The Bitch (1979)

Interesting facts

• Based on: The Bitch

The Bitch is a 1979 British drama film directed by Gerry O'Hara. It is a sequel to The Stud (1978) and, like its predecessor, is based on a novel by the British author Jackie Collins and stars her sister Joan Collins as Fontaine Khaled. Both films were made for a relatively small sum but were highly profitable at the box office, and were among the first successes in the emerging home video market of the early 1980s.

Production notes

Jackie Collins had apparently given her sister Joan the film rights to both The Stud and The Bitch for free so that they could be turned into movies. After funding was secured, the films were co-produced by the sisters' husbands at the time (Oscar Lerman, who was married to Jackie, and Ron Kass, who was married to Joan).

Although The Stud novel was made into a film nine years after its 1969 publication, The Bitch novel was published in the same year the film was released.

The film differs from Collins' novel in some ways, and omits an entire subplot with additional characters in Las Vegas where Nico first runs foul of the Mafia. In the novel, Nico is Greek rather than Italian, his surname is Constantine, not Cantafora, and his entire life history is detailed. The novel also depicts Fontaine's life in New York in some detail, whereas the film starts just as she's leaving New York.

Gerry O'Hara was hired as director on the condition the budget did not exceed that of The Stud.

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