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Nancy Allen

Love her? Hate her? I know her performances have been very divisive. She was in a fair number of important films, largely due to her association with Brian De Palma ("Carrie," "Dressed to Kill," and "Blow Out"). I thought she was quite charming (and funny) in "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," which she did shortly after "Carrie." I also loved her in the utter campfest "Poltergeist III." I watched an interview with her from a few years ago, and she has aged beautifully. She looked fantastic and seems like a nice, normal person.

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by Anonymousreply 183June 14, 2021 6:17 PM

[quote] I know her performances have been very divisive.

Stop being so fucking dramatic.

by Anonymousreply 1June 6, 2021 4:32 AM

No mention of "Out of Sight"?

by Anonymousreply 2June 6, 2021 4:32 AM

I hove her. I late her.

by Anonymousreply 3June 6, 2021 4:33 AM

Can't we simply like her? Does everything have to be a fucking binary with some of you?

by Anonymousreply 4June 6, 2021 4:34 AM

Even sleeping with Brian DiPalma couldn't help her HORRIFIC acting!

Work that casting couch, gurl!

by Anonymousreply 5June 6, 2021 4:36 AM

[quote] Can't we simply like her?

R4 There is no"we." This isn't a club. Troll on your own and stop casting a wide net.

by Anonymousreply 6June 6, 2021 4:36 AM

I agree with you op. She's great in Carrie and Dressed to Kill and I too love I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

She has a charity she runs in the name of Wendie Jo Sperber who died of cancer.

On youtube I found a panel discussion they did after a fundraising showing of Carrie. Piper Laurie and a bunch of the cast where there ( no Sissy Spacek.)

It must have been such a cool screening. When Carrie starts destroying the prom and the lights go off and everything turns reddish the theater flipped on their emergency lights making the whole theater red too.

by Anonymousreply 7June 6, 2021 4:38 AM

I like her. Someone posted a story here years ago about some of the Carrie cast signing a big box of maxi pads including Nancy Allen. I think PJ Soles wrote “PLUG IT UP” on the box.

by Anonymousreply 8June 6, 2021 4:39 AM

She turns 71 in two weeks and I feel very old.

by Anonymousreply 9June 6, 2021 4:41 AM

One of her most bizarre parts was when she was in the gay movie “Circuit” which had lots of heavy gay sex scenes.😄

by Anonymousreply 10June 6, 2021 4:47 AM

Three divorces, no nominations.

by Anonymousreply 11June 6, 2021 4:49 AM

Did she always marry well?

by Anonymousreply 12June 6, 2021 4:51 AM

Despite her playing the villain in "Carrie", Nancy seems like one of the warmer people (in real life) from that cast. Sissy Spacek, though seemingly pleasant, does sometimes give off a vibe that is a weird mixture of both "distant" and "salt of the earth." Amy Irving has always struck me as completely aloof, bordering on utter cunt—either that, or she's just shy and doesn't have good social skills. PJ Soles seems sweet though (and slightly kooky).

by Anonymousreply 13June 6, 2021 4:51 AM

Isn't PJ Soles a Republican?

by Anonymousreply 14June 6, 2021 4:52 AM

And ME? Am I not warm? Am I not salt of the fucking earth?

by Anonymousreply 15June 6, 2021 4:53 AM

r13 Irving was really abusive to Spielberg and thought he was a geek. She was thought to have married him for roles. (it was in that book about 70s film that I always forget the name of.....someone will post it as they always do!)

Love how Spielberg cast Karen Allen in Raiders who is an Irving type. Must have driven her crazy.

by Anonymousreply 16June 6, 2021 4:54 AM

R16 I've heard rumblings of that over the years. Irving has always had a coldness about her IMO, which has come through on film. I don't know what it is about her, but even in "Carrie," where she's playing a sympathetic character, there is still a perceptible a level of aloofness to her onscreen. Allen, on the other hand, has a naturally bubbly and easygoing sensibility, even when she's playing a bitch. I think she and Irving should have played each other's parts in that movie, honestly.

by Anonymousreply 17June 6, 2021 8:04 AM

Love Allen. She's great in Carrie, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out.

She seems like a really nice person and has aged well.

She was also in Robocop (and Poltergeist III which OP mentioned and I love as well) so she is set for life at conventions.

by Anonymousreply 18June 6, 2021 8:23 AM

Nancy is so funny in Dressed to Kill.

by Anonymousreply 19June 6, 2021 8:31 AM

R16 but Spielberg is a geek, how is it abusive to acknowledge this?

by Anonymousreply 20June 6, 2021 8:52 AM

I don’t even know what to say. I don’t have an opinion on her.

by Anonymousreply 21June 6, 2021 9:27 AM

Not only is PJ Soles not a Republican, but she divorced Dennis Quaid because he was.

by Anonymousreply 22June 6, 2021 9:49 AM

She's absolutely dreadful in Blow Out.

But she is good in a number of other films, though her acting range is rather narrow.

by Anonymousreply 23June 6, 2021 11:05 AM

Wipe that smirk off your face, r15.

by Anonymousreply 24June 6, 2021 11:06 AM

Aloof? ME?!

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by Anonymousreply 25June 6, 2021 6:13 PM

I found the title of the book. It's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.

read that r20 she did much more than call him a geek. She used to be quite cruel to him according to people in that book.

by Anonymousreply 26June 6, 2021 8:16 PM

Is Blow Out a good enough movie to watch now? I’ve never seen it.

by Anonymousreply 27June 6, 2021 9:11 PM

I love her in Blow Out and Dressed To Kill.

