Rich and Famous *** (1981, Jacqueline Bisset, Candice Bergen, David Selby, Hart Bochner, Steven Hill, Meg Ryan, Michael Brandon, Matt Lattanzi, Dack Rambo) – Classic Movie Review 10,528

Director George Cukor’s last film (at the age of 82) is the 1981 American drama Rich and Famous, an amusing, involving remake of 1943’s Old Acquaintance, with Jacqueline Bisset as sulky Liz Hamilton and Candice Bergen as boisterous Merry Noel Blake.

Vintage film fans will recognize these as the old Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins roles in that movie of writers who maintain a stormy friendship over 20 years despite being rivals in love and in their careers. Bergen makes a huge meal of all the funny lines, while Bisset, whose company produced, winningly establishes the prototype for all her sexy older women roles.

Also in the cast are David Selby, Hart Bochner, Steven Hill, Meg Ryan, Michael Brandon, Matt Lattanzi, Dack Rambo, Daniel Farraldo, Nicole Eggert, Joe Maross, Kres Mersky, Cloyce Morrow, Cheryl Robinson, Allan Warnick, Ann Risley, Damion Sheller, Haley Fox, Fay Kanin, Tara Simpson, Herb Graham, Charlotte Moore, William G Schilling, John Perkins, Herbert Bress and Alan Berliner.

It is the screen debut of eight-year-old Nicole Eggert and Meg Ryan, who play Merry’s daughter in the 1969 and 1981 segments.

It is written by Gerald Ayres, based the 1940 play Old Acquaintance by John Van Druten,

A slew of intriguing celebrities pop in: Christopher Isherwood, Don Bachardy, Paul Morrissey, Marsha A Hunt, Roger Vadim, Ray Bradbury, Nina Foch, Frank De Felitta, Randall Kleiser, Frances Bergen, Dick Cavett, Merv Griffin, Alan Berliner, and Gavin Lambert.

The production shut when members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild went on strike four days after filming began, forcing Robert Mulligan to quit as director as work commitments conflicted with the revised shooting schedule.

Bessie Smith performs ‘Take Me for a Buggy Ride’ and Willie Nelson performs ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street’ on the soundtrack.

New York City locations include the Algonquin Hotel and the The Saint Regis and the Waldorf Astoria. Other locations include Madison, New Jersey (standing in for Northampton, Connecticut), Los Angeles, and Malibu. Interiors were filmed at the MGM Studios in Culver City. Sets later were later used in the Biltmore Hotel scenes in the 1984 Ghostbusters.

The cast are Jacqueline Bisset as Liz Hamilton, Candice Bergen as Merry Noel Blake, David Selby as Doug Blake, Hart Bochner as Chris Adams, Steven Hill as Jules Levi, Michael Brandon as Max, Meg Ryan as Debby Blake (age 18), Nicole Eggert as Debby Blake (age 8), Matt Lattanzi as Jim, Daniel Faraldo as Ginger Trinidad, Fay Kanin as Professor Fields, Dack Rambo, Daniel Farraldo, Joe Maross, Kres Mersky, Cloyce Morrow, Cheryl Robinson, Allan Warnick, Ann Risley, Damion Sheller, Haley Fox, Fay Kanin, Tara Simpson, Herb Graham, Charlotte Moore, William G Schilling, John Perkins, Herbert Bress and Alan Berliner.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,528

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