''Lady Beware'' is a 1987 American

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Karen Arthur Karen Arthur (born August 24, 1941) is an American film director, producer, and actress. Arthur has directed three feature films, including '' Lady Beware'' (1987) and '' The Mafu Cage'' (1978), but the majority of her work has been in televisi ...

and starring

Diane Lane Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film ''A Little Romance''. The two films that could have catapulted her to star ...

, Michael Woods and

Cotter Smith Joseph Cotter Smith (born May 29, 1949) is an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life He was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Madeline (née Cotter) and John Lewis Smith, Jr., who was a federal judge. He graduated from the ...

. It was filmed on location in and around

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Plot

Katya Yarno is a window dresser for

Horne's The Joseph Horne Company, often referred to simply as Joseph Horne's or Horne's, was an iconic, regional department store chain based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store was one of the oldest in the country being founded on February 22, 1849, ...

department store who specializes in displays with sexy, slightly kinky themes. Surrounded by the equipment of her trade—mannequins and lingerie—Katya lives in a loft apartment in downtown

. She spends her evenings taking her bath by candlelight and thinking up new and more provocative window displays. Katya soon becomes the obsession of Jack Price, a handsome (and married)

psychopath Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent Anti-social behaviour, antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and Boldness, bold, Disinhibition, disinhibited, and Egotism, egotistical B ...

. Jack proceeds to stalk Katya and makes her life a living hell. Tired of being harassed, Katya decides to give Jack a taste of his own medicine.

Cast

as Katya Yarno * Michael Woods as Jack Price *

as Mac Odell * Peter Nevargic as Lionel * Edward Penn as Mr. Thayer *

Tyra Ferrell Tyra Ferrell (born january 28, 1962) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in films ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), ''Jungle Fever'' (1991), ''White Men Can't Jump'' (1992), and ''Poetic Justice'' (1993). On television, she had starring ...

as Nan * Trisha Simmons as Sylvia Price * Clayton D. Hill as Police Officer #1 * David Crawford as Katya's father * Ray Laine as Doctor *

Bingo O'Malley Bingo O'Malley (May 10, 1933 - June 2, 2019) was an American actor. He has been called "Pittsburgh’s finest actor." Biography O'Malley never revealed his birth name. He initially aspired to the priesthood but found that "I am not religious." ...

as Man in Window *

Don Brockett Don Brockett (January 30, 1930 – May 2, 1995) was an American actor, comedian, producer, and director from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was known for his portrayal of Chef Brockett on ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''. He had small parts in ma ...

as Locksmith

Production

Development

Arthur began working on ''Lady Beware'' in the late '70s, shortly after the success of her second feature, ''

The Mafu Cage ''The Mafu Cage'' (also released as ''My Sister, My Love'', ''Deviation'' and ''Don't Ring the Doorbell'') is a 1978 American psychological horror film directed by Karen Arthur, and starring Carol Kane and Lee Grant. Its plot follows two siste ...

'', which screened at Cannes, landed her a four-picture deal at

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

. Universal, however, ended up rejecting the project, which ended up having "100 homes, 17 drafts, and eight writers," as Arthur told ''The Los Angeles Times'' in 1986 ahead of the film's release. "The purse-holders are men, and they attempted to make ''Lady Beware'' into a violent picture," Arthur added. "I'm not interested in making a picture where a woman gets beat up. I want to show how a lady deals with this kind of insidious violence. A policeman can't help."

Filming

The film was shot on location in

during the summer of 1986 after Scotti Brothers Entertainment agreed to finance and distribute it. The budget was reportedly under $2 million. ''Lady Beware'''s 28 days of shooting took place primarily in the city's North Side and downtown neighborhoods.

Release

Home media

''Lady Beware'' was released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1988 by

International Video Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...

. A second VHS release was put out in 1991 by Avid Home Entertainment.

Controversy

Arthur did not approve of the film's final cut, which she said was re-edited by the producers to appeal to the exploitation crowd. " ome distributors asked formore sex, so they took outtakes of Diane Lane standing there naked and incorporated them into the film," she told the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' ahead of the film's release. "To me, that's exploitative. They printed up negatives where I never said print. I, as a female director, would never exploit a woman's body and use it as a turn-on." Arthur added that she did not remove her name from the film because she thought it would be unfair to the actors, who can't remove their names from the final product.

References

External links

* * * * {{AFI film, 57691 1987 films 1980s erotic thriller films 1987 independent films 1980s psychological thriller films American independent films American psychological thriller films American erotic thriller films Films about stalking Films directed by Karen Arthur Films scored by Craig Safan Films set in Pittsburgh Films shot in Pennsylvania 1980s English-language films 1980s American films