MovieChat Forums > The Hot Spot (1990) Discussion > What Was Going on with the Sisters??

What Was Going on with the Sisters??


I saw this film only once and was somewhat confused by what is a somewhat complex plot filled with curves and twists. The business with Sutton does not become clear for quite a while but I didn't get the pressure he put on J Connolly about the photos when, it was later seen that they were, they said of her and her sister, with whom she was very close. Overtones of lesbian activity but was that really her sister and the scenes innocent or was there some sexual content that was not clear. Also, is the scene where D Johnson bursts into Sutton's place, is that Dolly who runs out of the room or Connolly> Left me thinking the latter until Johnson sees Connolly wearing the flowered shoes. I seem to have missed some connections here, distracted in attention by what are some long, dry periods.

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I believe that was her sister but probably not by relation. She lived with an older women who took in orphans. It obvious it dolly who was in sutton's place from the mark on her cheek. The woman who was with Sutton was grazed by a bullet when he misfired. The last she said's before jumping out of bed grasping her face is "My face".

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"It obvious it dolly who was in sutton's place from the mark on her cheek. The woman who was with Sutton was grazed by a bullet when he misfired. The last she said's before jumping out of bed grasping her face is "My face"."

Right!

It was Dolly but Harry was thinking it was Gloria (under blackmeil of the bad guy) until he saw the flowered shoes of Gloria

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Hmmm, the way I see it, if it was just innocent sisterly comforting it would hardly be blackmail material, don't you think? Even if It just looked awkward on certain photos she could still explain it away - unless she was literally having sex.

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I think the other girl in the picture was her surrogate sister. She tells George at one part in the movie that she lived with woman who takes in orphans. This is a small town with certain notions about way people should live. Possibly like many people who fall for Black Mail schemes. The Blackmailer sell their story so well that the victim is unwilling to consider the risk.

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"
She was an orphan remember
by - taxidriver8989 on Sun Jul 17 2011 15:52:30
I think the other girl in the picture was her surrogate sister. She tells George at one part in the movie that she lived with woman who takes in orphans. This is a small town with certain notions about way people should live. Possibly like many people who fall for Black Mail schemes. The Blackmailer sell their story so well that the victim is unwilling to consider the risk."

Right, also the blackmailer has pictures of the sister and her teacher (lesbian relation) and also another pictures of Gloria and her sister nudes... (dont doing nothing wrong on this case)

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I haven't seen this movie in 20 years, so going by memory. I remember being struck with the same notion as ProudTraitor. I remember seeing a "Hot Spot" promotional interview with Dennis Hopper and Jennifer Connelly before the film was released. Hopper was heaping praise on Jennifer, who was 19 at the time. He had compared her favorably with Liz Taylor. Hopper was saying how she was destined to be a huge star, and basically his prognostication came true. Anyway, Jennifer sat in his lap for the entire interview, which was kind of creepy. I got the sense that the old, maverick, visionary Hopper may have been taking advantage of his clout to impress and influence the still youthful Connelly.

As someone who is obsessed with viewing lesbian sex scenes, I want to point out that it is obvious to me that Dennis Hopper was also very fond of lesbian sex. Some of his own films feature lesbian scenes, and his character's sentiments about girl/girl sex in the film "the blackout" I think might ring true of Hopper's real personality. BTW,the director of "the blackout", Abel Ferrara, is also obviously, to me, a "fan" of lesbian scenes. Anyway, my suspicion has been, for years, that Hopper likely filmed Jennifer in a relatively graphic lesbian sex scene for "the Hot Spot", and kept the footage for his own private use. This is purely speculation, but I suspect it is accurate. For it's time, not much more than what IS shown in that scene would have been risky business for a mainstream Hollywood movie. It makes sense for the scene and it makes sense that Hopper would film "more" than what made the cut. I know I would have...

If this theoretical footage exists, it needs to be FOUND.

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Somebody needs to steal the theoretical footage from Hopper asap and put in on the internet!

I would rather see that footage than know who killed JFK.

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Ditto. Was blackmailing her for the photos of her sister with another woman at first, but when he saw her take money from her workplace I think he used that against her even when the sister committed suicide.

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She was taking money from the business BECAUSE he was blackmailing her. And, once he had his hooks in her, she couldn't get away. If she stopped paying for his car, then he'd show the pictures of her and her sister skinny-dipping.

Even if she didn't care what people thought of her, she cared what people would have thought of her sister.

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That doesn't explain why she would keep paying after her sister was dead. She had taken out more than she could pay back. I think she did the accounting and she could cover it up. Who cares about pictures of her in a remote pond? The plot is kind of silly when you look at it closely IMO. I just watched it recently and noticed he was blackmailing her for something else. He took more than she could ever pay back and maybe he forced her to do other photos like porn that weren't mentioned but clearly implied by Sutton's other photos and posters.

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Another silly thing was how people would constantly be surprised by someone just out of the frame who should have been visible to them or others. Like when Suffom was learning on Harry's car after Dolly left the car lot at night. She should have seen him while talking to Harry. But maybe she had a relationship with him already and ignored him. I think Harry would have seen the cop car and the cop standing in the shadows when walked out of Gloria's yard. A crook like him would tend to notice a police car or sheriff nearby I would think.

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They weren't sisters in the literal sense. They considered each other as such, but were not blood related.

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Good post lonniemac. Even with all of its quirks, "The Hot Spot" ain't "Chinatown".

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Gloria and her "sister" grew up in an orphanage which implies that although Gloria regarded her as a sister, they were not actually related. Unlike "Chinatown", no incest in this picture.

The nude scene at the beach of the "sisters" is incomplete which is verified by Sutton when he makes a remark about Gloria being bi-sexual. Even in some back road hick country town in Texas, sunbathing in the nude in the late 80's is not blackmail material. Sutton had the real goods and Gloria paid hush money.

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