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by Anonymousreply 28June 6, 2021 9:18 PM

Nancy Allen? Nancy Nasty!

by Anonymousreply 29June 6, 2021 9:22 PM

I like her but I used to confuse her with Linda Purl who played one of Matlock's daughters.

by Anonymousreply 30June 6, 2021 9:28 PM

R27 it's pretty good—some people consider it Brian De Palma's magnum opus. It has some great moments in it, but on the whole, I prefer "Sisters" or "Dressed to Kill" to it. Still definitely worth watching.

by Anonymousreply 31June 6, 2021 9:35 PM

She would've had zero career without her marriage to DePalma, but I still loved her in his movies.

by Anonymousreply 32June 6, 2021 9:35 PM

The scene in I Wanna Hold Your Hand, where she breaks into the Beatles' hotel suite and starts making out with their guitars is wonderful.

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by Anonymousreply 33June 6, 2021 9:39 PM

DePalma directed Robocop?

by Anonymousreply 34June 6, 2021 9:39 PM

R18,funny you should say that...my partner and I went to an autograph convention here in LA a few years ago and Nancy Allen was there. I could have give two shits about all of these people but my partner was into meeting a lot of them. Nancy was there and she kept staring at us, eyes following us around the room the entire time. My partner kept saying we should go talk to her - I had nothing to say and he was nervous and relied on me to do the talking (because I gave zero shits and was just normal) but I honestly had nothing to say to her - to this day I wish I had something to say to her - she was very pretty and well surgeried. She seemed so lonely at this event.

by Anonymousreply 35June 6, 2021 9:40 PM

R34, She got that role because of her work in DePalma's films.

by Anonymousreply 36June 6, 2021 9:47 PM

She was a hoot in Dressed to Kill and looked stunning in lingerie while trying to seduce Michael Caine. She had good chemistry with John Travolta in Blow Out but her acting was nothing to write home about. (Melanie Griffith was much better as the scrappy whore in Body Double.) I like her because she was best friends with Wendie Jo Sperber and switched careers to work in breast cancer research/treatment advocacy after Sperber died of the disease in 2008. She does lots of interviews/podcasts about her film work for DePalma and Sci-Fi geeks and is always gracious and generous about all of her collaborators.

by Anonymousreply 37June 6, 2021 9:51 PM

She's not a great actress but she has something else. A plain, girl next door naturalism. Like many actors, her worst performances are partly from poorly written scripts or weak direction. Properly cast directed she can be wonderful. She has vulnerability. And she does have range, from the heart in Robocop to total bitch in Carrie. Always liked her, always will.

by Anonymousreply 38June 6, 2021 9:53 PM

She runs a cancer charity now. They had a special screening of Carrie for the 40th anniversary in DTLA, shortly after the special edition Blu-ray came out. Most of the cast was on stage (no Sissy, no Amy) but Nancy looked great!

by Anonymousreply 39June 6, 2021 9:53 PM

Total cutie.

by Anonymousreply 40June 6, 2021 9:54 PM

A cutie patootie!😚

by Anonymousreply 41June 6, 2021 9:57 PM

Her romantic pairing with De Palma was sort of odd. She was a pretty, young woman—he was a decade older, and really not attractive (and yes, I know most people will chalk it up to "she wanted the work!"). I know Margot Kidder was with him for awhile too when she made "Sisters", and she's not really someone I would envision fucking for roles.

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by Anonymousreply 42June 6, 2021 10:06 PM

Now that I think of it, they could have been in it for some thick Italian cock—maybe De Palma is hung?

by Anonymousreply 43June 6, 2021 10:08 PM

I always liked her...but that's more about nostalgia for me. She was never much of an actress. I saw her outside the Waldorf-Astoria one winter in the early 1990s. She was very recognizable with her red hair and some kind of white/silverish fur coat. But she is unexceptional looking: she could have been a Shaker Heights, Ohio housewife in town for the Saks Christmas windows and Phantom. I did a double take and made eye contact with her and smiled and she seemed very approachable. On the DVD extra of Carrie, she said she was over trying to make it in L.A. and was booked to fly back east the day she got the call to audition for Carrie.

by Anonymousreply 44June 6, 2021 10:08 PM

This always destroys me. The futility, the surreal imagery, the simple piano score. Tears.

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by Anonymousreply 45June 6, 2021 10:17 PM

Lovely, adorable.

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by Anonymousreply 46June 6, 2021 10:32 PM

Beautiful hair – thick, wavy, golden, glorious. You never see that style anymore.

by Anonymousreply 47June 6, 2021 10:33 PM

R27 I watched Blow Out for the first time last week. I was underwhelmed. But I enjoy watching Travolta and Nancy, so it was ok.

by Anonymousreply 48June 6, 2021 10:34 PM

Fab GQ cover

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by Anonymousreply 49June 6, 2021 10:35 PM

R48 I can understand that. What I like about "Blow Out" is that it's very atmospheric, and the Philadelphia locations are captured wonderfully. As a mood piece, it works very well. That being said, I don't think it's nearly as thrilling or exciting as some of his other films.

by Anonymousreply 50June 6, 2021 10:36 PM

R50 For me it felt like a warmup for "Body Double," which I love.

by Anonymousreply 51June 6, 2021 10:41 PM

She had the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold shtick down pat.

by Anonymousreply 52June 6, 2021 10:42 PM

Rather nice that so many of De Palma's films that were dismissed as mere "genre" films have been embraced The Criterion Collection.

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by Anonymousreply 53June 6, 2021 10:43 PM

I loved her in Carrie. How about that scene where Betty Buckley bitch slaps her, yikes! Travolta slaps her, too.

by Anonymousreply 54June 6, 2021 10:44 PM

R53 What a perfect summation in that paragraph. I might watch that tonight.

by Anonymousreply 55June 7, 2021 1:13 AM

R55 here, we are watching Dressed to Kill. My partner paused in the middle of the museum scene!! to go get some pistachio nuts. I wanted to throttle him.

