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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 47141
Released: November 6, 2007 |
| Our Price: $6.88 |
| Used Price: $6.59 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Liz and Merry Noel become friends as college roommates and their friendship endures over the years. Liz becomes a respected novelist. Merry Noel marries, has a daughter and writes, too: so-called trash fiction that becomes enormously successful. Their story begins in college and jumps ahead some years at a time to show their relationship with each other and those in their orbits as they grow and mature.
Description of Rich and Famous:
The idea of pairing two of the hottest contemporary actresses with a Golden Age Hollywood director--in a remake of an old Bette Davis vehicle, no less--makes Rich and Famous a curiosity straddling two ages. Jacqueline Bisset, then at the height of her sex-symbol status, stars with Candice Bergen, who was morphing from glamourpuss to comedienne in the wake of her hilarious Starting Over turn. They play the roles first essayed by Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in the 1943 Old Acquaintance: Bisset is the serious writer, Bergen the flighty married pal whose trashy novels become bestsellers. The friendship between the two women, rivals and confidantes, remains as their professional and romantic circumstances change. George Cukor, who directed his share of similarly themed "women's pictures" during his long Hollywood career, made his final film here, creating a civilized tone to support the conversations between the two women (and indulging in one cheeky "Mile High Club" sequence on a plane). The movie played like a breath of fresh air in 1981, especially in the way it gave a couple of underappreciated actresses a chance to shine, although it does look a bit dated now. In particular, the males in the film (David Selby as Bergen's hubby, Hart Bochner as a Rolling Stone reporter) are notably underwhelming compared to the leading ladies. (A young Meg Ryan pops up for a while as Bergen's daughter.) The memorable final sequence feels earned, even more by the actresses than by the movie itself --Robert Horton
Rich and Famous Reviews:
the last masterpiece from George Cuckor 
2009-06-21 - I loved this movie!! It is intriguing, superbly acted by the two main female charachters, really as good as you can expect.
Rich and Famous (Movie)
2009-06-05 - I've seen this movie several times and I am so glad to have it now. This is a story of 2 women who are friends and how their friendship progresses and is tested. Jacquline Bisset's character is my favorite of the two. I relate to her and some of the comments she makes. It's a good moive.
Godawful 
2009-04-23 - Though released in 1981, this seems horribly dated today, with the male leads all but invisible and the storyline unsure whether to be a comedy or a drama. It's neither. It's just plain awful. The two women, Candace Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset have zero chemistry, so why they are lifelong friends is a mystery here. Mostly they scream at each other in supposed jealous rages over their careers and men. Made by a Hollywood dinosaur, George Cukor, this one is of use only as a curiosity piece. I found it agonizing.
Cherchez la Femme
2008-12-21 - My opinion of films (other than horror or sci-fi category) is worthless since based upon the category of the hottie involved (and whether I would like to record or obtain for subsequent viewing). This film has a Category A HR (Hottie Rating). (Note: Provided the A rated hottie is not motioinless throughout, the film may otherwise be a complete "dog".)
Bisset and Bergen shine in sassy remake of "Old Acquaintance" 
2008-06-14 - Legendary director George Cukor's final movie was a sassy and thought-provoking remake of "Old Acquaintance", based on the play by John Van Druten.
Old schoolfriends Liz Hamilton (Jacqueline Bisset) and Merry Noel-Blake (Candice Bergen) vow that whatever directions their lives take, firm friendship will hold them together. That sisterhood is pushed to it's limits when Los Angeles housewife Merry hits bestseller paydirt with her steamy romance novels; whilst Liz strives for literary greatness without the glory.
This 1980s update on the 1943 classic "Old Acquaintance" (which memorably starred Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins) succeeds largely due to the inspired performances of Ms Bisset and Ms Bergen. Both imbue their roles with lots of underlying pathos and depth. George Cukor shocked his contemporaries by including a very raunchy sex scene with Bisset and the much younger Matt Lattanzi. On viewing the film for the first time, Cukor's close friend Katharine Hepburn was quoted as saying "You've made some sexy movie!".
RICH AND FAMOUS co-stars Hart Bochner, David Selby, Nicole Eggert and also boasts the film debut of Meg Ryan. Watch out for some cameo appearances from the likes of Roger Vadim, Nina Foch, Ray Bradbury, Fay Kanin, Paul Morrissey and Christopher Isherwood.
The complete uncut 117 minute version of RICH AND FAMOUS is the one that's featured on this DVD. Extra features are limited to the vintage featurette "On Location with Rich & Famous", and the theatrical trailer. Highly-recommended.
