The Lonely Lady

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The Lonely Lady
The lonely lady.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Sasdy
Screenplay byJohn Kershaw
Shawn Randall
Story byEllen Shepard
Based onThe Lonely Lady
by Harold Robbins
Produced byRobert R. Weston
Starring
CinematographyBrian West
Edited byKeith Palmer
Music byCharlie Calello
Production
company
Harold Robbins International Company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
September 30, 1983
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6-7 million[1]
Box office$1,223,220 (US)

The Lonely Lady is a 1983 drama film directed by Peter Sasdy, adapted from the 1976 novel written by Harold Robbins, which itself was believed to have been based on Robbins' memories of Jacqueline Susann. The cast includes Pia Zadora in the title role, Lloyd Bochner, Bibi Besch, Jared Martin, and in his first film appearance, Ray Liotta. The original music score was composed by Charlie Calello.

The plot follows Jerilee Randall (Zadora), an aspiring screenwriter who deals with many abusive men in her attempts to achieve success in Hollywood. A critical and commercial failure, The Lonely Lady was the last adaptation of one of Robbins' best selling novels before he died in 1997, and, to date, the last such adaptation of any of his works. Many have considered this to be one of the worst films ever made.

Plot[]

Jerilee Randall, an innocent schoolgirl living in the San Fernando Valley area of California, dreams of becoming a famous screenwriter. Shortly after winning a trophy for her creative writing, she meets Walt, the son of famous screenwriter Walter Thornton, at a party. She goes home with him, along with some other friends, and during a late evening pool party, one of Jerilee's friends beats her, slaps her and then sexually assaults her with a garden hose nozzle.

Walter arrives after the assault and saves Jerilee from further attacks. A friendship, then a love affair, develops between them, and they soon marry, though Jerilee's mother disapproves. The marriage begins to crumble when Jerilee rewrites one of his scripts and is praised for improving it greatly. (She had actually only added the word, "Why?") Despite this, the revised script benefits the actress delivering the line and she thanks Walter for it.

Divorce is inevitable when Walter scorns Jerilee during an argument and accuses her of enjoying having been raped all those years ago. After the divorce, Jerilee has several love affairs while trying to get her own screenplay produced, using her sexual charms to gain recognition, with revenge thrown in the end for good measure. One affair, with actor George Ballantine, quickly ends with her pregnant; upon realizing he would not support her, she gets an abortion. While meeting club owner Vincent Dacosta, who has contacts to agents who can help produce a screenplay, Jerilee ends up working for him temporarily as a waitress. Eventually she has an affair with him as well, and when visiting the agent he had promised would possibly approve of, she realizes that she has been had and that he sent her there to have sex with him and another woman. After Jerilee confronts Vincent about this, he returns her screenplay, mocking her while on drugs with two other women. Jerilee finally collapses in a sequence wherein she sees the faces of the callous people of her past appear on her typewriter keys.

After a few days in a mental facility, Jerilee rewrites her screenplay. Upon meeting director Guy Jackson, he does help her get her screenplay produced successfully; however, once again she's expected to have sex, this time with Mrs. Jackson. At the live awards telecast, Jerilee ultimately wins a prestigious award for her screenplay of a film titled The Hold-Outs. On stage, she admits to her ex-husband Walter Thornton that she has never learned "the meaning of self-respect" and bluntly criticizes the Hollywood system, in which women have to "fuck [their] way to the top". Jerilee then refuses to accept the award, and departs the auditorium with her newfound dignity.

Cast[]

Production[]

Universal Pictures purchased the film rights for The Lonely Lady in 1975, one year before the novel was published, hoping to release the adaptation in 1976.[1] Susan Blakely, who had signed a three-picture pay-or-play contract with Universal, accepted the role of Jerilee, being able to approve the screenplay and director. However, despite multiple drafts by Robert Merrill and Dean Riesner, Blakely was never satisfied with the script and eventually opted out of the project.[2]

The Lonely Lady only eventually entered production as Israeli multimillionaire industrialist Meshulam Riklis joined the production in 1982. Riklis had already funded Butterfly, released that same year, to serve as vehicle for his wife Pia Zadora, and wanted The Lonely Lady to have the same purpose. Riklis was reportedly supplying approximately half of the film's $6–7 million budget, along with completion costs, but refused any mention in credits. Robert R. Weston, responsible for the previous Robbins adaptation The Betsy, was the producer. Butterfly director Matt Cimber would write the script, before being replaced by Ellen Shepard and the duo John Kershaw and Shawn Randall.[1]

Principal photography began on June 14, 1982 at a villa near Rome, where various Los Angeles landmarks and architecture were constructed, from the exterior of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to local supermarkets, although some exterior photography was also planned for Los Angeles.[1] Interiors were shot at Twickenham Studios in Middlesex, England.