We’re paused again now so he can go fix his dinner plate. Angie just saw the VD letter and is hightailing it out of the bachelor pad.

by Anonymousreply 56June 7, 2021 2:36 AM

Well, she's no Thespian...

by Anonymousreply 57June 7, 2021 2:51 AM

R56 funny, I am watching it right now too--decided to whip out the Criterion Blu-ray, which I haven't watched in awhile. It looks great. Allen truly doesn't skip a beat as the "wholesome hooker," as others have noted above, and Angie Dickinson is wonderfully slutty in her role.

by Anonymousreply 58June 7, 2021 3:09 AM

R53 in some ways it doesn't surprise me given how much of a film nerd De Palma is, and just how much he's drawn on (some would say totally imitated) cinematic milestones—particularly Hitchcock, a matter that has been discussed ad nauseam. At the end of the day, De Palma is a cinephile who makes films for other cinephiles, so, in a way, his work is very fitting for something like the Criterion Collection.

by Anonymousreply 59June 7, 2021 3:14 AM

De Palma sure liked to present his girl as a hooker running around imperiled down in the subway.

by Anonymousreply 60June 7, 2021 3:15 AM

So agree r33. She's wonderful in that scene. I love that film - and it's another Criterion entry.

A lot of Nancy's films have gotten Criterion (Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, I Wanna Hold Your Hand), Shout/Scream (Carrie) or Arrow (Robocop) editions. Impressive resume.

by Anonymousreply 61June 7, 2021 3:20 AM

Here is the Q & A from that anniversary screening.

Allen says Travolta was a little inhibited about slapping her. (in the movie it is kind of a weak slap.)

Buckley had no problem with hit. She really walloped Allen.

(DePalma was afraid a lot of the young actresses wouldn't be able to get emotionally enough for the scene so he told Buckley to really go after them. In the AMC Backstory Amy Irving (rather pompously) says she didn't like that since she was a trained actress and if he wanted her to cry he just should have asked. Not had Buckley insult her to manipulate tears. Buckley and Irving would carpool to the set and Buckley had lots of info about Irving's personal life which she used to push Amy's buttons much to Amy's dislike.)

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by Anonymousreply 62June 7, 2021 5:35 AM

I think Nancy had great chemistry with Travolta.

And I disagree about her performance in Blow Out - I think she was wonderful.

by Anonymousreply 63June 7, 2021 6:03 AM

Nancy is a much better actress than people are giving her credit for, but she has a limited range. There's nothing wrong with that except you don't get to play as many varied roles as you might like.

And she really is a sweetheart and lots of fun. I know someone posted a Q&A above, but I saw her do one several years prior in Los Angeles at the Egyptian. It was a double feature of Halloween and Carrie, and in between, there was a Q&A with Nancy, PJ Soles (who was in both films) and Debra Hill, producer of Halloween. Nancy and PJ had amazing chemistry together, had clearly done this sort of thing before and were good friends, and because it was more of an informal Q&A with just the two of them (when it came to Carrie stories, at least), they were able to really let loose and tell some very funny stories.

Those autograph shows (also mentioned upthread) can be brutal. I went to one with a friend about 15 years ago, as he had worked on a lot of horror stuff and wanted to say hello to some friends, and having never been to one, I decided to tag along. It made me very uneasy because there were a lot of tables where no one was being visited. It felt like being in an animal shelter for has-beens. I remember walking past Marcia Wallace's table several times and no one was coming up to her. The poor thing looked so forlorn. And some had great table placement and others felt jammed in right next to others. I'm not an autograph person, so I had no desire to go up to anyone, and most of the people there were charging for autographs, so I didn't even want to do it for pity's sake.

The only person I actually approached was Billie Hayes who played Witchiepoo. I LOVED Witchiepoo, and Billie was actually donating all the proceeds from her autographs and photo sales, etc. to an animal rescue. She was incredibly lovely and very generous with her time, seemed very delighted by my I'm sure boring stories about my memories of her tv shows, and how I was taken to see a live stage show of The World of Sid and Marty Krofft. I had just adopted a 2nd cat that summer and we also talked about that.

But if Nancy had been giving me the eye, you bet your ass I would have come up with something to say to her and gone over!

by Anonymousreply 64June 7, 2021 6:25 AM

R64 that sounds so fun! I love the Egyptian. Must've been awhile ago, Hill passed in '05.

by Anonymousreply 65June 7, 2021 7:07 AM

Yeah, it was either 2002 or 2003. I hadn't been in LA too long.

by Anonymousreply 66June 7, 2021 7:09 AM

R66 I checked the date because I would've been pissed I missed that. Been here about 10 years.

by Anonymousreply 67June 7, 2021 7:12 AM

Ohh, you really missed the heyday of the Cinematheque at the Egyptian, then. Before they opened the Aero and moved all the good programming and guest appearances over there, the Egyptian was THE place to go for revival cinema. I moved to LA in late 2000 and joined as a member almost immediately. I had been once before I moved to LA. I was visiting a friend over the summer in 2000 and I noticed they were showing a film called Toomorrow, which was ONJ's first film and something of a lost movie. I told him- I have no idea if it's gonna be good or suck, but we have to go. (We're both huge ONJ fans.) They were just showing the movie on a Saturday afternoon, no guests or anything. House was maybe 1/3 full.

We both actually really enjoyed it. It was silly, but lots of fun. At the end of the movie, the programmer came out to talk about the film and said that he had a special guest. He looks over at me and points, and introduces Olivia. She had been sitting right behind me through the whole movie. I turned around and we locked eyes, and I swear, I queened out like I never have before or since. She did a great Q&A and said she had read about the film showing in the paper and hadn't seen it in 30 years and just decided to come down with no warning.

