Elizabeth Berkley takes a late victory lap for ‘Showgirls’ at Academy Museum event
Once a punchline, now a classic, Paul Verhoeven’s lusty Las Vegas spin on “All About Eve” was destroyed by critics at its release in 1995. But how many movies from that same period can boast a 1,200-seat sell-out at the Academy Museum’s Geffen Theater all these years later?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film’s star (and that year’s Razzie-winner) Elizabeth Berkley received no less than three standing ovations during her introduction on Wednesday.
She told the crowd that the property was so hot at the time that she asked her agent if it could mean an Academy Award nomination. “Every girl in Hollywood had fought for this role,” she said.
While recognizing now that was a bit of wishful thinking (“I’d like to thank the Academy….Museum,” she jested) she did salute the audience that “got” the movie from day one.
“[‘Showgirls’] really pushed the boundaries at that time that now have been embraced — not misunderstood but truly embraced. And I’m so grateful that the film has found its way not only in your hearts but especially in the LGBTQ community. You stood by the film,” she continued, tearing up, adding “You always believed as did I and for that I’m eternally grateful.”
Her comments were met with tremendous applause, especially as she exited the stage, issuing the “scissor hands” dance move.
“Showgirls,” a mid-90s spectacle like none other, was the return of director Verhoeven and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who had collaborated on the ribald blockbuster “Basic Instinct.” Its many scenes of nudity (and an extremely odd sex scene with Kyle MacLachlan in a swimming pool) netted it an NC-17 rating. Indeed, it remains the only NC-17 film to get a wide release. Despite the hype, it was a box office dud. Later, when it played on basic cable, cheap digital tank tops were added for some of the nude scenes, making it look like a “Tim and Eric” sketch.
Over time, the film was reevaluated by many critics and received first as good camp, and later as just a straight-up good movie.
While the careers of Verhoeven, MacLachlan, and co-star Gina Gershon absorbed the “Showgirls” shocks, Berkley’s career arc definitely took a hit, though she did find work in indies like “The Real Blonde,” small roles here and there like in Woody Allen’s “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion” and on Broadway. Most recently she appeared on the Peacock relaunch of “Saved By The Bell,” back with the character she played pre-“Showgirls.”
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