| Lady Beware | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Karen Arthur |
| Written by | Charles Zev Cohen Susan Miller |
| Produced by | Tony Scotti Lawrence Taylor-Mortoff |
| Starring | Diane Lane Michael Woods Cotter Smith |
| Cinematography | Tom Neuwirth |
| Edited by | Roy Watts |
| Music by | Craig Safan |
| Distributed by | Scotti Brothers Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million[1] |
| Box office | $169,600[2] |
Lady Beware is a 1987 American thriller film directed by Karen Arthur and starring Diane Lane, Michael Woods and Cotter Smith. It was filmed on location in and around Pittsburgh.
Plot
Katya Yarno is a window dresser for Horne's department store who specializes in displays with sexy, slightly kinky themes. Surrounded by the equipment of her trade—mannequins and lingerie—Katya lives in a loft apartment in downtown Pittsburgh. She spends her evenings taking her bath by candlelight and thinking up new and more provocative window displays. Katya soon becomes the obsession of Jack Price, a handsome (and married) psychopath. Jack proceeds to stalk Katya and makes her life a living hell. Tired of being harassed, Katya decides to give Jack a taste of his own medicine.
Cast
- Diane Lane as Katya Yarno
- Michael Woods as Jack Price
- Cotter Smith as Mac Odell
- Peter Nevargic as Lionel
- Edward Penn as Mr. Thayer
- Tyra Ferrell as Nan
- Trisha Simmons as Sylvia Price
- Clayton D. Hill as Police Officer #1
- David Crawford as Katya's father
- Ray Laine as Doctor
- Bingo O'Malley as Man in Window
- Don Brockett as Locksmith
Production
Development
Arthur began working on Lady Beware in the late '70s, shortly after the success of her second feature, The Mafu Cage, which screened at Cannes, landed her a four-picture deal at Universal.[3][4] Universal, however, ended up rejecting the project, which ended up having "100 homes, 17 drafts, and eight writers," as Arthur told The Los Angeles Times in 1986 ahead of the film's release.[5] "The purse-holders are men, and they attempted to make Lady Beware into a violent picture," Arthur added. "I'm not interested in making a picture where a woman gets beat up. I want to show how a lady deals with this kind of insidious violence. A policeman can't help."[5]
Filming
The film was shot on location in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1986 after Scotti Brothers Entertainment agreed to finance and distribute it.[5][6] The budget was reportedly under $2 million.[7] Lady Beware's 28 days of shooting took place primarily in the city's North Side and downtown neighborhoods.[8]
Release
Home media
Lady Beware was released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1988 by International Video Entertainment. A second VHS release was put out in 1991 by Avid Home Entertainment.
Controversy
Arthur did not approve of the film's final cut, which she said was re-edited by the producers to appeal to the exploitation crowd. "[Some distributors asked for] more sex, so they took outtakes of Diane Lane standing there naked and incorporated them into the film," she told the Los Angeles Times ahead of the film's release. "To me, that's exploitative. They printed up negatives where I never said print. I, as a female director, would never exploit a woman's body and use it as a turn-on." Arthur added that she did not remove her name from the film because she thought it would be unfair to the actors, who can't remove their names from the final product.[9]
References
- ↑ "Lady Beware". Radiator Heaven. November 29, 2013.
- ↑ "Lady Beware". Box Office Mojo.
- ↑ Miller, Jeanne (March 13, 1979). "Feminists expected more than a thriller". San Francisco Examiner. p. 19. Retrieved November 30, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑
- Smukler, Maya Montañez (2018). Liberating Hollywood: Women Directors and the Feminist Reform of 1970s American Cinema. Rutgers University Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-0813587479. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- Smukler, Maya Montañez (2014). Working Girls: The History of Women Directors in 1970s Hollywood (Thesis). University of California, Los Angeles.
A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Television
- 1 2 3 Mills, Nancy (May 29, 1986). "'Lady Beware' Has Been This Director's Legacy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ↑ "Lady Beware (1987)". AFI Catalog. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ↑ Blank, Ed (July 9, 1986). "'Lady Beware' filming to start here p. 30". The Pittsburgh Press. pp. C6. Retrieved April 24, 2022 – via Google News.
- ↑ Blank, Ed (July 20, 1986). "Hollywood returns to city". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved April 24, 2022 – via Google News.
- ↑ Mills, Nancy (September 13, 1987). "'Lady Beware'--Or Director Beware?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.