Star 80 (1983) on Netflix
Paul Snider, a Vancouver hustler, meets Dorothy Stratten, a Dairy Queen clerk, and becomes her manager. Playboy's Hugh Hefner invites her to Los Angeles after seeing her photographs.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb6.8/108,933 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes81%
Featurette
Plot summary
Dorothy Stratten serves customers at a Dairy Queen in Vancouver when Paul Snider, a local hustler, fixes on her. He flatters her, calls himself her manager, and persuades her to pose for photographs, first Polaroids, then pictures taken by professionals he hires. The shots reach Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, who asks Dorothy to come to Los Angeles for a photo session. Her mother will not sign the consent form, so Paul forges her signature. Dorothy is chosen as a centerfold for the August 1979 issue, and Hefner provides lodging and work as a Bunny at his club. Paul proposes marriage by telephone, then flies to Los Angeles and offends Hefner at a party at the mansion. Dorothy marries him anyway, and as her acting work begins, his jealousy grows.
Cast
- Lisa Gordonas Eileen
- Keith Hefneras Photographer
- Tina Willsonas Bobo Weller
- Shelly Ingramas Betty
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Star 80 (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Peter Bogdanovich, Stratten's boyfriend at the time of her murder, opposed the project, arguing that Fosse “didn't know the true story”, refused to let his name be used in the film and threatened to sue if he found the character of Aram Nicholas objectionable.
- After Hefner refused to allow filming at his Los Angeles estate, an unoccupied mansion in Pasadena was renovated to resemble it, and actual Playboy models appear in the film's party scenes.
- Ebert coined the phrase “Star 80 syndrome” after arguing that Gary Oldman's performance as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy was snubbed for the same reason as Roberts's: “Hollywood will not nominate an actor for portraying a creep, no matter how good the performance is.”
- In the 2020 documentary Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies, Hemingway admitted she underwent a breast-enlargement procedure before being cast, but said: “I did it for me. I wouldn't have done that because of a movie.”
