Pretty half-hearted sequel to The Stud, losing Tobias and concentrating on Collins' turn as the bitch of the title, Fontaine Khaled. Whereas a case can be made that the first film said something about the way "the jet set" chew up and spit out working class flesh, this one is little but enamoured by its decadent rich characters, and the lame gangster sub-plot - which ought to be the dramatic centre of the film - goes nowhere (although it still all leaves a pretty nasty after-taste, with every character exposed as morally rotten and alone).
Though I searched high and low, I couldn't find a copy of Joan Collins' previous movie, "The Stud", so I had to settle for watching this sequel. After watching the movie, I no longer have any desire to find the original film.
"The Bitch" is one of countless exploitation films dealing with the sex lives of the "jet set" crowd, (today they are known as the '1 percenters.) This film offers a tawdry look into a very decadent lifestyle, led by people with no real morals or concern for anything other than their own pleasure.
The sequel to THE STUD (1978), also based on a Jackie Collins novel, is more of the same - if more elaborately plotted, taking in a diamond heist, fixed horse-races and the mob! The stud this time around is the Italianite but ultra-resistible Micheal Coby and the girl with whom he shares a brief moment of bedroom bliss turns out to be working for the mob - headed by a campy turn from Ian Hendry (who seems to have just strayed in from GET CARTER [1971]).
'The Bitch' holds the distinction of being the first motion picture to retail on sell-through video. Copies were on sale in Woolworths for about £100 each ( probably more than the film's total budget ) at the time of its release.
This movie begins where The Stud left off. Fontaine is down and out, but she has plans to get back on her feet again.
This film is really a load of tosh and a waste of Joan Collins' considerable acting talents - BUT - if you grew up in the 1970s you will have a certain nostalgic affection for it. I remember very well the iconic nightclub "Regine's" on which Fontaine Khaled's disco was based - even with the same squared dance-floor - and the fashions with lots of bright colours, flashy jewellery and designers such as Yuki.
'The Bitch' was made during a soft-core craze in late 1970s Britain, when various types of pornography had theatrical releases. Soft-core titles were meant to be watched and forgotten in due time, having sated their viewers.
Joan Collins returns as middle-aged, sex-mad uber-bitch Fontaine Khaled in the inevitable sequel to The Stud, which sees her becoming involved with a hustler named Nico (Antonio Cantafora), who is trying to raise money to pay off his debts to the mob. But Nico isn't the only one with financial problems: Fontaine is also feeling the pinch, her divorce leaving her far less affluent and her London disco Hobo failing to pull in the crowds.
