Flashdance

Director: Adrian Lyne Adrian Lyne

Overview

Jennifer Beals stars as Alex Owens, a Pittsburgh steel-mill welder by day, and bar dancer by night. Harboring dreams of a career in ballet, she is given financial support in this endeavor by her boss Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri) and moral support by demanding but big-hearted instructor Hanna Long (Lilia Skala). The film's signature scene is, of course, Alex's water-drenched dance audition, largely performed in long shot by her dance double Marine Jahan. Essentially an old-fashioned backstage yarn, Flashdance was given a contemporary spin by its pulsating, musical score featuring the Oscar-winning Best Song, "Flashdance...What a Feeling," (music by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Keith Forsey and Irene Cara).

Product Details

Release Date:	04/25/2017
UPC:	0032429256843
Original Release:	1983
Rating:	R
Source:	PARAMOUNT
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	10,196

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jennifer Beals	Alexandra Owens
Michael Nouri	Nick Hurley
Lilia Skala	Hanna Long
Sunny Johnson	Jeanie Szabo
Kyle T. Heffner	Richie Blazik
Lee Ving	Johnny C.
Ron Karabatsos	Jake Mawby
Belinda Bauer	Katie Hurley
Malcolm Danare	Cecil
Philip Bruns	Frank Szabo(as Phil Bruns)
Micole Mercurio	Rosemary Szabo
Lucy Lee Flippin	Secretary
Don Brockett	Pete
Cynthia Rhodes	Tina Tech
Durga McBroom	Heels
Stacey Pickren	Margo
Liz Sagal	Sunny
Norman Scott	Normski
Robert Wuhl	Mawby's Regular
Deirdre L. Cowden	Stripper #2

Technical Credits

Adrian Lyne	Director
Peter Guber	Executive Producer
Christine Peters	Executive Producer,Executive Producer
Jerry Bruckheimer	Producer
Don Simpson	Producer

Editorial Reviews

The sleeper hit Flashdance had surprising crossover appeal for a movie that featured strippers and X-rated footsie under the dinner table. In part because of its soundtrack, which became a pop sensation on the strength of Irene Cara's "What a Feeling" and Michael Sembello's "Maniac," the R-rated Flashdance was seen by an untold number of viewers under 17. The glimpses of nudity may have been partly to blame, but more than that, the transformation of Alex Owens from blue-collar welder to legitimate ballet hopeful was the stuff of dreams for teenage girls. Factor in the subplot about a friend trying to make it in ice skating, and this film seems tailor made to be teen wish fulfillment, except for all the time it spends in the nudie bars. Flashdance turned Jennifer Beals into an overnight sensation, her tough cookie with sex appeal image quickly assuming iconic status. Its nearly 95-million-dollar domestic take, steadily buoyed by word-of-mouth during a months-long theatrical engagement, was almost unheard of for an R-rated movie, ranking it the third highest grosser of 1983. The project also became the first hit in the notorious careers of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas and producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. The kind of film that's so aggressively formulaic that it bowls over any objections, Flashdance has become fodder for numerous parodies and spawned countless imitators. For whatever reason, it struck a chord, and indeed produced quite a feeling.

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