Fontaine Khaled (Joan Collins) is the London wife of a wealthy Arab businessman. She spends his money on her nightclub, Hobo, and her rather hedonistic partying lifestyle. She hires a handsome manager, Tony (Oliver Tobias), to run her club, but it is understood that his job security is dependent on his satisfying her nymphomaniac demands. Tony loses interest in Fontaine, as she treats him like a plaything, and turns his attention to her young stepdaughter Alexandra Khaled (Emma Jacobs), who uses him to get back at Fontaine after she discovers a video tape of Fontaine and Tony having sex in the Khaleds' private elevator, cheating on her father. Fontaine then dumps Tony and is divorced by her husband for adultery.
Additional footage involving disco dancing was added for the US release. This footage involved members of the UK dance troupe Legs & Co., appearing (uncredited) as discotheque patrons.
Production notes
Joan had asked her sister Jackie for the film rights for free and Jackie agreed whilst contributing to the screenplay. Joan met George Alfred Walker, who established Brent Walker, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977 while promoting Empire of the Ants. He became excited by the project as it was proposed as a British alternative to Saturday Night Fever.[5]
Both Joan Collins's husband, Ron Kass, and Jackie Collins's husband, Oscar Lerman, also acted as producers on the project.
Filming started November 1977.[1] The night club scenes were shot at Tramp, a nighclub run by Collin' brother in law, Oscar Lerman.[4]
The marketing budget was the same as the budget to make the film.[2]
Soundtrack
A successful soundtrack album was released on Ronco Records to tie-in with the film. The album contained twenty tracks, including original material penned by Biddu specifically for the film, as well as a number of major British chart hits which were licensed for use in the film. The majority of the tracks were disco flavoured, although some non-disco tracks were also included. The album rose to number 2 on the UK albums chart, kept off the top spot by the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album.[7]
The film grossed over $20,000,000 internationally.[8] The film was one of the most popular movies of 1978 at the British box office.[9]
Released in March 1978 the film made back its cost by June.[1] Brent Walker claimed that within ten days the film earned £550,000 at the British box office. It also claimed the soundtrack had sold £640,000 worth of albums and Stud cosmetic merchandising brought in £100,000.[3] By May 1978 it was reported The Stud had earned £1 million at the British box office.[10] By May 1979 it was reported the film had earned $2.5 million in the UK and an equivlaent amount around the world.[11]
The movie did not perform well in the United States, which Brent Walker blamed on American International Pictures' handling of the film, including the "slapdash dubbing" of the British lead actors' voices.[1]
Legacy
The film helped to revitalise Joan Collins's career. The Stud and its sequel The Bitch helped her to be cast as Alexis Colby in Dynasty.[12] However, Tobias later claimed that his part in the film led to typecasting and ruined his career.
