[REL] Laura, les ombres de l'été (1979)

[deadman]

The birthyear 1964 that IMDb has is most likely incorrect

In 2007 Frank Lowe and Dawn Dunlap divorced. She (probably for tax reasons) took up residence in Gstaad in Switzerland. There is a document relating to a company that referred to her, which has a birth year of 1961. This type of information is usually reliable.

https://find-and-update.company-informa ... pointments

In this case I think it's more likely a typo on the form. I will explain why.

That DOB is earlier than Dawn herself ever claimed. For years she - and David Hamilton - maintained she was 16 while filming Laura. 1961 would make her 18. Seriously? 18? She's young looking even for 16 in Hamilton's movie. But then you look at her subsequent films to see how she grows up, and it only serves to illustrate my point.

Forbidden World (1982), which filmed in late October of 1981, is probably the best example since she's not a minor character - and we get to see plenty of her (if you know what I mean). She has developed noticeably since her 1979 filming of Laura. Whereas in Heartbreaker (1983) and Barbarian Queen (1985) she doesn't look much older than in Forbidden World. The difference is subtle, as you'd expect if she was indeed 17 at the time she filmed the Alien rip-off.

Hamilton supposedly photographed Dawn in 1976 at the age of 12. I've looked around a bit, but because of his signature style can only find a few pictures not from the Laura promo shoot which might or might not be her. It would be nice to have something confirmed from 1976 that continues the age progression backward. If anyone can identify an earlier image that would be helpful.

I received a summons about five years ago for jury duty that had my date of birth - not to mention my apartment number - completely wrong. I mean the date as well as the year. They also misspelled my last name. If not for the fellow resident who actually got the letter caring enough to ferry it over from an adjacent building and drop it in front of my door I never would've gotten the stupid thing. Now if Dawn herself confirmed in court that she was born in 1981 I would have to take that seriously, since she wouldn't perjure herself over something so silly. But I'm skeptical of the idea that bureaucrats must've gotten it right.

It's certainly possible that Dawn Dunlap was 16 years old when she made Laura. There are plenty of girls that age who look younger than they are. I find 14 more believable, but Walter Mathieu could also be full of shit. Who knows?

[BugMeNot9999]

In this case I think it's more likely a typo on the form. I will explain why.

That DOB is earlier than Dawn herself ever claimed. For years she - and David Hamilton - maintained she was 16 while filming Laura. 1961 would make her 18. Seriously? 18? She's young looking even for 16 in Hamilton's movie. But then you look at her subsequent films to see how she grows up, and it only serves to illustrate my point.

Please note IMDb has the filming dates as May 1979. It would be necessary to know if this is the beginning or the end of the filming. If it was the beginning and she was born in October 1961, she would still have been 17, not 18. If it was the end, it would have been possible that at the beginning she was 16.
More, another page writing the same:

https://www.checkcompany.co.uk/director ... -DAWN-LOWE

[deadman]

Please note IMDb has the filming dates as May 1979. It would be necessary to understand if this is the beginning or the end of the filming. If it was the beginning and she was born in October 1961, she would still have been 17, not 18. If it was the end, it would have been possible that at the beginning she was 16.
14 years old is definitely not possible.

Definitely not possible? When people misuse 'impossible' I always want to remind them what the term actually implies. Perpetual motion machines are impossible. So is raising the dead. Or controlling the weather just by thinking about it. Getting someone's DOB wrong is well within the realm of the possible.

When IMDb gives you exact filming dates, from month-day-year to month-day-year, it's been my experience that the information was copied from a reliable source like a press kit. When you get month-year to month-year or something like Summer of year, it probably came from an interview with the director or a member of the cast. Single dates or just the year alone are often unreliable. The issue you point out is just one reason, you don't know if that single date was the beginning of filming or when they wrapped.

If you compare Dawn in Laura to Dawn in Forbidden World, she could easily be 14 and 17 respectively. Although 16 and 19 works too. Nearly 18 and 21 ... not so much. The other commonly circulated date of birth (May 17, 1963) is believable and consistent with comments Dawn herself made about being 16 when she filmed the sex scene at the end of Laura - I gathered that she wasn't particularly looking forward to it, but accepted that aspect of the role in hopes it would help her career.

Walter Mathieu alleges that Dawn was actually 14 at the time, but David Hamilton wanted to conceal that fact. The age of consent in France in 1979 (as now) was 15. This was sporadically enforced at best - it's taken more seriously today - however he could've gotten in trouble if some crusading group had decided to make a big deal about it. Is Mathieu telling us the truth? Who knows. Only Dawn Dunlap's license can say for sure. I am extremely skeptical of this new date of birth in 1961 though. It's a recent thing and very likely a mistake.