Anyway, the first 6-7 years I lived in LA, the Cinematheque at the Egyptian was something truly special. I must have been there at least 5-6 times a month, and sometimes up to a dozen. I couldn't possibly list all the great movies and even better guests they had, but I'll do a few highlights.

- At a double feature of Bunny Lake is Missing and Too Late Blues, Carol Lynley and Stella Stevens did a Q&A about those films, and then offered to re-enact their scene together from The Poseidon Adventure where Linda slaps the shit out of Nonny.

- Nearly 100 yr old director Ronald Neame came to talk about his directing career and told several bawdy stories, and several tales about how crazy Shelley Winters was. He was sharp as a tack.

- Christopher Atkins and director Ken Annakin did a Q&A after a 20th anniversary screening of The Pirate Movie.

- Getting to see classics like Singin in the Rain, Black Narcissus, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, The Empire Strikes Back, and so many others on that amazing screen.

- The annual Mods and Rockers Festival which showed really great 50s and 60s films, some incredibly rare.

- The annual film noir festival, which introduced me to so many little known crime films.

- A tribute to John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands with Rowlands making multiple appearances

- And my favorite (which only lasted two summers), the Musicals of the 1970s and 80s festival, which was two full weeks of double and triple features with the most amazing special guests. Grease with Randall Kleiser and cast members, Willy Wonka with director Mel Stuart, Bugsy Malone and Phantom of the Paradise with Paul Williams, Xanadu with DP Victor Kempster and Gene Kelly's widow (who was a hoot), Hair with John Savage... and getting to see those, as well as Saturday Night Fever, Tommy, The Apple, Can't Stop the Music, The Wiz, etc. all on the big screen.

And once the Aero opened, all that stopped. The Aero is a shithole, in an inconvenient place that no one wants to drive to, it has no parking, an incompetent staff, a lousy screen, is dirty, with terrible seats, smells, and should just be torn down..

And that was the end of that. And now Netflix is taking over the Egyptian to show movies we can see in our own homes and that aren't worth going to see on a big screen, and we've lost the best revival house in LA.

by Anonymousreply 68June 7, 2021 7:38 AM

I don't think that's pompous at all of Amy Irving. And Betty Lynn loves her whipping boys.

by Anonymousreply 69June 7, 2021 4:07 PM

I was just reading up on “dressed to kill,” and learned that DePalma originally wanted Liv Ullmann for the role of Kate. I’m so glad it worked out to be Angie Dickinson, she was so sexy but also very sympathetic. And Nancy’s seduction scene in the shrink’s office is unbelievably hot. Depalma was just bragging there.

by Anonymousreply 70June 7, 2021 4:46 PM

[quote]I was just reading up on “dressed to kill,” and learned that DePalma originally wanted Liv Ullmann for the role of Kate. I’m so glad it worked out to be Angie Dickinson, she was so sexy but also very sympathetic.

DePalma said that he needed a famous actress in the role of Kate since she is killed off in the first 30 minutes and there wouldn't be time to develop her character. He wanted Angie because audiences already knew and loved her as Police Woman and would automatically sympathize with her character from the very beginning.

by Anonymousreply 71June 7, 2021 5:50 PM

I doubt Angie was first choice. Her name meant nothing in the movies by then.

by Anonymousreply 72June 7, 2021 5:56 PM

De Palma has the ability to put on film a reactive psychological response that audiences can feel. Those amazing dreamlike slow motion scenes he does that occur during times of crisis. If you've ever been in a car accident, had a sudden shocking revelation, or had sustained anxiety over an event, you know how time seems to expand. Almost everyone I've ever met who has a story like that describes it as happening in slow motion.

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by Anonymousreply 73June 7, 2021 6:54 PM

I loved Nancy Allen's camp performance in Poltergeist III

I think she set a record for the amount of times one person call yell out "Carole Anne!"

I remember Siskel and Ebert in their real bitchy and snarky review of PIII commenting on that and making fun of it

by Anonymousreply 74June 7, 2021 7:23 PM

I love Poltergeist III.

It is so camp. Everybody seems to be shouting "Carol Ann" from Allen to Lara Flynn Boyle to the demons. If you took a shot every time someone says her name, you'd be beyond drunk by the end of the movie.

I love the setting with its Trump Tower-like complex. And I love Allen's "whatever" attitude to Carol Ann and her drama.

by Anonymousreply 75June 7, 2021 7:29 PM

I love this scene from "Carrie", where Miss Collins punishes the girls for bullying Carrie. Betty Buckley is excellent as P.E. teacher Miss Collins. Nancy Allen is deliciously cunty as mean-girl Chris Hargensen.

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by Anonymousreply 76June 8, 2021 11:03 AM

R76 I remember wanting to rip the baseball cap off that girl’s head.

by Anonymousreply 77June 8, 2021 12:41 PM

R76 The scene on the field where Betty smacks Nancy is something else. I once tried posting the clip on Instagram but they pulled it down, probably deemed too violent.

“This isn’t over! Not by a LONG SHOT!”

by Anonymousreply 78June 8, 2021 12:47 PM

[quote]I know her performances have been very divisive

How so? I wouldn't call some people saying she wasn't a great actress "very divisive."

by Anonymousreply 79June 8, 2021 12:58 PM

IIRC she left Brian DePalma and hooked up with Michael Pare, her Philadelphia Experiment co-star. Pare walked out on his wife for Allen. Interestingly enough, both of their careers dried up after this.

by Anonymousreply 80June 8, 2021 2:35 PM

Dressed To Kill is one movie that could never be made today. Just imagine the shitstorm a killer tranny storyline would create.

by Anonymousreply 81June 8, 2021 3:04 PM

it created a shitstorm at the time, R81. There were protests in the US and UK; when Body Double came out a women's shelter in England somewhere demanded that DePalma donate the film's profits because they believed his films directly caused violence against women,

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by Anonymousreply 82June 8, 2021 3:10 PM

I prefer Blow Out to both Dressed To Kill and Body Double. It’s like those 70s conspiracy thrillers, which I love, dropped into the world of exploitation/horror movies. Very dark.

