Product Details

• Actors: Jacqueline Bisset, Candice Bergen, David Selby, Hart Bochner, Steven Hill
• Directors: George Cukor
• Writers: Gerald Ayres, John Van Druten
• Producers: Jacqueline Bisset, William Allyn
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: April 6, 1999
• Run Time: 117 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792840798
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,834 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars a great movie is ruined by this new video release, April 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rich & Famous [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Rich and Famous" is a fabulous movie that has been utterly damaged by this new video release (with a street date of April 6, 1999). This film was not available on VHS until it was re-released this month. However, when I purchased and viewed this new release, I found that the film had been severely butchered. Two scenes of a sexual nature (in the airplane and in Jacqueline Bisset's hotel suite) have been almost totally cut out and there are several scenes where some offensive bits of dialog have been "bleeped" out. (In other words, you see the character's lips utter the words, but there is a brief silence on the soundtrack.) This video release is actually the edited, cleaned-up version that was shown on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. I am totally surprised that a major company like MGM/UA Video would release an edited version of a film, without stating this fact on the packaging. (I truly believe that this was a mistake on their part. They probably used the wrong original negative when they duplicated this video.) My comments ARE NOT based simply on memory of the film. I happen to own the MGM laser disc copy of this film and that version is the original, unedited version of this film. I truly hope that MGM/UA Video will recall this video release and re-release the original, unedited version of this film on VHS. To compound this situation, the master used in duplicating this video release is just plain awful. The picture has a washed-out, unfocused quality and the sound is muffled throughout the whole video. The public should expect more from an established company like MGM/UA Video. But enough of the complaints. If you are lucky enough to see or purchase the laser disc version of "Rich and Famous" you will be treated to a great film about the ups and downs of friendship between two women. I think that before this film came out, no one expected much in the acting talents of Jacqueline Bisset and Candace Bergen. With this film, veteran director George Cukor demonstrated that these two actresses are capable of delivering much more than their beauty.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This Video Has Been Butchered (From the Original Version!), April 8, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rich & Famous [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Amazon.com owes it to their customers to print this review. It is not so much a review of the film as this new release of the video. I have been waiting for its re-release for years. There is a very good chance I am the greatest fan of this movie, having viewed it no less than 60 times since it debuted in 1981. I was fortunate enough to buy a $90 copy when it was available briefly in the early 80s. But my copy is wearing thin, and I have been eager to replace it. When I saw this available as of 4/6/99 via Amazon.com, I was ecstatic! I received my new copy 4/7/99! Such service. I raced home after work, got comfortable with my bowl of popcorn, all set to recite lines with Bissett and Bergen, and I was appalled!

The standard "This film has been modified from its orginal version. It has been reformatted to fir your TV." shows up. What it SHOULD say is: "This film has been radically altered from its original version. All adult situations have been cut out, all cursing has been erased, all sexually-charged, character-developing moments have been eliminated!"

There is a brilliantly-hilarious scene in the original in which Bissett has a "Mile-High Club" experience on a TWA Flight from LA to JFK. Cukor juxtapositioned this with voice-overs about plane equipment, flying and landing. All cut from this video.

There is amazingly sweet, erotic moment when Bissett has an encounter with an beautiful 18-year old gigolo, portrayed by Matt Latanzi. Tastefully filmed, great musical accompaniment by Georges Delerue. It changes Bisset's views about youth and opens her to her upcoming romance with a younger man. All but sliced from this version.

There is a great moment of dialogue in a diner with her new found love interest, portrayed by Hart Bochner. "I never preferred it with girls my own age," he says. "Why not?" Bissett asks. "They're always looking out for their own orgasm," he explains. She laughs. "What should they be looking out for? YOUR orgasm?" "No," he replies,"OUR orgasm." It is an intense, relationship-defining moment, and the new owners of this film (Turner?) thought it was innappropriate to even use the word orgasm?!?!

Yet the distributors have the gall to use the original reviewers' quotes on the packaging: "Elegantly raunchy, unexpectedly touching and grand fun!" A lie, given what they have done to this film.

This film is my favorite all-time movie because it shows true human feeling and emotions and behavior, and translates it all into the world of writing and creativity. But this version cannot successfully do so in its current state. It is a travesty. And if there is a law against butchering a movie and lying to the viewers about what has been done, the distributors should be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An Old Favorite---Ruined, January 11, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rich & Famous [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A travesty that key sections of this movie were cut in the video release. I wanted desperately to replace my well-worn copy. Now will not even consider a purchase of this video. The events that were cut are artfully portrayed and so key to the character played by Bissett that her role may as well have been eliminated entirely. So...I wonder whether Ted Turner's company has had a go at editing the film "Barbarella?"