Riches et célèbres

If you're old enough to remember when television networks aired movies of the week--usually part 1 on Sunday nights and part 2 on Tuesday nights--you'll probably understand how this film fits into that, at least in my view. Remakes, reboots, and reworkings have been a part of storytelling since it began, but the question I'm left with is...why? Why did someone decide that Old Acquaintance, with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins, would work as an updated, R-rated film, especially with a television-like feel to it?

I disagree with reviewers who say this is wonderfully cast. Yes, there is chemistry between Bisset and Bergen, but that doesn't mean it works for the film as a whole. I do, however, agree that Bergen's southern accent is more than just distracting. She slips in and out of it so often, I wanted to stop watching.

The movie did, in my opinion, pick up around the 1 hr 30 min mark; and that's the only reason I watched it in its entirety. It was fun and slightly nostalgic to see Meg Ryan in her debut. And I also agree with other reviewers who comment on Ms. Bergen's cool wardrobe. I also reluctantly concede that Deleure's music score is too sappy for this production.

In all, it's average and nothing more. If you're big fans of either of the lead actresses, it's worth your time. Otherwise, it's kind of a snooze fest.

Okay, it is not the most upbeat movie ever shot, but it is for sure one of the smartest and deepest pictures about friendship. Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset shine as two intelligent women who found wiseness, if not happiness, through the cracks of personal failure. Plus, this was Meg Ryan's first appearance, in a small role as Candice Bergen's daughter!

Not-bad-at-all swan song for the great George Cukor, a "women's picture" remake of 1944's "Old Acquaintance" that actually improves on it somewhat. That's thanks mostly to screenwriter Gerald Ayres, who has updated it in credible and interesting ways and cut down on some of the excesses of the genre. As old friends who become romantic and professional rivals, Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen appear to be having a marvelous time, and David Selby's quite all right in the Gig Young-ish role of the dreamboat who married the wrong Smith graduate. Cukor's venture into R-rated filmmaking is a little self- conscious, and he dwells perhaps too long on the various beautiful young men who make the acquaintance of these two, but it's professional, attractive filmmaking. Notable also for the fascinating party guests who turn up as extras--Nina Foch, Christopher Isherwood, etc.

Screenwriter Gerald Ayres' crazy dialogue throughout "Rich and Famous", a remake of the Bette Davis chestnut "Old Acquaintance", continually sounds like failed poetry (or, perhaps, an amateur poet's idea of what movie dialogue should sound like). When college chums-turned-literary rivals Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen are arguing, Bisset refers to herself metaphorically as a dedicated dog. "One come into the yard, we'd kick it out!" Bergen hisses to her. Bisset: "They're refreshingly loyal!" Bergen: "They'd **** a snake if it stood still!" It gets worse. While cuddling with her boy-toy (a writer from Rolling Stone!), Bisset asks if men weep. Her fella says, "We have little hairs that stand up on the backs of our necks." Bisset: "Are your little hairs standing up?" This is a flaky, camp-melodrama, ostensibly aimed at just the sort of women depicted on-screen. Though the two ladies look beautiful, they're acting styles clash: Bisset, trying for depth, comes off as cold and dour; Bergen is hyped-up for a battle, yet her southern accent is shaky (to be charitable) and her approach to this part seems out of place--she's a puff pastry on a dinner table full of oysters. At the end of the film, New Year's Eve, Bisset is feeling lonely and reaches out to her lifelong friend/enemy/whatever. "I need the press of human flesh!" she whispers dramatically to Bergen. "And you are the only flesh around...kiss me!" Somebody send this writer back to movie-school. ** from ****

George Cukor is and always will be one of my favorites. The unsung hero of his generation. Nobody mentions Cukor in the same breath as John Ford, Howard Hawks, William Wyler or Billy Wilder and yet, look at his filmography. From sparkling comedies "The Philadelphia Story" "Adam's Rib" "Holiday" Psycho melodramas "Gaslight" "A Double Life" a great semi western "Heller in Pink Tights" not to mention "My Fair Lady" or "Travels with my Aunt" He was at the service of his actors, he never put himself in front of the camera. I feel a certain tenderness watching "Rich and Famous" flashes of the old master still very much in evidence. Candice Bergen gives us for the first time in her career glimpses of the wonderful comedian she was about to become. Jacqueline Bisset is a throwback to the days of Greer Garson and Loretta Young and Hart Bochner steps in, teasing us, promising something spectacular that will eventually materialize in 1989 with "Apartment Zero", Meg Ryan, as Bergen's daughter is already Meg Ryan. As tired as the formula is, it remains a Cukor film and for what I gather one of Almodovar's favorite movies.