R7, I was at that Carrie screening and got to meet and get pictures with both Allen and P.J. Soles. Both were incredibly nice. Chatted with Allen’s husband or partner for a bit who seemed a bit baffled by the crowd going nuts for a 40-year old movie. Handsome guy. Soles was with some biker-looking dude and seemed like an aging rock groupie.

by Anonymousreply 83June 8, 2021 6:20 PM

R81 it's already been targeted as being "transphobic," but even its detractors can't deny its artistic merit. The funny thing is you could make a similar argument for "Sisters" painting identical twins as unnatural and psychotic. It's a silly argument; if anyone is stupid enough to think that "Dressed to Kill" is an "anti-trans" film, there's not going to be any convincing them otherwise.

by Anonymousreply 84June 8, 2021 7:45 PM

That's a poor analogy. Twins don't have to fight for rights to be recognized.

by Anonymousreply 85June 8, 2021 7:46 PM

From SF Weekly

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by Anonymousreply 86June 8, 2021 7:46 PM

R85 sure, but you also have to take into account "Dressed to Kill" as a product of its time. The film does remediate any "anti-trans" messaging by showing well-adjusted trans people in the talk show footage Allen and Caine's characters watch on TV during the film

by Anonymousreply 87June 8, 2021 7:48 PM

[Quote] you also have to take into account "Dressed to Kill" as a product of its time.

I'm not pissed off by "Dressed to Kill" or, say, "Cruising." They're cheap and nasty exploitation films and I enjoy them as such. But twins/trans still aren't comparable from a social perspective.

by Anonymousreply 88June 8, 2021 7:52 PM

I'm surprised that Michael Caine and Angie Dickinson haven't been cancelled yet for appearing in Dressed to Kill.

by Anonymousreply 89June 8, 2021 8:36 PM

Miss Anjuh Dickinson has Golden Girls fans to cape for her.

by Anonymousreply 90June 8, 2021 8:41 PM

Syndey Sweeney gives off a vintage Nancy Allen vibe in the show EUPHORIA.

by Anonymousreply 91June 8, 2021 9:11 PM

[quote]R27 Is Blow Out a good enough movie to watch now? I’ve never seen it.

BLOW OUT was not well received when it came out for some reason. It’s terrific - dark and moody. Excellent actors, well cast. And the ending is so haunting.

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by Anonymousreply 92June 8, 2021 9:18 PM

Another way to look at it: Trans people have just as much right as other people to be psycho serial killers.

by Anonymousreply 93June 8, 2021 9:26 PM

r83 Was it really cool when the red lights went on?

by Anonymousreply 94June 8, 2021 9:26 PM
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by Anonymousreply 95June 8, 2021 9:27 PM

Blow-Up > Blow Out

by Anonymousreply 96June 8, 2021 9:32 PM

It was very cool, r94. The audience went wild. I would have loved even more pyrotechnics but it think they said or I read that the red lighting cue was kind of a last minute add.

Even though I’ve seen the movie countless times it was great seeing it on the big screen with other fans. Lots of people dressed up in tacky 70s prom outfits

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by Anonymousreply 97June 8, 2021 9:35 PM

Nancy Allen is very sweet. She's on FB, and looks FANTASTIC. She'll be seventy-one in 2 weeks and looks about 55 or so.

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by Anonymousreply 98June 8, 2021 9:37 PM

thanks r97 for the info

by Anonymousreply 99June 8, 2021 9:38 PM

I love this thread.

I also love how the killer in DTK takes out Angie's character with a few superficial cuts. She must have been anemic.

I know, I know, it's not supposed to be an over-the-top gorefest. But I also know that if he hit her jugular, that entire elevator would have been red.

by Anonymousreply 100June 8, 2021 10:25 PM

I love Dressed To Kill because of how it captures the grit and sleaze of NYC in that era.

by Anonymousreply 101June 8, 2021 10:27 PM

I don't think of Dressed to Kill as capturing NYC grit per se; it certainly captures the thrill of pre-internet cruising, but it's not like the characters go dance at Studio 54, fuck at the Hudson piers or buy drugs on the Lower East Side. Kate's house was in suburbia, the museum scene was actually filmed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (The Met said no way), and Dr. Elliott's office was in an upper east side brownstone.

by Anonymousreply 102June 8, 2021 10:49 PM

It was the lurid vibe, r102. Jees, talk about being literal.

by Anonymousreply 103June 8, 2021 10:54 PM

Loved De Palma films. He never got the respect he deserved.

by Anonymousreply 104June 8, 2021 10:55 PM

LOVE HER.

by Anonymousreply 105June 8, 2021 11:02 PM

Another super cute cover.

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by Anonymousreply 106June 8, 2021 11:48 PM

John Travolta has been a fat old troll for so long, it's kind of startling to see pics of him when he was young. He was beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 107June 8, 2021 11:49 PM

He certainly was.

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by Anonymousreply 108June 8, 2021 11:51 PM
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by Anonymousreply 109June 9, 2021 3:38 AM

In Lorna Luft’s memoir, she writes of befriending Nancy Allen while they were high school classmates at a Professional High School in New York in the mid-60s. She wrote that Nancy was the envy of all the other girls because she was not only getting regular work as a model, but she was dating the school heartthrob Tony Sales (son of Soupy).

by Anonymousreply 110June 9, 2021 4:07 AM

Cute as a button!

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by Anonymousreply 111June 9, 2021 4:19 AM

Two pretty faces.

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by Anonymousreply 112June 9, 2021 4:30 AM

[quote] I know, I know, it's not supposed to be an over-the-top gorefest.

