On stage, she bluntly criticizes the Hollywood system, in which women have to "fuck [their] way to the top," and admits to her ex-husband Walter that she never learned "the meaning of self-respect."

Universal Pictures purchased the film rights for The Lonely Lady in 1975, one year before the novel was published, hoping to release the adaptation in 1976.

[1] Susan Blakely, who had signed a three-picture pay-or-play contract with Universal, accepted the role of Jerilee, with the conditional approval of the screenplay and director.

Riklis had already funded the 1982 film Butterfly as a vehicle for his wife Pia Zadora, and he wanted The Lonely Lady to serve the same purpose.

Riklis reportedly supplied approximately half of the film's $6–7 million budget, along with completion costs, but refused any mention in credits.

Butterfly director Matt Cimber would write the script, before being replaced by Ellen Shepard and the duo John Kershaw and Shawn Randall.

[1] Principal photography began on June 14, 1982, at a villa near Rome, where various Los Angeles landmarks were constructed, from the exterior of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to local supermarkets.

Roger Ebert opened his review saying that "If The Lonely Lady had even a shred of style and humor, it could qualify as the worst movie of the year.

"[3] Janet Maslin of The New York Times complimented Zadora, saying that she's "got spunk" while still being "the tiny centerpiece of a badly acted slovenly looking movie that isn't even much fun.

"[6][7] Harold Robbins said shortly after the film's release that he had not seen it, criticizing the casting of Pia Zadora, who, he claimed, "seem[ed] like a nice girl, but not my idea of the main character" and concluding that "the movie will be a bummer, everyone will lose money.

"[2] Robbins' then-assistant and future wife Jann Stapp wrote in her book Harold and Me that Robbins only saw a rough cut at Universal's screening room, telling her afterward that he slept during the projection, derided Zadora as "not an actress, she can't carry the picture," and summed up the production as "crap, I don't know what they did in Italy but it turned into shit.

In its entry, he notes how being hired for the promotional campaign was "one of my all-time favorite assignments as a trailermaker" given he knew it was a potential Golden Raspberry winner, and even convinced producer Robert R. Weston not to cut the infamous scene where Jerilee has a breakdown, hoping to use the clip in Razzie ceremonies.