Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills *** (1989, Jacqueline Bisset, Ray Sharkey, Mary Woronov) – Classic Movie Review 9939

Jacqueline Bisset heads writer-director Paul Bartel’s 1989 sex comedy Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills as Clare Lipkin, a soap star trying to make a comeback after the death of her husband. Meanwhile, all around her, various Hollywood stereotypes are playing musical beds.

Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills is an outrageous satire of the Dynasty crowd, with good comedy playing from Ray Sharkey, Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Ed Begley Jnr, Wallace Shawn, Paul Mazursky and Bartel himself. It is full of amusing one-liners and some wicked ideas. Funnier would have been better, but it is entertainingly camp, daft and fast.

Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills is directed by Paul Bartel, runs 103 minutes, is made by North Street Films, is released by Cinecom Pictures (1989) (US) and The Rank Organisation (1989) (UK), is written by Bruce Wagner (screenplay and story) and Paul Bartel (story), is shot by Steven Fierberg, is produced by James C Katz, Amir Jacob Malin and Ira Deutchman, is scored by Stanley Myers, and designed by Alex Tavoularis.

Mazursky made two other Beverly Hills comedies, Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) and Scenes from a Mall (1991).

Paul Bartel was hired by Gene Corman to direct the low-budget horror Private Parts (1972). Then Roger Corman hired him as second unit director on Big Bad Mama (1974), which led to his directing Death Race 2000 (1975) and Carquake (1976). But he could not persuade Corman to finance his pet project Eating Raoul (1982). Bartel directed eight features.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9939

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