R100, you give yourself too much credit. It's unlikely a tribunal was formed to render a verdict and you rebelled. Typing "I know, I know" is presumptuous.

by Anonymousreply 113June 9, 2021 4:42 AM

Chris Hargensen (played by Nancy Allen) is the meanest high-school girl in movie history.

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by Anonymousreply 114June 9, 2021 11:19 AM

She dated Michael Pare when he was young and super hot. Lucky lady,

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by Anonymousreply 115June 10, 2021 2:50 PM

29 takes on this scene.

Nancy Allen was slapped. VICIOUSLY!

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by Anonymousreply 116June 10, 2021 3:23 PM

I wonder why the Allen/De Palma marriage broke up.

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by Anonymousreply 117June 10, 2021 3:27 PM
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by Anonymousreply 118June 10, 2021 3:47 PM

Bigger Burgers!

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by Anonymousreply 119June 10, 2021 4:02 PM

Maybe she looks good now because she got clean and sober in her mid 30s, then quit smoking (?)

by Anonymousreply 120June 10, 2021 4:07 PM

R120 probably. I've never heard any substance abuse stories about Allen(?) though I'm sure she dabbled. You can tell by the way she smoked in movies that she was a smoker IRL at the time, but she probably knocked that off by her 40s. I've noticed most people who quit by their 40s don't tend to get the same kind of ragged look that lifelong smokers do. She looks fabulous for being 70.

by Anonymousreply 121June 10, 2021 7:55 PM

Smoking was everywhere in the 70s.

by Anonymousreply 122June 10, 2021 7:59 PM

Yes, R122. I recall there being smoking areas at hospitals even when I was a kid in the '90s. My dad said his mom would smoke while she was grocery shopping in the '70s and '80s. Nancy smoked in quite a few movies, and probably in real life too, though she likely had the mind to quit at some point. I think most smokers either make the decision to quit as their youth ends, or they commit to it into old age, health risks be damned.

by Anonymousreply 123June 13, 2021 8:26 AM

[quote] Angie Dickinson is wonderfully slutty in her role.

Typecasting

by Anonymousreply 124June 13, 2021 11:11 AM

I remember visiting my father's office in the 1980s and people were puffing away all over the place. I don't know how nonsmokers put up with that for so many years. There would be riots today.

by Anonymousreply 125June 13, 2021 2:21 PM

R117 if you were fucking Michael Pare in his prime over DePalma you need not ask.

by Anonymousreply 126June 13, 2021 3:36 PM

She talks about getting sober at the [bold]1:04:00 [/bold]mark in the r118 interview.

It was after shooting “The Philadelphia Experiment.”

by Anonymousreply 127June 13, 2021 4:14 PM

She was so well cast as Albert Brooks' mistress/cleaning lady in Out of Sight. It was great to see her in that.

by Anonymousreply 128June 13, 2021 4:57 PM

R27, next to The Untouchables, Blow Out is pretty much DePalma's masterpiece. Definitely worth seeing and re-watching.

by Anonymousreply 129June 13, 2021 4:58 PM

When I moved to Britain in the mid-'90s, people were still smoking in elevators.

by Anonymousreply 130June 13, 2021 4:59 PM

In the r118 interview, Nancy said she quit everything (drinking, smoking, coke) in '86 and she's never touched any of it again.

by Anonymousreply 131June 13, 2021 5:01 PM

R92 is wrong. Blow Out was a critical success but didn't do well at the box office. Apparently because of its downer ending.

by Anonymousreply 132June 13, 2021 6:03 PM

R100, I take it you've never seen the uncut version? (No pun intended) It's pretty gruesome.

by Anonymousreply 133June 13, 2021 6:06 PM

This picture was taken last year, when she was 70. She really has aged well. She hasn't ruined her face with excessive surgery and fillers and still looks very natural. A lovely older woman.

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by Anonymousreply 134June 13, 2021 6:09 PM

That hair really is extraordinary.

by Anonymousreply 135June 13, 2021 6:31 PM

Nancy was always very cute. She has those big, beautiful eyes and that big, beautiful smile. And they've accompanied her into her older years in a nice way. That's why you don't fuck with your eyes or mouth.

by Anonymousreply 136June 13, 2021 7:04 PM

The funny thing is, if she dyed her hair blonde, she could pass for 50.

Her face and skin look absolutely amazing- and in a flash DEAD ON photo.

The cliche she has a light from within- fits here.

by Anonymousreply 137June 13, 2021 7:25 PM

She still looks gorgeous and I love her in all the De Palma movies. She took some big risks with her Sally character in Blow Out with that character voice, but I found her very endearing and really felt sick to my stomach when her fate is revealed at the end of the movie. Whatever she, De Palma, and Travolta did must have worked, because her fate really bummed me out. Sally seemed like such a sweetheart. Liz in Dressed to Kill is such a fun gal. She seems like someone who'd be fun to hang out with.

I've always wondered what caused the De Palma marriage to break up. She's never really talked about it. It must have been odd to have to stand there and defend your husband and yourself from claims of sexism during the time of Dressed to Kill and Blow Out. I never understood those claims. Yes, De Palma kills off Dickinson after she had an affair, but if he was really punishing her for her sexual misdeeds, why would have have Liz, an even more sexually liberated character, survive the film?

by Anonymousreply 138June 13, 2021 7:28 PM

I’m still intrigued that De Palma’s next wife, the filmmaker, sorry, I forget her name, was also married to James Cameron. I’m always fascinated by women who marry more than one “genius.” What did she have that attracted those two hotshots?

by Anonymousreply 139June 13, 2021 7:32 PM

R138 did De Palma get accused of sexism for killing off Dickinson's character? If so, that's kind of ridiculous. She was essentially modeled after Marion Crane in "Psycho," who has the same narrative trajectory and suffers a similar fate.

by Anonymousreply 140June 13, 2021 8:45 PM

De Palma is called a misogynist for just about everything and yet, he's given some fantastic roles to women - Sissy, Piper, Amy, Nancy, Betty, Angie, Melanie, Carrie Snodgress and Carol Rossen (in The Fury), Jessica Harper (in Phantom of the Paradise). You care about these characters and/or they're fully dimensional.

