''Beverly Hills Madam'' (also known as ''Ladies of the Night'') is a 1986 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Harvey Hart Harvey Hart (August 30, 1928 – November 21, 1989) was a Canadian television and film director and a television producer. Hart studied at the University of Toronto before being hired by the CBC in 1952.Rist, Peter Harry (2001). "Harvey Ha ...

and starring

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...

Melody Anderson Melody Anderson (born December 3, 1955) is a Canadian retired actress, social worker and public speaker specializing in the impact of addiction on families. As an actress, her most high-profile role was playing Dale Arden in the 1980 adaptation ...

Donna Dixon Donna Lynn Dixon is an American film and television actress, best known for playing Sonny Lumet in the TV series ''Bosom Buddies'' (1980-1982). Biography Dixon was born in Alexandria, Virginia, to Earl Dixon. Her father owned a nightclub in ...

and

Robin Givens Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: ** European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin ** Forest ...

. It was originally broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on April 6, 1986.''Beverly Hills Madam''
at Monsieur Louis Jourdan

Plot

escort agency An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort' ...

caters to wealthy clients in Beverly Hills, California and is run by the elegant Lil Hutton. She has high standards, providing her girls with designer wardrobes and rigorous reading lists so they can easily socialize with

high society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...

. Lil has four young women in her employ: Wendy Benton, Claudia Winston, Julie Tyler, and April Baxter. Douglas Corbin is her loyal butler. Claudia tries to escape the business when her wealthy boyfriend, Steven, proposes. However, a former client exposes Claudia's past. Enraged, Steven breaks off the engagement and a distraught Claudia tries to numb her heartbreak with alcohol. She wants to go back to work, but her drinking and general bad behavior aggravate Lil. Julie is a naïve teenager who has just arrived from Nebraska. When all her possessions are stolen and the police wrongly arrest her for prostitution, Lil lets Julie stay in her mansion. Enchanted by the luxurious lifestyle of a high-class

call girl A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency.< ...

, she becomes one of Lil's employees. Julie is hired by a father to take the virginity of his son, Justin, as an 18th birthday gift during a yacht trip. She and Justin declare their love for one another, and Julie is devastated when the family won't have anything to do with her after the trip. She tells Lil that she can't handle the emotional coldness of

sex work Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volun ...

and quits. Wendy is a law student who struggles to balance school with work. She visits demanding client Len Culver in New York City just before her mid-terms. Unable to study enough, she flunks the test. Wendy then discovers that she's pregnant. When she informs Culver that he's the father, he tries to bribe her to go away. Wendy resists, and Lil tells her to take the payment for the baby if Wendy intends to keep it. April is a dancer who half-heartedly works for Lil. Her lack of work ethic causes friction between the two women. One night, when Claudia isn't feeling well, April agrees to meet a new client. However, Lil fails to do a proper

background check A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and oth ...

on the client and, as a result, April is murdered. Lil has a breakdown and leaves the business. Claudia, now cold-hearted and numbed by alcoholism, takes over the operation.

Cast

as Lil Hutton *

as Claudia Winston *

as Wendy Benton * Terry Farrell as Julie Tyler *

as April Baxter *

Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lett ...

as Douglas Corbin *

Marshall Colt Marshall Colt (born October 26, 1948) is an American management consultant and combat-decorated, former captain in the United States Navy in San Diego, who was an actor in film and television from 1976 to 1995. He co-starred in the films '' Nor ...

as Steven Beck * William Jordan as Len Culver *

Gary Hershberger Gary Hershberger (born April 5, 1964) is an American actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his television roles as Mike Nelson in ''Twin Peaks'' (1989–1991; 2017) and Matthew Gilardi on '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2002). Early life an ...

as Justin * Nicolas Coster as Uncle Edgar *

William Traylor William Hurley Traylor Jr. (October 8, 1930 – September 23, 1989) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He was also, along with his wife, Peggy Feury, an acting coach and founder of The Loft Studio, an acting school attended by ...

as Taylor *

Seymour Cassel Seymour Joseph Cassel (January 22, 1935 – April 7, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies and television shows, and had a career that spanned over 50 years. Cassel first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering in ...

as Tony

References

External links

* * *{{AllMovie title, 5223, Beverly Hills Madam 1986 television films 1986 films 1986 drama films NBC network original films Orion Pictures films Films about prostitution in the United States Films set in Beverly Hills, California Films directed by Harvey Hart Films scored by Lalo Schifrin American drama television films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films