Bad Girls (1994)

Four prostitutes join together to travel the Old West.

Director:

Jonathan Kaplan

Writers:

Albert S. Ruddy (story), Charles Finch (story)

Stars:

Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Madeleine Stowe	...	Cody Zamora
Mary Stuart Masterson	...	Anita Crown
Andie MacDowell	...	Eileen Spenser
Drew Barrymore	...	Lilly Laronette
James Russo	...	Kid Jarrett
James Le Gros	...	William Tucker (as James LeGros)
Robert Loggia	...	Frank Jarrett
Dermot Mulroney	...	Josh McCoy
Jim Beaver	...	Pinkerton Detective Graves
Nick Chinlund	...	Pinkerton Detective O'Brady
Neil Summers	...	Ned, Jarrett Gang
Daniel O'Haco	...	Roberto, Jarrett Gang
Richard Reyes	...	Rico, Jarrett Gang
Alex Kubik	...	Yuma, Jarrett Gang
Will MacMillan	...	Colonel Clayborne

Storyline

When saloon prostitute Cody Zamora rescues her friend Anita from an abusive customer by killing him, she is sentenced to hang. However, Anita and their two friends Eileen and Lilly rescue Cody and the four make a run for Texas, pursued by Graves and O'Brady, two Pinkerton detectives hired to track them. When Cody withdraws her savings from a Texas bank, the women believe they can now start a new life in Oregon. But Cody's old partner Kid Jarrett takes Cody's money when his gang robs the bank, and so the four so-called "Honky- Tonk Harlots" set out to recover the money, with the Pinkertons hot on their trail.

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Plot Keywords:

prostitute | prostitution | brothel | western town | small town | 

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Taglines:

It was a dangerous time to be a woman. And a good time to have friends.

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Genres:

Action | Romance | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for western violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

22 April 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Belles de l'Ouest

Filming Locations:

Alamo Village - Highway 674, Brackettville, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,012,200, 24 April 1994, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,240,435

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, The Ruddy Morgan Organization

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to producer Lynda Obst, the original production design was essentially monochromatic, and the leading actresses had primary color costumes. During the brief halt in production and cast and crew replacements, a different production designer was hired and the costume and set concepts were retooled. One recurring problem in the original project was that the lead actresses were fighting over a red costume originally intended for Madeleine Stowe.

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Goofs

In the scene where Anita tries to rescue Eileen from prison, the rope can be seen around the bars before the scene, where Anita ties the rope.

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Quotes

Cody Zamorra: I want to buy a dress.
Dress store clerk: And what kind of dress did you have in mind?
Cody Zamorra: Oh one of them ready to wear kinds like you see in the Sears catelouge.
Dress store clerk: I really think a woman like you would be happier shopping elsewhere.
[Cody grabs him and holds her gun to him]

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Alternate Versions

An unrated video version featuring additional footage is available in the USA.

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Connections

Referenced in Sideline Secrets (2006)

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Soundtracks

Lorena
Music by J.P. Webster (as Joseph Philbrick Webster)
Lyrics by Henry De Lafayette Webster
Sung by Robert Loggia

User Reviews

Gunslingerettes line up for the atrocity exhibition.

Bad Girls is directed by Jonathan Kaplan from a screenplay by Ken Friedman and Yolande Turner. It stars Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell and Drew Barrymore. The plot sees the four girl actors playing prostitutes on the run following a justifiable homicide and a hanging escape. Suffice to say that they get into scrapes & double crosses whilst being pursued by the Pinkerton's.

Being asked to suspend disbelief is one thing, being force fed drivel masquerading as pro-feminism is entirely another. Bad Girls is a mess of a movie, an insult to the Western genre, the fans of the lady actors, to the lady actors themselves; who simply deserve much much better and arguably worst of all; to women in general. The script is laughable, serving only as an excuse for the gals to sling those guns and hips when possible, and be abused and saved by "men", while the plotting is by the numbers as everything falls into place readily. There's even slow-mo shots where they serve no purpose of enhancement. Throw into the mix that three of ladies look nothing like on the run outlaws, all shine and span and make up with nice hair (Masterson the exception as she has a modicum of believability about her), well it's rather a depressing experience all told. Sure, as a red blooded guy I'm not going to be turned off by Barrymore's shapely thighs adorned in white stockings, or Stowe's truly gorgeous face, but when the highlights of a "girl" Western is something that's only aesthetically sexy for men, then they clearly have got it wrong.

So what's the justification for it being so bad? Well the back story offers up the answer. Film was meant to be directed by a woman, Tamra Davis (erm-Billy Madison & Crossroads), but she was jettisoned a couple of weeks into production. The plan with Davis at the helm was for it to be a Western told from a female point of view. However, Kaplan (The Accused/Unlawful Entry) was brought in quickly and the screenplay rewritten in a hurry. And boy does it show. Technically it's a duffer too, Jerry Goldsmith's score is cheap in texture and Jane Kurson's editing is choppy to say the least. There's no eye catching cinematography (Ralf D. Bode), while the acting away from the script hindered girls (ie: the men), is either a waste of time them being in it (Nick Chinlund) or badly directed (James Russo). While Dermot Mulroney seems only to exist as being a link to Young Guns; the "boy" version that this is clearly trying to ride the coat tails in on. If you want a good Western about the girls fighting the good fight then seek out George Marshall's 1957 film The Guns Of Fort Petticoat. It's a fun movie that at least has believable women fighting back under duress. Bad Girls, tho, is just bad in every department. 2/10