Customer Reviews

These Old Broads

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

When you have stars of this caliber, who needs a real plot? They do terrific send ups of themselves and the result is a funny, funny film. The fact that Reynolds and Taylor got together on screen makes the experience even more memorable.

Don't go in expecting Shakespeare ... but sit back and enjoy the inside jokes and the incredible talent of four of the living legends of Hollywood.

This film is a great chance to see these wonderful actresses(Taylor, Reynolds,MacLane) acting again! It is a farce from the beginning to the end, and you can tell these women let go and really had fun with it! I would love to see all three of these women in another film soon, especially Ms Taylor. They have so much to offer all of us! They really Don't make "STARS" like this anymore. And I for one, find that terribly sad!

It is interesting to read the rather divergent reviews of this TV movie here. Personally, I loved it, having been a long-time fan of all of the ladies. Not nearly enough of Liz in the film, sure, but Debbie has some great wisecracks and Joan not only looks amazing (hardly surprising she just married someone her son's age), but displays a genuine talent for comedy.

If anything, I was disappointed with Shirley's storyline and the unnecessary "gay son" aspect. Also, aside from the headliners, some key supporting players are sadly lacklustre.

However, it is what it is - sort of an updated "Golden Girls" set in Hollywood rather than Miami.

Boasting the likes of silver screen legends Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine, Joan Collins and Debbie Reynolds all combined in the one movie how could you resist taking at least a peek at this effort from 2001 titled "These Old Broads". Being a fan of all four women, this at times funny, over the top, and startlingly candid little effort is definately one of my "guilty pleasures". Certainly all four acting legends deserved a far better screenplay to sink their collective creative teeth into but on the level of pure entertainment and for the joy of seeing these legendary actresses working for the first time with each other this film is worth viewing. The result of the creative talents of Carrie Fisher, the real life daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Elaine Pope who was responsible for television's "Seinfeld" series, the pair have managed to weave much that is true to life in the four actresses often controversial acting careers into the screenplay so that the final film often has a "mirror house" feel to it that adds to the general fun as fantasy and reality mix in together.

The eternal hope of the "great comeback", is something that is a way of life for those performers in Hollywood who are past their peak or to use a polite industry term are "resting". "These Old Broads", tackles that very theme of what do ageing veteran actresses do when the limelight shifts onto younger performers . They make a comeback of course!! Here we have three veteran Hollywood actresses, Kate Westbourne (Shirley MacLaine), Addie Holden (Joan Collins), and Piper Grayson (Debbie Reynolds)who have been in "resting" mode, for longer than any of them would have liked when out of the blue a campy musical film that they made together during the 1960's called "Boy Crazy", is suddenly re-released and becomes a cult hit with new audiences. Under studio pressure a producer of "serious", documentaries Wesley Westbourne (Jonathan Silverman), who is the long estranged son of Kate, is forced to create a cheesy television special reuniting the three actresses to perform their old musical hit. Wesley however gets more than he bargained for as not only does he have to contend with the three women's man eating, hard as nails, agent Beryl Mason (Elizabeth Taylor), but also the womens seperate ego's, neurosies and the fact that all of them absolutely loath each other. Wesley finds himself literally drowning in the not so nice world of old Hollywood and he quickly learns what he will be contending with on his visits to each of the ageing divas to convince them to do the special. Because of course all of them haven't worked in years and need the money they all agree rather too quickly to put aside their own personal differences for the "sake of the show". Famous last words! and before long a battle royale breaks out between the women over prominent placing, lighting, and attention from the director. Kate has a wacky mystical bent to her character, Addie is the star who still thinks she's twenty and Piper is still pretending to be the sweetness and light types of characters she played in her heyday. Production of the special is anything but smooth sailing as Addie mobster boyfriend breaks out of jail and seeks her out pushing all the women into a tabloid scandal when he has a fatal heart attack after a night of too vigorous lovemaking in Addie's suite. Jonathan also finds himself not only having to be referee to all the women's vicious barbs against each other but also finds himself trying to attempt a reconciliation of some sort with Kate who has a few surprises in store for him. Through threats to cancel the show from the network after a preview ends in total disaster the old show biz adage "it'll be alright on the night", definately comes true when the final show goes off brilliantly without a hitch and the women are back in the limelight.

