The Bitch

The Bitch (1979)

Tagline: "Don't play with fire....."
 
Starring: Joan Collins, Michael Coby, Kenneth Haigh

Featured Racecourse: Lingfield

Director: Gerry O'Hara
Producers: Brent Walker, Ron Kass, Oscar Lerman, Edward Simons
Writer: Screenplay by Gerry O'Hara, based on novel 'The Bitch' by Jackie Collins

Release Date: September 1979
Runtime: 89 mins

IMDB Synopsis: The owner of a trendy disco starts having problems with the men in her life and the Mafia, which is trying to move in on her place.

Where to Buy: Amazon
Film Links: IMDB, Wikipedia

Personal Review


Fontaine Khaled (Joan Collins) is the nympho owner of a trendy London Disco called Hobo which is facing financial ruin. On a flight back from America, commodities dealer Nico Cantafora (Michael Coby) uses Fontaine as an unknowing courier for a precious diamond ring which he is bringing back to London for the Mafia. He loses Fontaine at the airport but eventually tracks her down and charms her into bed. He reclaims the ring from Fontaine's coat but when it's found to be an imitation he lands himself in hot water with the Mafia. To pay back his debt, the Mafia demand that Cantafora bribes a womanising jockey Sandy (George Sweeney) to throw the race on a hot favourite at Lingfield, the horse being owned by Fontaine's close friends the Grants. Khaled learns of the plan and seeks to cash in on the knowledge to save her failing club and Cantafora also wants to make money from the race. With the stakes extremely high for all concerned, will the favourite lands the odds or get pulled? 

'The Bitch' is a screenplay based on the Jackie Collins (Joan's younger sister) novel of the same name (1979) and was in itself a sequel to the 1978 Joan Collins film 'The Stud', again a Jackie Collins novel of the same name (1969). Both films were given the thumbs down by critics but they were still a commercial success and spurred Collin's acting career onto the greater heights of Dynasty. The plot of the film itself is very weak with plenty of raunchy bedroom scenes but the seventies disco soundtrack and the trip to Lingifeld races at the end make it watchable. I quite like the suave Italian actor Michael Coby who played Nico Cantafora and Ian Hendry with his gruff voice also performed well as the Mafia boss with the crazy name 'Thrush Feather'. There were also brief glimpses of Mick Jaggers brother Chris (Tony Langham) who had a very similar demeanour to his rock star sibling and Sue Lloyd was good as raunchy horse owner Vanessa Grant  - she went on to play Barbara Hunter in Crossroads although I'm not sure about her rosette tassels in the pool scene.

The film was slightly saved at the end by the racing scene from Lingfield Park where all eyes are on the hot favourite Plato - some punters wanting him to win and some wanting him to lose. The sequence shows some good shots of the Lingifeld stands and the track itself although the introduction of an all-weather surface in 2001 has the seen the course configuration change somewhat.

Poor movie overall despite the nudity but the seventies disco music and Lingfield racing action just about made it watchable for me. (Rating 3/10)

Favourite Quotes
Fontaine Khaled: "What happens to Nico?"
Thrush Feather: "I think he'll be returned to sender"
Fontaine Khaled: "Back to the States?"
Thrush Feather: "Yes"
Fontaine Khaled: "Economy I hope"
Thrush Feather: "He'll be lucky to go by catapult!"


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