Reception[]

The Lonely Lady was heavily panned by critics. Roger Ebert opened his review saying that "If The Lonely Lady had even a shred of style and humor, it could qualify as the worst movie of the year. Unfortunately, it's not that good."[3] Janet Maslin of The New York Times complimented Zadora, saying that she's "got spunk", while still being "the tiny centerpiece of a badly acted slovenly looking movie that isn't even much fun."[4] The Lonely Lady currently holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on twelve reviews.[5]

Zadora herself said that The Lonely Lady was "a real turkey, done very badly" that she "knew it was bad all along" that despite being taken seriously by its director became a "camp classic, one of those movies that's so bad it's funny." She added that she attempted to prevent the release: "I wanted my husband to buy it, to buy the whole thing and hide it somewhere. That movie certainly didn't help my credibility problem."[6][7]

Robbins' reaction[]

Harold Robbins said shortly after the release that he had not seen the adaptation of his novel, criticizing the casting of Pia Zadora, who he claimed that "seem[ed] like a nice girl, but not my idea of the main character" and concluding that "the movie will be a bummer, everyone will lose money. Except me. I got six hundred thousand dollars before it opened."[2] Robbins' then-assistant and future wife Jann Stapp reports in her book Harold and Me that Robbins only saw a rough cut at Universal's screening room, telling her afterwards that he slept during the projection, derided Zadora as "not an actress, she can't carry the picture", and summed up the production as "It's crap, I don't know what they did in Italy but it turned into shit".[8]

Awards[]

The film was nominated for 11 Golden Raspberry Awards and won six: Worst Actress, Worst Director, Worst Musical Score, Worst Original Song ("The Way You Do It"), Worst Picture, and Worst Screenplay. When questioned about the awards, Zadora stated that "I would have hated to be nominated and not won [sic]".[7] It was also nominated for a Razzie as Worst Picture of the Decade, but lost to Mommie Dearest, and as Worst Drama of the Razzies' First 25 Years, but lost to Battlefield Earth. Zadora won Worst New Star of the Decade for this film along with Butterfly. She was also nominated for Worst Actress of the Century, but lost to Madonna. John J.B. Wilson included it in The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of the most enjoyable bad movies ever. In its entry, he notes how being hired for the promotional campaign was "one of my alltime favorite assignments as a trailermaker" given he knew it was a potential Golden Raspberry winner, and even convinced producer Robert R. Weston not to cut an infamous scene where JeriLee has a breakdown, hoping to use the clip in Razzie ceremonies.[9]

The movie was nominated for Worst Picture at the 1983 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, but lost to Krull.[10]

Home media[]

Shout Factory released the film on Blu-ray June 13th, 2017.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "The Lonely Lady (1983)". American Film Institute.
  2. ^ a b Wilson, Andrew (2011). Harold Robbins: The Man Who Invented Sex. Bloomsbury. p. 226. ISBN 9781408821633.
  3. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 6, 1983). "The Lonely Lady". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020.
  4. ^ Maslin, Janet (October 1, 1983). "'Lonely Lady,' from a Robbins Novel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 22, 2016.
  5. ^ "The Lonely Lady (1983)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  6. ^ Hunt, Dennis (November 19, 1985). "Zadora Looking For Credibility". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Waters, John (1986). Crackpot. Scribner. ISBN 9780743246279.
  8. ^ Harold and Me: My Life, Love, and Hard Times with Harold Robbins. Forge Books. 2010. pp. 122–3. ISBN 9781429947381.
  9. ^ Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. pp. 231–2. ISBN 0-446-69334-0.
  10. ^ "1983 6th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinkers Awards". Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  11. ^ The Lonely Lady - Blu-ray|Shout! Factory

External links[]

Awards
Preceded by
Inchon
 Razzie Award for Worst Picture
4th Golden Raspberry Awards 		Succeeded by
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