As famed director George Cukor's swan song, Rich and Famous must have been a huge disappointment to him. It was a huge critical and box office fiasco and deservedly so!
Rich and Famous chronicles the friendship between two college friends, Liz Hamilton (Jacqueline Bisset) and Merry Noel Blake (Candice Bergen). We first meet them while they are co-eds at Smith College in 1959. Flash forward ten years later and Liz is now a successful New York-based novelist on the college circuit while Merry is happily married to Doug Blake (David Selby), a businessman, settled in Malibu, California, with a young daughter.
The screenplay is an adaptation of the 1940 play Old Acquaintance and it's quite dialogue heavy. Merry, a Southern belle, is the comic relief here with Liz playing the "straight man."
The plot hinges on Merry suddenly becoming a novelist in her own right after Liz graciously hands Merry's sudsy manuscript to publisher Jules Levi (Steven Hill) for a quick read. Before you know it, Merry's far less sophisticated work becomes a huge sensation, and she becomes an even bigger success than her more intellectual friend.
Bergen overacts in the lame role as the jealous wife who incorrectly assumes Liz is making a play for her Doug. Eventually Doug walks out on the ditsy Merry due to all the overbearing jealousy.
The "straight man" Liz fulfills her sexual desires as a liberated single woman, forming quickie dalliances with a stranger in the lavatory of a plane headed back to New York City, an 18-year-old hustler who she bumps into on a NYC street and a 22-year-old writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. What this has to do with her friendship with Merry beats me.
The "big" climax has Liz sitting on a committee which decides whether Merry will receive a distinguished award for her latest novel. When Liz decides to approve of a joint award with a celebrated up and coming African American novelist, Merry goes ballistic expressing rage at Liz for not supporting her one hundred percent.
If you're expecting to find something out about the publishing business, think again. This is strictly about petty jealousy between friends, marital discord, and a single woman's lack of success in finding true love.
The ending is predictable as the two friends reaffirm their friendship with a chaste kiss. Despite decent enough acting, don't waste your time with this lugubrious soaper as ultimately you will not care a lick for these characters.
Rich and Famous chronicles the friendship between two college friends, Liz Hamilton (Jacqueline Bisset) and Merry Noel Blake (Candice Bergen). We first meet them while they are co-eds at Smith College in 1959. Flash forward ten years later and Liz is now a successful New York-based novelist on the college circuit while Merry is happily married to Doug Blake (David Selby), a businessman, settled in Malibu, California, with a young daughter.
The screenplay is an adaptation of the 1940 play Old Acquaintance and it's quite dialogue heavy. Merry, a Southern belle, is the comic relief here with Liz playing the "straight man."
The plot hinges on Merry suddenly becoming a novelist in her own right after Liz graciously hands Merry's sudsy manuscript to publisher Jules Levi (Steven Hill) for a quick read. Before you know it, Merry's far less sophisticated work becomes a huge sensation, and she becomes an even bigger success than her more intellectual friend.
Bergen overacts in the lame role as the jealous wife who incorrectly assumes Liz is making a play for her Doug. Eventually Doug walks out on the ditsy Merry due to all the overbearing jealousy.
The "straight man" Liz fulfills her sexual desires as a liberated single woman, forming quickie dalliances with a stranger in the lavatory of a plane headed back to New York City, an 18-year-old hustler who she bumps into on a NYC street and a 22-year-old writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. What this has to do with her friendship with Merry beats me.
The "big" climax has Liz sitting on a committee which decides whether Merry will receive a distinguished award for her latest novel. When Liz decides to approve of a joint award with a celebrated up and coming African American novelist, Merry goes ballistic expressing rage at Liz for not supporting her one hundred percent.
If you're expecting to find something out about the publishing business, think again. This is strictly about petty jealousy between friends, marital discord, and a single woman's lack of success in finding true love.
The ending is predictable as the two friends reaffirm their friendship with a chaste kiss. Despite decent enough acting, don't waste your time with this lugubrious soaper as ultimately you will not care a lick for these characters.