[BugMeNot9999]

I had already deleted the "impossible". I'm not interested in arguing, nor always wanting to be right. I'm interested in finding out the facts.
Filming of "Laura" began on May 14, 1978.

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... june181979

I think Dawn Dunlap was 17 then, you think she was 14.
Ok, no problem.

[deadman]

I had already deleted the "impossible". I'm not interested in arguing, nor always wanting to be right. I'm interested in finding out the facts.
Filming of "Laura" began on May 14, 1978.

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... june181979

I think Dawn Dunlap was 17 then, you think she was 14.
Ok, no problem.

No, I said it was possible Dawn was 14 (based on her appearance and how it subsequently changes) but that she may well have been 16, just like she claimed. She has that petite body type that often does look young for their age. Although if filming started on May 14, 1978 that would make the October 1964 DOB incredibly unlikely - since Dawn would've been 13 (!).

The date that's been widely circulated for many years would make her 15. That would mean Hamilton waited until the moment she was of legal consent age in France and began filming right away. Sounds like him. If social media existed in 1979 this would be so much easier. Kids tend to share photos of birthday parties and so forth. They reveal details that let you figure it out, even if they don't come right out and give their age. But there was no Instagram or TikTok for young Dawn to record and share her life. We only know what's been put out there publicly.

I'm inclined to go with the 1963 date now simply because it's the one that's been quoted for decades, and based on how Dawn's body looks in Laura vs. Forbidden World, mid teens/late teens makes sense, whereas late teens/early 20's really doesn't - most people change noticeably from 15 to 18 but only gradually after that. Sometimes you look at a picture of the same person at 18 and 25 and you can't tell which is which. Add a picture of them at 14 or 15 though and you see the difference right away.

If I come off as wanting to argue, or be right whether I am nor not, don't take it that way. It's not my intent to make you feel like you're under attack.

By the way, where exactly in that document does it discuss Laura? It's not easy to find!

[BugMeNot9999]

Of course, we are discussing, no one is under attack.
Please also look at this article, which is about her divorce. As you can see it is from August 2007 and it says she was 44 years old (so she would have been born in October 1962?).

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/ ... eagle.html

As you can see there are no certainties, documents that contradict each other. I continue to think (it is my opinion) that 1964 is the least likely option.

[BugMeNot9999]

By the way, where exactly in that document does it discuss Laura? It's not easy to find!

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... june181979

Page 9:

"Laura Moore. Filming began May 14 in France in this feature starring..."

[deadman]

By the way, where exactly in that document does it discuss Laura? It's not easy to find!

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... june181979

Page 9:

"Laura Moore. Filming began May 14 in France in this feature starring..."

Thank you.

Please also look at this article, which is about her divorce. As you can see it is from 2007 and it says she was 44 years old (so she would have been born in October 1962?).

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/ ... eagle.html

As you can see there are no certainties, documents that contradict each other. I continue to think (it is my opinion) that 1964 is the least likely option.

I would point out that this was May of 1979, as IMDb indicated. You may have found their source.

The May 1963 date does line up with her being 44 in the summer of 2007 when that article was published. I find it highly unlikely Dawn would lie about her age at this point so we can take that as a confirmation. A lot of blogs that featured David Hamilton material - including interviews with his young stars - have been shut down. I can't find several of the articles I read when I posted the bluray version of the movie two years ago. From now on I'm saving webpages!

It makes more sense for David Hamilton to have filmed Dawn in this role once it was legal rather than breaking the law by doing it a year early. From what I understand he did personally get physical with girls as young as 13 - but never filmed any of that and put it into a movie for mass release.

[BugMeNot9999]

The May 1963 date does line up with her being 44 in the summer of 2007 when that article was published. I find it highly unlikely Dawn would lie about her age at this point so we can take that as a confirmation. A lot of blogs that featured David Hamilton material - including interviews with his young stars - have been shut down. I can't find several of the articles I read when I posted the bluray version of the movie two years ago. From now on I'm saving webpages!

It makes more sense for David Hamilton to have filmed Dawn in this role once it was legal rather than breaking the law by doing it a year early. From what I understand he did personally get physical with girls as young as 13 - but never filmed any of that and put it into a movie for mass release.

For me it can be 1961, 1962 or 1963.
As I told you in my first message, in my opinion the date that IMDb currently has (October 1964) is wrong.

[BugMeNot9999]

Her father's name is Jamie, here is his Facebook account with photos from 2011 with Dawn.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=32 ... 0000519389

Here are some other photos from 2013 of Dawn with her son Sebastian and her boyfriend James Harcus (the lawyer who assisted her in her divorce from Frank Lowe)
(credit to filmboards.com forum)

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=53 ... 1419298029