Spring, 2007 “MAMA, FACE IT! I WAS THE SLUT OF ALL TIME!” So shrieked Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8, playing a party girl circa 1960s Manhattan. (Actually, she was a confused “pro” taking money but denying it: “I model dresses like this for a living,” she snarled unconvincingly.) I’ve always loved the phrase “party girl.” I even loved the bad 1958 movie Party Girl starring Cyd Charisse. Now that colorful appellation is getting a 2007 workout. There is molten-hot buzz around Anna David’s roman a clef, Party Girl, being published this June.
It’s all about a hard-drinking, coke-sniffing, sex-hungry celeb reporter who’s hired to write about her debauched adventures just as she attempts to clean up her act. The book is supposedly a mouthwatering read, especially for those out there (I assume we are legion?) who salivate over Page Six-style blind items. Well, partially sighted items. Don’t we always know who they are?

Studios are sniffing around even before the book hits the shelves, and guess which young actress people consider perfect to play the hung-over heroine? If you didn’t guess Reese Witherspoon, you don’t know the show biz benefits of casting against type. The perky Witherspoon is rumored in real life to have a harder edge than her characters usually allow-although Witherspoon’s onscreen women are always very determined. It’s a great idea, but we’ll see how much the soon-to-be-single Oscar-winner wants to play with her image…

The second choice is less startling: Lindsay Lohan. This might seem too close for comfort, but now that the brilliant 20-year-old star is taking public steps (her stint at the Wonderland Center) to get straight, acting out addiction and wild living might be therapeutic. Come on, who doesn’t want to see Lindsay onscreen with a drink in one hand and a man in the other?