Nancy Allen
The Scream Queen
Another one of my favorite actresses is Nancy Allen. My favorite films of hers include the following, all directed by Brian De Palma, one of my all time favorite directors.:
1976 “Carrie” This was Nancy’s first big role which also resulted in her starting a relationship with Brian eventually leading to their marriage. Nancy is one of the high school bullies along with my last stack fav actress P.J. Soles. Her boyfriend is performed by actor John Travolta. The film is adapted from the Stephen King novel about a telekinetic gifted teen who is unpopular and has an abusive mother perfectly performed by Piper Laurie. That role is the scariest in the film.
1980: “Dressed to Kill” Wowee this one is really scary good. Michael Caine another favorite actor of mine. I do not want to give out the details if you have not seen it but he is outstanding and always has been. Angie Dickinson always reminded me of my mother. Another powerful role in the opener of this film. It just does not get any scarier with the beginning of this film. Nancy’s role as a call girl who actually has a close call being murdered. The film awarded her with a Golden Globe.
1981 “Blow Out” I love this film about a cover up murder. An audio effects film tech played by John Travolta catches the murder on his audio while he is out in the woods recording nature sounds. He saves a woman played by Nancy from a car that plunges from the road into a body of water. Together the two try and solve the murder, except they have to deal with actor John Lithgow’s character who wants to keep it covered up. In this film IMDB has dubbed her the “scream queen.”
1978 “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” I was 14 when I saw this movie and not only did I love The Beatles this film captured my soul. A group of teenagers in a small town all love The Beatles and fan girl Nancy Allen finds her way into their hotel room. I mean OMG! Director Robert Zemeckis really captured the enthusiasm of the era. This film is impossible to find for streaming but maybe you can find it on Ebay, maybe. It’s a gem.
Amlin Entertainment YouTube
Nancy Allen has been acting from childhood commercials to starring in films and TV shows from the 70’s through 2000’s.
Really excited to find and watch "I wanna hold your hand". I just was reexploring that era myself!
BLOW-OUT is an all time favorite. Nancy is great in ROBOCOP, too.