# Foxes (1980 film)
**Foxes** is a 1980 American coming-of-age drama directed by [Adrian Lyne](https://www.edgepedia.org/adrian-lyne), written by Gerald Ayres, and starring [Jodie Foster](https://www.edgepedia.org/jodie-foster), Cherie Currie, Marilyn Kagan, and Kandice Stroh as four teenage girls growing up in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley amid drinking, drugs, and fractured families.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) • [2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0080756/credits/) It was Lyne's first theatrically released feature film and his first American production.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Los Angeles premiere 26 February 1980; Los Angeles and New York openings 29 February 1980; national release 18 April 1980[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) |
| Director / writer | Adrian Lyne (directorial debut); screenplay by Gerald Ayres[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) |
| Producers | David Puttnam and Gerald Ayres; a PolyGram Pictures production distributed by United Artists[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) |
| Principal cast | Jodie Foster (Jeanie), Cherie Currie (Annie), Marilyn Kagan (Madge), Kandice Stroh (Deirdre), Sally Kellerman (Mary), Scott Baio (Brad), Randy Quaid (Jay)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) |
| Rating and length | MPAA rating R; 105 minutes per the AFI Catalog[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) |
| Box office | Domestic gross $7,470,348; domestic opening $221,141[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0080756/credits/) |
| Music | Original score composed and conducted by Giorgio Moroder; soundtrack album released by Casablanca Records & Tapes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) |
## Spoilers
### Story and characters
The film follows four high-school girls in North Hollywood, California: Madge Axman, a plumpish and bashful virgin; Deirdre Thompkins, an oversexed flirt who manipulates boys; Annie Mallick, a runaway drug addict on probation for prostitution; and the even-tempered Jeanie, who keeps her friends in line while dealing with her self-involved single mother, Mary ([Sally Kellerman](https://www.edgepedia.org/sally-kellerman)), and absentee father, Bryan ([Adam Faith](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-faith)).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) Roger Ebert, the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic who won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1975, described the four as girls from broken or unhappy homes who form a substitute family, running in a pack, sleeping over at each other's homes, and forming loyalties deeper than their instant romances.[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/foxes-1980)
**Structure and tone.** Ebert called the film deliberately episodic, suggesting the shapeless form of the teenagers' days and nights, with events happening on impulse: kids stay out all night, run away, get drunk, or see a dinner party crashed by a mob of greasers.[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/foxes-1980) [The Christian Science Monitor](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-christian-science-monitor)'s David Sterritt wrote that the film contains elements of both cautionary tale and prurient melodrama, but that its message is ultimately positive and even optimistic; in the end one girl has been destroyed while the others seem well on their way to genuine adulthood.[4](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0321/032101.html) The Washington Post's Gary Arnold was harsher, calling the film a flashier exercise in fashionable prurience than the recent *Little Darlings* and arguing that it banks on Annie's victimization to cover its inadequacies.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/04/19/tawdry-teen-angels/9a1783f8-7de2-485f-b236-58938a4e48f7)
## Origins and production
The project began at Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., where producer Gerald Ayres had decided to try his hand at screenwriting. According to Ayres, the narrative was inspired by the question: "What would happen if you dropped Louisa May Alcott into the San Fernando Valley today?" He believed Alcott's *Little Women* protagonists Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy would have an entirely different experience of adolescence in 1970s suburbia. Fox developed the property but wanted to stay clear of the Alcott reference, believing it too austere and passé for its target audience.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) The Alcott names persisted through many drafts before Jo became Jeannie, Meg became Madge, Beth became Dierdre, and Amy became Annie.[6](https://80smovieguide.com/foxes/)
Ayres spent five months researching the script at North Hollywood High School, where he interviewed teenagers, sat in on classes, and took notes on phone calls from students.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) • [6](https://80smovieguide.com/foxes/) After Fox dropped the project in late September 1978, British producer David Puttnam read the script and moved it forward, hiring his fellow Briton and fellow advertising veteran Adrian Lyne to direct; Lyne was in [Palmdale, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/palmdale-california), shooting a Levi's commercial when Puttnam approached him.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) • [6](https://80smovieguide.com/foxes/)
**Titles.** The picture carried the working titles *Twentieth Century Foxes* and *Ladies of the Valley* before being shortened to *Foxes*, a term of the era meaning "hot."[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) • [6](https://80smovieguide.com/foxes/)
**Shooting.** [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began 16 October 1978 in Los Angeles, starting at Hollywood General Studios before moving to the [San Fernando Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-fernando-valley) the week of 6 November 1978. Locations included the Little Brown Church in Studio City, Valley Hospital in [Van Nuys](https://www.edgepedia.org/van-nuys), the Shrine Auditorium, Inglewood Park Cemetery, Hollywood High School, and Lookout Mountain in Laurel Canyon.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) Cherie Currie, already known as lead singer of the all-female hard rock band The Runaways, said she turned 18 on the set and that the film took well over a year and a half to edit before its 1980 release.