Angie and Melanie should have been nominated in Supporting. Great performances.

by Anonymousreply 141June 13, 2021 8:55 PM

Angie says that she loves Dressed to Kill because even though she's killed early on, the first third of the film is "all me!" She says it was a great part told from a woman's perspective and that she rarely got cast in such roles.

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by Anonymousreply 142June 13, 2021 9:03 PM

Agreed, R141. He's written a slew of complex roles for women, and a lot of them ended up being breakouts for a number of actresses--Griffith, Allen, and even Margot Kidder in "Sisters."

by Anonymousreply 143June 13, 2021 9:09 PM

Nancy with drag queen "Sissy Spastik" at the 2016 "Carrie" cast reunion.

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by Anonymousreply 144June 13, 2021 9:15 PM

I think the empathy we feel for Kate undercuts claims that De Palma merely exploits women or treats them as objects. When we first see her in the shower, the use of a body double is so obvious that the scene registers as a fantasy that any sexually frustrated middle-aged woman might have about their body at 25 instead of just T&A --though it's obviously that, too. He can one-up Hitchcock by showing everything. Gays can certainly relate to her cruising routine, so effectively buttressed by works of art, but then reality sets in and the hot mysterious dude turns out to be a wash. She is murdered because of her deviant impulses, like in so many other horror movies, but here's it's not to punish her but simply as a means to shift the narrative to Allen's character, Liz. This movie is so obviously about sexual anxiety and repression, but I guess you can only grasp that when you see the current of dark humor running throughout

by Anonymousreply 145June 13, 2021 10:13 PM

I've never given Nancy Allen a single thought until this moment. I've even seen some of those movies she was in and I must have watched her on the screen without her even registering in my brain.

by Anonymousreply 146June 13, 2021 10:38 PM

Dressed to Kill being a movie about sexual repression makes sense. After all, it's Liz - the least sexually repressed one of them all who makes out to live another day. Maybe the film is telling us to be more like Liz and less like Kate. If you're repressed about sex, it could lead you to seek out unhealthy or unsafe ways to get that fix.

by Anonymousreply 147June 14, 2021 1:25 AM

To piggyback off what someone upthread said, her relationship with Carol Ann in Poltergeist III is interesting and something you don’t see a lot in movies. Aunt Trish really does treat her with resentment and indifference. Nancy brings a really authentic chilliness to the role. It’s interesting to know that on the set, the relationship was quite different and Allen was appreciative of Heather O’Rourke’s energy on set.

by Anonymousreply 148June 14, 2021 1:37 AM

It's too bad Allen isn't working more. She should be at least doing a ton of tv.

by Anonymousreply 149June 14, 2021 1:41 AM

She's focused on her cancer charity. They raise money for cancer families, making things easier for the family while someone's getting treatment

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by Anonymousreply 150June 14, 2021 1:52 AM

All those in favor of Nancy Allen as one of our DL Saints, say "Aye".

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by Anonymousreply 151June 14, 2021 1:59 AM

Why would you want a 70 year old to be working a ton?

by Anonymousreply 152June 14, 2021 2:07 AM

She's a much better actress than she's given credit for. Poltergeist III is a good example. She gives that character a lot of warmth instead of just playing her as an evil stepmother archetype and her character being forced to save Carol Anne at the end was a nice character arc. I'm not even sure if it was that well written, but Allen makes you think it is. You buy her having a change of heart.

by Anonymousreply 153June 14, 2021 2:19 AM

[quote] Nancy Allen as one of our DL Saints, say "Aye".

There is no "our." This isn't a club. You don't speak for me. If you like Nancy Allen she can be your saint. I like her but would never want to be associated with you. You pretty much everything.

by Anonymousreply 154June 14, 2021 2:31 AM

[Quote] You pretty much everything.

I am everything and everything is me? You old romantic, you.

by Anonymousreply 155June 14, 2021 2:33 AM

Pretty interesting interview she did with the Wall Street Journal from some years back. In it, she says that "Blow Out" is her favorite film she did with De Palma.

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by Anonymousreply 156June 14, 2021 2:38 AM

R147 but even Liz is repressed, like Elliot and Kate she can't get off--that's why the movie ends with her nightmare as it began with Kate's dream. Liz is not a ditzy whore like Sally in Blow Out; Liz orchestrates transactions--sex, stocks, art, it doesn't matter which. We don't know what she actually wants or feels because she's blotted it out herself. She spends most of the movie with Kate's teenage son as a non-sexual crime-solving duo, disrobing only to try and nab the killer.

by Anonymousreply 157June 14, 2021 2:43 AM

I am the end or the beginning.

by Anonymousreply 158June 14, 2021 3:34 AM

[quote] the first third of the film is "all me!"

Her, and the Penthouse Pet of the Year body-double.

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by Anonymousreply 159June 14, 2021 4:27 AM

She meant all her character's story. She helped pick out the body double. Duh.

by Anonymousreply 160June 14, 2021 5:28 AM

The thing about Nancy is that even if you don't think she is a great actress, she is likable and that's important and one of the reasons why she worked so well in both Dressed to Kill and Blow Out. In DTK, it's important that we like Liz because we had become so attached to Kate in the first half, and Allen and Keith Gordon have a nice chemistry that works for the second half of the film.

