American Gigolo

Paul Schrader's ice-cool character study follows a Beverly Hills male escort whose carefully constructed world of glamour and desire unravels when a client is found murdered.

In-demand Beverly Hills escort Julian (Richard Gere) lives a lavish and emotionally unattached lifestyle under the management of Ann (Nina Van Pallandt). On the sly he works for pimp Leon (Bill Duke) who books him in with a husband and wife whose tastes veer towards the darker side. When the wife is found dead, Julian finds himself as the prime suspect and the glamours world he has created for himself begins to fall apart.

Curator’s note
Originally offered to a who's who of in-demand Hollywood actors (including John Travolta and Christopher Reeve), the role finally went to Gere whose detached performance served the film well, particularly where desire is only surface deep. Director Paul Schrader fittingly used Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket (1959) as a guide, another filmmaker who famously traded in sparse emotionality and Gere’s wardrobe, designed by Giorgio Armani, cemented his status as the premium designer in Hollywood. Giorgio Moroder’s score is brilliantly in tune with the excess on display and the films award-winning theme song Call Me, co-written by Moroder and Blondie was an enormous hit across the globe.