Not for Publication

Not for Publication is a 1984 screwball comedy film directed by Paul Bartel and starring Nancy Allen, David Naughton, Laurence Luckinbill, Alan Rosenberg, and Alice Ghostley. The film premiered on November 1, 1984 and was also screened at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired for distribution by Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment. Plot Lois Thornedyke is an ambitious journalist who works for The Informer, a tabloid newspaper in New York City. Though her editor Troppogrosso wants her to focus on "sex, scandal, and sin", Lois longs for the days when the newspaper was called The Enforcer, which was then run by her father and had a more respected image. At The Informer, Lois writer under the pen name "Louise Thorne". She also moonlights as a volunteer for the re-election campaign of Mayor Claude Franklyn. Franklyn, attracted to Lois and unaware of her affiliation with The Informer, recruits her as his personal assistant. Lois hires Barry Denver as a photographer for Franklyn's campaign, though Barry's previous experience was in ornithological photography. Troppogrosso assigns Lois to investigate a sex club called The Bestiary after he gets a tip that the mayor will be in attendance. Barry and Lois are able to sneak into the club dressed in animal costumes. Though they do not see the mayor, the party is interrupted when a gang of burglars storms the club. Posing as thieves themselves in order to get a scoop, Lois and Barry end up in the thieves' hideaway, where Barry discovers to his dismay that Lois is actually "Louise Thorne" of The Informer, and that he has inadvertently been working for the tabloid the whole time. It is revealed that Franklyn is actually the boss of the crime syndicate that was involved in the club robbery, and he had hired Troppogrosso to orchestrate the robberies as well as to run the tabloid, which is fifty percent owned by Franklyn. Franklyn admits this to Lois and Barry while they are on a plane en route to a campaign event. Unbeknownst to the mayor, Lois has surreptitiously recorded his confession. In exchange for not releasing the incriminating evidence to the public, Lois makes a deal with the mayor to have the name of The Informer changed back to The Enforcer. Later, the front page of the revamped newspaper announces that the mayor has won re-election and Lois and Barry are engaged.