The Lady in Red (1979) [w/Commentaries]

Director: Lewis Teague
Writer: John Sayles
Stars: Pamela Sue Martin, Robert Conrad, Louise Fletcher

Farmgirl Polly Franklin (Pamela Sue Martin) flees her abusive father and lands in a sewing sweatshop in Chicago, where the girls are exploited by sleazy manager Patek (Dick Miller). One outspoken Jewish girl, Rose Shimkus (Laurie Heineman) is arrested by anti-red thugs, and after Polly tries to hustle a cop at a dime-a-dance joint, the two women find themselves together in jail. Tyrannical wardens humiliate and harass the inmates, with the only way out being to become prostitutes; Polly takes the job to help save the sick Rose. Thus she begins a life as a hooker in the house of Anna Sage (Louise Fletcher), a Romanian immigrant hounded by the G-Men to inform on the organized crime kingpins who frequent her girls. As the mob and the cops both extort high protection money, Polly's continued poverty is assured. She briefly befriends a mysterious hit man (Robert Forster) but then Anna's house is closed down. Working as a waitress in Anna's new diner, she falls in love with a pleasant gentleman known only as Jimmy (Robert Conrad). He turns out to be none other than public enemy number one, John Dillinger, ruining Polly's romantic plans.



Commentaries:
– Audio commentary with director Lewis Teague and actor Robert Forster
– Audio commentary with producer Julie Corman and writer John Sayles

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