Shelved for a long time – the $16 million film was actually made in 1986 but sat on the shelf due to a legal dispute – this camp comedy-adventure starred Brooke Shields as the plucky reporter from the comics.
Brenda’s biggest concerns are the outfits she gets to wear (the film is a bit of a fashion show) and the fact that Mike Randall (Tony Peck) – the artist who draws her – insists on giving her purses that are too small for her notebook.
Brenda – who writes for a newspaper known as The Flash in post-World War II New York – has the hots for Basil St James (a pre-007 Timothy Dalton) in all his eye-patched dashing charm. Basil, of course, helps her save the free world.
The chief villains are a gang of incompetent Russian agents (including a bald-headed goofball and a pint-sized cigar-smoking female leader), though also hindering Brenda is the ambitious and vaguely vampish rival reporter Libby “Lips” Lipscomb (Diana Scarwid).
Guest appearances include Eddie Albert as the Police Chief; Charles Durning as Starr’s flamboyant boss Editor Francis I. Livright; Henry Gibson as the obligatory eccentric scientist, and Ed Nelson as the piano-playing American President.
Although seen in cinemas in Europe in 1989, Brenda Starr was not released in the US until 1992, by which time it pretty much went straight to video.
Brenda Starr
Brooke Shields Basil St John
Timothy Dalton Mike Randall
Tony Peck Libby ‘Lips’ Lipscomb
Diana Scarwid Jose
Nestor Serrano Vladimir
Jeffrey Tambor Luba
June Gable Editor Francis I. Livright
Charles Durning Reporter Hank O’Hare
Kathleen Wilhoite Cub Reporter Pesky Miller
John Short Police Chief Maloney
Eddie Albert Donovan O’Shea (Public Enemy #3)
Mark von Holstein Professor Gerhardt Von Kreutzer
Henry Gibson President Harry S. Truman
Ed Nelson Fake Captain Borg
Tom Aldredge Real Captain Borg
Matthew Cowles Carlos The Magnificent
Avner Eisenberg Esperanza
Mary Lou Rosato Boris
Rex Pierson Mischa
David Efron
Director
Robert Ellis Miller
Video
You May Also Like
Blood Oath (1990) Shortly after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour in World War II, Japanese troops captured the…
Charro! (1969) This abortive attempt at changing the lightweight movie image of Elvis Presley is a melodramatic and…
Bad Timing (1980) Bad Timing is seen in flashback after a traumatic incident sends young American girl Milena Flaherty…
Betrayed (1954) Clark Gable stars in a wartime espionage drama which has as many thrills as surprises. It…
Paper Man (1971) A computer error in issuing a credit card plunges a group of college students into an…
Wings of Eagles, The (1957) U.S. Navy pilot Frank 'Spig' Wead (John Wayne) is a fun-loving and rowdy adventurer, but also…
Brenda – who writes for a newspaper known as The Flash in post-World War II New York – has the hots for Basil St James (a pre-007 Timothy Dalton) in all his eye-patched dashing charm. Basil, of course, helps her save the free world.
