A Night in Heaven (1983)

A married college professor begins a torrid affair with her failing student, who secretly moonlights as a late-night strip-club dancer.

Director:

John G. Avildsen

Writer:

Joan Tewkesbury

Stars:

Christopher Atkins, Lesley Ann Warren, Robert Logan

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Atkins	...	Rick Monroe
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Faye Hanlon
Robert Logan	...	Whitney Hanlon
Deborah Rush	...	Patsy
Deney Terrio	...	Tony
Sandra Beall	...	Slick
Alix Elias	...	Shirley
Carrie Snodgress	...	Mrs. Johnson
Amy Lyndon	...	Eve
Fred Buch	...	Jack Hobbs
Karen Margaret Cole	...	Louise
Don Cox	...	Revere
Veronica Gamba	...	Tammy
Joseph Gian	...	Pete
Bill Hindman	...	Russel

Storyline

Faye Hanlon is a prim and practical woman with a NASA engineer husband and a career as a professor at a small Florida college. Among her least favorite students is cocky Rick Monroe who is secretly paying his tuition as male stripper "Ricky the Rocket". When Faye is brought to a sweaty disco full of sweaty housewives, she is shocked to become a front-row witness to - and reluctant participant in - Ricky's explosive performance. Now each kiss has its result of actions, every lie will take its toll. And two desperate lovers will pay the ultimate price for a night in "Heaven".

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | public nudity | male nudity | lift skirt | hand up skirt | 

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Taglines:

When the feeling hit them, there was no place hotter than "Heaven".

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Clube das Mulheres

Filming Locations:

Titusville, Florida, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,835,421, 20 November 1983, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$5,563,663

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the opening credits, the decommissioned Saturn V launch tower (Mobile Launch Platform #1 retrofitted with the milkstool pedestal (which was built by Chrysler Corporation Aerospace Division) fitted to launch the Saturn IB for Skylab and the final Apollo-Soyuz mission) is seen next to the Vehicle Assembly Building (seen in the film with one side of the building painted with the Star and Stripes with the 1976 Bicentennial Star, which was removed in 1998 and repainted with the NASA meatball logo). The Saturn V (SA-514 second and third stage, along with a first stage (S-IC-T) which was a test stage painted in the Saturn V livery, with BP30 (a mock up of the Apollo CSM), was originally earmarked for the canceled Apollo 19 mission, which was reassigned as Apollo 15 right after Apollo 20 was canceled. After 1996, the Saturn V on display at Kennedy Space Center is now housed at the Apollo/Saturn V Center where it has been enclosed after years of sitting outside being subjected to corrosion and elevated off the ground - it has been restored to its original condition. This also holds true with the other Saturn V on display at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas where it was restored in 2004 - a building was constructed around the Saturn V and completed in 2007; both Saturn Vs on display are properties (docents) of the Smithsonian Institution. The decommissioned launch tower was dismantled and refitted to LC39B which was not in use when the film was released - this launch facility last used in 1975 during Apollo-Soyuz was operational January 28, 1986 when the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after liftoff.

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Goofs

When Faye and Patsy are talking at the airport, Patsy is holding her magazines with her left arm. When they hug, the magazines jump to her right arm.

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Quotes

Faye: I just flunked that kid!
Patsy: You just did what to that kid?
Faye: I just flunked that kid in my class!

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Connections

Referenced in Rewind This! (2013)

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Soundtracks

Like What You See
Performed by Jan Hammer and Next
Written by Jan Hammer and Ivona Koch

User Reviews

Atkins gets a Warren piece.

Heavenly, this film is not, but I must admit that it is one of my guilty pleasures.

The story centers on a community college speech teacher (Warren) with a recently laid-off husband. Her wild sister drags her to a male strip club one night where she discovers that her lazy student (Atkins) is the star attraction. Wouldn't you know it, eventually the teacher is getting private lessons from the student. It's really about temptation and devotion and the fight between the two.

While the plot and styles are incredibly dated, thee are some things to recommend about this film. Warren gives a strong performance, doing as much with the material as she can. Her transition from constricted and conflicted wife to released vixen is convincing. Her frustrated husband, Logan, also does a fine job. Atkins is Atkins and does nothing more than offer lingering stares and lots of skin.

What makes this film a guilty pleasure is the good use of Bryan Adams' music and one of the more erotic love scenes ever filmed with someone of Warren's stature (this was around the time she blew audiences away with her Oscar-nominated performance in Victor/Victoria). If you never thought of Warren as a sexual dynamo, stick around. Some cuts of the love scene contain a shot of Atkin's manhood, which shocked me even back then.

There are some dramatic elements involving the husband and his frustrations, as well as Warren's inner conflicts, but the film is far too short to go into these too deeply.

It's not a good film by any means but I do think it tried to be something more than the trash it was. Perhaps some of the plot ended up on the dance-room floor.