And that's another key to why Allen worked - she had great chemistry with her co-stars, from Carrie to I Wanna Hold Your Hand to Dressed to Kill to Blow Out and to Poltergeist III with Tom Skerrit in prime Silver Daddy-mode.

by Anonymousreply 161June 14, 2021 5:31 AM

I love how dated Dressed to Kill is today. It's almost quaint. Like when Angie finds her trick's STD report in the desk drawer. Having gonorrhea and syphilis would have been the least of her worries if this movie had been filmed just three years later with the onset of AIDS. Now that would have been shocking.

Same scenario with the movie Cruising, which also came out in 1980. That movie was like a foreboding for what was about to hit the gay community in NYC.

It's as if Dressed to Kill and Cruising were both written as a warning of the upcoming AIDS epidemic. Perhaps New Yorkers could feel something ominous in the air and De Palma and Friedkin were able to tap into it. De Palma wanted to direct Cruising, btw, but couldn't get it made, so he wrote and directed Dressed to Kill instead. Many similarities between the two films.

by Anonymousreply 162June 14, 2021 5:44 AM

It would be interesting to see how Cruising would have turned out if De Palma directed it. More camp?

Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Cruising and Dressed to Kill is the perfect trilogy for an evening's entertainment of doomed sexuality.

by Anonymousreply 163June 14, 2021 6:03 AM

When did the Liz Ashley / "Adrienne!" movie come out? (Windows?)

by Anonymousreply 164June 14, 2021 6:03 AM

Can you imagine a movie about a killer tranny today? It could never even get made, probably.

by Anonymousreply 165June 14, 2021 6:15 AM

[quote]R132 Blow Out was a critical success but didn't do well at the box office. Apparently because of its downer ending.

It also had a really non-engaging, kind of ugly poster that did nothing to draw audiences in.

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by Anonymousreply 166June 14, 2021 6:17 AM

DePalma originally wanted Lucille Ball for the role of Kate in DTK and she was apparently on-board, was even okay with doing the shower scenes without a body double, but alas it fell through. I think she would have been a revelation and a game changer for the next phase of her career.

by Anonymousreply 167June 14, 2021 6:19 AM

One of my favorite sci-fi frolics was Strange Invaders, staring Nancy Allen. It also starred Paul Le Mat, Oscar nominated for Melvin (and Howard); I don't know why. Paul never rose to Oscar-like performances again, but has had a steady career. He was husband from hell in The Burning Bed.

by Anonymousreply 168June 14, 2021 6:25 AM

Le Mat wasn't nominated for an Oscar for "Melvin and Howard", although he deserved to be.

by Anonymousreply 169June 14, 2021 6:27 AM

Lucy even shaved her pussy for the role, but Angie got cast at the last minute.

by Anonymousreply 170June 14, 2021 6:28 AM

The pussy we saw in Dressed to Kill was a hairy beast. It looked like a bathroom rug!

by Anonymousreply 171June 14, 2021 6:37 AM

I believe Lucy went so far as to shoot the opening fantasy scene, but she made that weird “spider face” when the man grabbed her from behind… and De Palma lost faith.

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by Anonymousreply 172June 14, 2021 6:38 AM

I thought Gary talked Lucy out of it.

by Anonymousreply 173June 14, 2021 6:43 AM

Gary should talk Lucy and her fans out of this thread...

by Anonymousreply 174June 14, 2021 7:12 AM

Vivian Vance was approached to replace Lucy, but of film work she said, “I’ve had sufficient.”

That’s when they settled for Angie.

by Anonymousreply 175June 14, 2021 7:22 AM

Has anyone seen DePalma’s Home Movies from 1979, which was the first pairing of Allen and Keith Gordon?

by Anonymousreply 176June 14, 2021 1:28 PM

Blow Out is great. This scene's reminding me Travolta was a good actor

by Anonymousreply 177June 14, 2021 1:34 PM

Nancy Allen was delightful as Liz in “Dressed to Kill”.

by Anonymousreply 178June 14, 2021 1:39 PM

[quote]I doubt Angie was first choice. Her name meant nothing in the movies by then.

Angie was coming of "Police Woman" the year before. There weren't 500 channels and everyone in the world knew who she was.

by Anonymousreply 179June 14, 2021 1:58 PM

R169 Sorry, nominated for best actor Golden Globe. Still don't know why. But whatever.

by Anonymousreply 180June 14, 2021 5:09 PM

De Palma approached both Liv Ullman and Jill Clayburgh for Kate first. Both turned him down. Liv thought the script was too violent and Jill had scheduling conflicts I believe. Both would have been wonderful, but different in the role from Angie. Angie was excellent and it's easily her best performance. She says so much with her eyes and body language and I love the world weary tone to her voice in most of her scenes when she goes on about how much her mother annoys her and how bad her sex life is with her husband.

When you find out how much of an asshole Tom Skerritt was to Nancy on the set of Poltergeist III, you really appreciate her as an actress even more. In spite of his demeanor, she creates very believable chemistry with him.

I've often felt bad for Blow Out. It's a hard movie to market and people expecting a fun summer blockbuster with Travolta were probably disappointed by the downer ending. There's no other way that movie could end. It's such a punch in the gut. De Palma was critiqued for making cold exercises in style until Carrie and up until Body Double, he really proved himself to be more than capable of showing warmth to his characters and making them real, living beings that you care about. The last one of his characters I ever truly cared about was Melanie Griffith's Holly Body.

by Anonymousreply 181June 14, 2021 5:45 PM

R133, I refreshed my memory, and you are right, it's a brutal scene. And I was wrong, anyway, as a film with giallo elements it WAS supposed to be over-the-top gory.

by Anonymousreply 182June 14, 2021 6:00 PM

So agree, R181. Holly Body is such a great update to Judy/Madeline from Vertigo.

by Anonymousreply 183June 14, 2021 6:17 PM
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