The Fan (1981)

[lester1/2jr]

Here is another early 80's stalker obscurity for you fans of Morgan Fairchilds "seduction".  This one is kind of divided into two movies like disaster films were in the 70's:  the backstory and the awful thing.    Here,  Lauren Bacall plays a 50 (yeah RIGHT ) year old actress starring in a tacky Marvin Hamlish musical and having romance and heartbreak with an old lover who left her for a younger one (when they walk on the beach she actually says "we were something weren't we").  The far better part of the movie is the stuff with the psycho fan.  She is like 65 and sounds like Bea Arthur and we are supposed to believe all these men are in love with her.  Apparently this was released right around the time of John Lennon's tragic assasination and thus was shunned at the box office.  thankfully Bacall's legacy is great enough to not have this turkey damage her place in film history (too much).


here's a montage of all the horrible songs from the imaginary musical

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKOlv3RO8BA

[soylentgreen]

I think you hit the nail on the head, Lester.  1981 was a rough stretch where studios had to come to terms with what to do with older Hollywood star vehicles in a film realm rapidly swinging towards a more earthy post-70s style...right-wing jingo fantasies and mindless pop-music driven fluff aside, of course.

Looking back, I think I like the remake, with Wesley Snipes as Lauren Bacall and Robert DeNiro in the Michael Biehn role, a little more.