Star 80 (1983)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Bob Fosse

Writers:

Teresa Carpenter (article)
Bob Fosse (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

Paul Snider is a narcissistic, small time hustler who fancies himself a ladies man. His life changes...

Plot Keywords:

Star | Centerfold | Playboy Centerfold | Conjugal Rape | Frustration

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Mariel Hemingway	...	Dorothy Stratten
Eric Roberts	...	Paul Snider
Cliff Robertson	...	Hugh Hefner
Carroll Baker	...	Dorothy's Mother
Roger Rees	...	Aram Nicholas
David Clennon	...	Geb
Josh Mostel	...	Private Detective
Lisa Gordon	...	Eileen
Sidney Miller	...	Nightclub Owner
Keith Hefner	...	Photographer
Tina Willson	...	Bobo Weller
Shelly Ingram	...	Betty
Sheila Anderson	...	Exotic Dancer
Cis Rundle	...	Meg Davis
Kathryn Witt	...	Robin

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:16 | USA:R (#26722) | UK:18 | Argentina:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1984) | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Blue Horizon Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Ladd Company, The

Trivia:

Bob Fosse made Paul Snider the main character in the film because he identified with his character the most; he even told Eric Roberts that when he played Snider, he was really playing Fosse, if Fosse had not been successful.

Goofs:

Continuity: A bloody hand straps a body to the table, but moments later a wide shot shows the body on the floor and the table is nowhere to be seen.

Quotes:

Snider: Well, you can take your magazine, you mansion and your movies and shove'em ALL up your ass now.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Teri Garr/Mick Fleetwood's Zoo (#9.5)" (1983)

Soundtrack:

Sing Sing Sing

Worth watching for Eric Roberts

This was probably Eric Roberts' best movie. He steals the show as the sleazy, small-time hustler Paul Snider. Snider aches to be the big-shot, the real "Star 80" but is a failure at everything he tries---except when he gets Dorothy Stratten recognized by Playboy. Then, just as things might break through for them, Dorothy dumps him for a film director (in real life, Peter Bogdanovich). Of course we know the rest---sleazeball Snider kills Dorothy and himself.

Bogdanovich wrote a scathing book about the case, "Death of the Unicorn" in which he lam basts Hugh Hefner (no more invitations to the mansion for him). What is really weird is that Bogdanovich later married Dorothy Stratten's younger sister, who was in junior high when Dorothy was killed.