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) • [7](https://www.aol.com/articles/foxes-starring-teen-rock-star-104223000.html)
**Studio context.** Contemporary sources listed [Casablanca Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/casablanca-records) & Filmworks as the production company, but Polygram Pictures is credited onscreen; PolyGram had purchased half of Casablanca Filmworks, and *Foxes* and *The Hollywood Knights* were released as PolyGram Pictures' first productions.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) Producer David Puttnam later said the studio forced a change to how Annie died: "The original script was about a girl committing suicide and the studio at the end of the day backed off of that and it had to be an accident."[6](https://80smovieguide.com/foxes/)
## Reception and box office
The Los Angeles premiere on 26 February 1980 raised money for the Free Arts Clinic, a nonprofit providing therapeutic services for abused children, grossing $30,000 for the clinic.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) The film grossed $140,568 at thirty venues its opening weekend in Los Angeles, New York, Houston, and Kansas City.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) Its domestic gross eventually reached $7,470,348 against a domestic opening of $221,141.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0080756/credits/)
**Criticism.** Ebert awarded three stars and called *Foxes* "an ambitious movie, not an exploitation picture," noting it was written and directed after a lot of research and acted by kids who were to one degree or another playing themselves.[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/foxes-1980) Sterritt found the performances stronger than the movie itself, with Foster showing continued growth as an actress.[4](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0321/032101.html) Arnold's Washington Post review was negative, concluding that the film resolves itself into "a lurid shambles."[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/04/19/tawdry-teen-angels/9a1783f8-7de2-485f-b236-58938a4e48f7) In Australia the film was classified M with a duration of 103 minutes on 1 April 1980.[8](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/foxes-0)
## Music
[Giorgio Moroder](https://www.edgepedia.org/giorgio-moroder) composed and conducted the original score, with [Harold Faltermeyer](https://www.edgepedia.org/harold-faltermeyer) as arranger.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) Moroder co-wrote the anthem "On the Radio" with [Donna Summer](https://www.edgepedia.org/donna-summer) for the film, and the soundtrack album was released by Casablanca Records & Tapes.[9](https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/classic-film/foxes/) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595) The Thessaloniki Film Festival's retrospective notes credit Moroder's soundtrack as part of what made the film's portrait of four girls growing up dangerously in the Valley stand out.[10](https://filmfestival.gr/en/films/foxes/)
## Legacy
The film's heavy themes, including teen sex, abuse, neglect, delinquency, and drug use, proved a marketing challenge for audiences expecting a sexy teen romp, and the movie bombed theatrically.[9](https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/classic-film/foxes/) It has since developed a cult following; a 1994 Los Angeles Times piece on a stage adaptation noted that the 1980 film "has a cult following," and Kino Lorber issued a Blu-ray in January 2015 with audio commentary by Lyne and an interview with Kellerman.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-01-ca-40863-story.html) • [12](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Foxes-Blu-ray/101903/) Currie said in a later interview that the film "definitely was" ahead of its time, and possibly ahead of Lyne's time as well, since it was his very first film before he became known for *Flashdance* and *Fatal Attraction*.[7](https://www.aol.com/articles/foxes-starring-teen-rock-star-104223000.html) Forty-five years after the film's release, Foster remained a magnet for directors; the French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski, born in 1980, cast her in *Vie privée* (*A Private Life*), which premiered at Cannes in 2025.[13](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2025/05/12/director-rebecca-zlotowski-returns-to-cannes-it-s-as-if-i-ve-spent-my-entire-life-searching-for-a-character-i-could-offer-to-jodie-foster_6741162_117.html)
## References
1. [Foxes (1980), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53910-FOXES?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=0&sid=c0b56998-ba84-4278-80a8-6027afa3c42d&sr=7.5473595)
2. [Foxes (1980), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0080756/credits/)
3. [Foxes movie review & film summary, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/foxes-1980)
4. [Foxes, review by David Sterritt, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 March 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0321/032101.html)
5. [Tawdry Teen Angels, by Gary Arnold, The Washington Post, 18 April 1980](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/04/19/tawdry-teen-angels/9a1783f8-7de2-485f-b236-58938a4e48f7)
6. [Foxes, '80s Movie Guide](https://80smovieguide.com/foxes/)
7. ['Foxes' Starring Teen Rock Star Cherie Currie Became a Cult Classic, AOL](https://www.aol.com/articles/foxes-starring-teen-rock-star-104223000.html)
8. [FOXES, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/foxes-0)
9. [Foxes, review by T. Fry, Video Librarian, 21 April 2015](https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/classic-film/foxes/)
10. [Foxes, Thessaloniki Film Festival](https://filmfestival.gr/en/films/foxes/)
11. [A Campy Stage Version of 'Foxes,' for Sure, for Sure, Los Angeles Times, 1 April 1994](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-01-ca-40863-story.html)
12. [Foxes Blu-ray, Blu-ray.com](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Foxes-Blu-ray/101903/)
13. [Director Rebecca Zlotowski returns to Cannes, Le Monde, 12 May 2025](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2025/05/12/director-rebecca-zlotowski-returns-to-cannes-it-s-as-if-i-ve-spent-my-entire-life-searching-for-a-character-i-could-offer-to-jodie-foster_6741162_117.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Coming-of-age films › Coming-of-age films released before 2000*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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