Portrait of a Showgirl

An interesting melodrama, this production features Lesley Ann Warren, Rita Moreno and Dianne Kay as three dancers of differing skill levels who are hired for a new revue in Las Vegas at Caesar's Palace, where the picture is set, and focusses upon various travails within their private lives as they prepare for the opening of their show, with the eponymous Warren's character deservedly garnering the most screen time. As a Broadway dancer recruited for the engagement, Warren plays high-stepping Jillian Brooks, whose need for success upon the stage is altered by her affairs of the heart, while Moreno portrays a veteran hoofer whose husband (Tony Curtis) is a sucker for entrepreneurial scam artists, and Kay is an inexperienced beauty queen from the Midwest. The film could easily have been much less engaging, as cliched situations abound, but the episodic script is effectively utilized and includes a good deal of skillful dialogue, there is splendid editing by John Woodcock, and a strongly appropriate thematic underscore is provided by Jimmie Haskell, while the performance of the talented and generally underprized Warren goes beyond the expected implications stemming from her comeliness.

This TV movie tells the stories of three Las Vegas chorus girls as they prepare for a new show at Caesar's Palace.

This melodrama is quite fragmented in nature and doesn't have a main overall focus, splitting its time between the three different women. The dramas depicted include the story of the deluded husband of one of the women played by Tony Curtis who is constantly trying to land a big money deal, while another thread focuses on the succession of unsuitable male partners who orbit around another of the women, including her unfaithful partner who will not leave his wife, a sleazy congressman who wants to use her for sex and an immature younger guy who has a couple of hamsters he treats like people. The dramatics are pretty run-of-the-mill if truth be told and there isn't anything especially standout in this one. But it does have the distinction of being a nice time capsule of early 80's Vegas, a place which has changed a great deal since those days. On the whole, this is a pretty middling melodrama but one with a certain amount of charm.

A pleasant surprise. From a place I will never get near (Las Vegas). I thought it was going to be silly and sloppy, but no, there is a plausible story, some great lines, and very good acting from all the cast.

In the very first scene, Jillian gets pulled over for speeding (in a Mercedes 450, in the deserts of Nevada?) and we see the cop making sure his hair is tidy before getting out of his cruiser! That's the sort of detail that impresses. Then he tries to chat her up, maybe see again, tells her about the great places to eat, but gets rebuffed with a "Eating's against my religion!" she says. "Too bad speeding isn't against your religion" as he writes the ticket!

Jillian gets to town and joins the dancers at Caesar's Palace and suggests a new dance step, but it's not popular with the others and there is a bit of tension and when her ex shows up there is a bit more tension. Things get resolved. And there is a bit of serious attitude explaining. It's fun, especially the scene where a congressman lusts after her body. How does she cope? Simple, "What about the money". That silences him quickly, it is obviously bad for his self image.

Meeting up with the med student working as a parking valet brings more chances for great lines and scenes.

Sort of out-dated today, but a "cute" effort. Leslie Ann Warren looks beautiful; never knew she could dance. Miss Warren can kick higher than Jean-Claude Van Damm.

A strong supporting cast of Tony Curtis and Rita Morena makes this "little" T.V. film worth seeing. Real fluff, nothing really serious. Also, a walk down memory lane. You see the Las Vegas of the early 80s, and man! has it changed!

So, if you like beautiful women prancing around in tights and leg-warmers; enjoy seeing the great Tony Curtis and Rita Morena, this film is for you.

When this movie originally aired on television in May of 1982, I was just wrapping up my freshman year at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, majoring in Hotel Administration. At that time, not even the most forward thinking of the professors running the program at that time could have ever guessed the massive growth/changes that would occur in the city over the next 30 years.

The Las Vegas of 1982 is barely recognizable in the context of today's city. Many, maybe most, of the big hotels of that time are now gone, replaced by mega-resorts. Caesar's Palace, where most of the action in this movie is set, was easily the class of the town at that time, and while it remains one of the better resorts, it is clearly not the number 1 place in town. Even the slot machines kicking out coins with a jangle is largely a thing of the past--they have been replaced with debit/credit card readers that take your money almost without your realizing it! Like many Vegas old-timers, I miss the city that is portrayed in this movie. It was a smaller town and much greater attention was paid to the individual visitor. That said, the boom we experienced for almost 30 years made many wealthy people.

As a movie, this isn't half bad. Watching reminded me why I once had a crush on Lesley Anne Warren. Tony Curtis (who lived here for many, many years) is his usual charming self, and Rita Moreno is up to her normal high standards as an actress.

If you are a longtime Las Vegan, someone who has gone there over a period of many years, or just curious to see what the old town was once like, catch this movie. It's a pretty good way to spend a couple of hours.