start tearing each other's clothes off. There's Pia showering but forgetting to remove her dress. Perhaps best of all, there's Pia's typewriter, but instead of keys there are the miniature talking heads of those who have tormented her the most (afterwards, I was afraid to open my laptop). And finally there's Pia at "The Awards" exposing Hollywood for the cesspool it is, spitting out the second best line ever, "I guess I'm not the only one who has ever had to **** her way to the top." I see I have already spent more time commenting on "The Lonely Lady" than I have on far better pictures, so I'll quit. Be forewarned, though, that once you start watching you probably won't be able to take your eyes off the screen until two hours of your life have vanished forever.