A total farce maybe but if you dont take "These Old Broads", too seriously you are guaranteed some good laughs and a bit of a look at the actresses real lives along the way. Most anticpated in this television movie was of course the on screen meeting of 1950's rivals Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds who starred in their own real life scandal when Taylor went off with Reynold's husband Eddie Fisher. This is amusingly covered in the story where Beryl talks with Piper about having stolen her husband "Freddie", years before. Shirley MacLaine's well known interest in the mystical New Age arts is also highlighted with her best line being that "her inner child is throwing a tantrum" during one of her many arguments with her son! Joan Collin's well known forays into getting involved with much younger men is also good naturedly displayed in the script. All this is done of course in good fun and full marks to all four actresses for being good sports for allowing it. Admittedly the passage of time has not been that kind to legendary beauty Elizabeth Taylor who made a mighty effort to film her part having just gone through hip replacement surgery. Her scenes are almost entirely filmed with her propped up in bed which admittedly adds to the humour here as she conducts all her meetings from within her boudoir! Shirley, Joan and Debbie show what great troupers they are through all the preparation and rehersals for their "Boy Crazy" special. All of them look marvellous and their ability to still high kick and perform dance numbers is amazing.

Perhaps this television movie hasn't got the most flattering title and it's a pity that Elizabeth Taylor doesn't appear more through the movie, but for any lover of old Hollywood and of these legendary performers in particular you are sure to enjoy the assorted cattiness and outright bitchery that fills the movie. A piece of fluff perhaps but harmless fluff that needs to be appreciated on that level. Enjoy four of Hollywood's larger than life Divas staging the comeback to out shine all comebacks in Carrie Fisher's "These Old Broads".

A thoroughly enjoyable film...three veteran stars are brought together to recapture their stardom of yore, however they can't stand each other, so an uphill task from the word go for the remake of their old musical/play...but in the end it was a success. Joan Collins was great..as she always is, a combination of the older woman charm and timeless sex appeal...if you want an enjoyable night in this is a must!

Let's face it--with four such legendary performers on hand, who could resist a look at this film? To their credit, Joan Collins, Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor appear to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, and certainly give their all to this trifle, about three quarreling film stars reunited for a TV special when a film they made together proves an unexpected hit on its re-release. The script, co-authored by Reynolds' daughter Carrie Fisher, artfully blends fiction and fact--MacLaine's character is obsessed with New Age metaphysics, for example, and Reynolds is running, not too successfully, a Las Vegas casino. When Reynolds and Taylor, as a crochety agent, have a frank discussion about the husband the latter stole from the former, one wonders just who is talking--the characters, or the actresses themselves? Such juicy speculations keep the action bubbling past the creakier junctions of the plot, particularly the tiresome scenes with Jonathan Silverman as the beleaguered director (and MacLaine's adopted son--shades of Joan Crawford) and Nestor Carbonell as the requisite hugely egotistical producer. The shock value of hearing such frank talk about sex issuing from such classy womens' mouths wears off after a while, too. Still, "These Old Broads" is an enjoyably campy bit of nostalgia.

The very witty and talented Carrie Fisher wrote this film, and it unites classic movie stars Shirley MacLaine, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Collins, and Fisher's mother Debbie Reynolds. For that reason alone, this movie is worth watching. The supporting talent is also great: Jonathan Silverman, Gene Barry, Pat Harrington, Pat Crawford Brown, and Nestor Carbonell.

I loved this movie when it first aired on television, and for years waited for a DVD release (it was released on VHS previously, but only recently came to DVD). It is clear that the women are having a ball.

I find this film to be very funny and entertaining. It's worth watching alone for all of the assembled talent. The picture and sound are excellent, but there are no bonus features (I would have loved an interview with Carrie Fisher).

I don't care what you have to say about the plot - to see the 3 legends make fun of themselves is priceless. When they will all be gone, this fun movie gem will be an irreplaceable treasure! Liz is the cherry on the icing of the cake. And OMG - Joan Collins looks AMAZING! What a figure!!

Yes, it's fluff, but it's fun fluff. MacLaine, Collins, and Reynolds literally spoof themselves and their relationships to each other (including shared husbands), as three former stars whose old movie has become a cult classic. When they're brought back together for a reunion (with Taylor hilarious as their agent), nobody has a kind word for anyone. Just plain fun!

I was really looking forward to finally seeing this movie, as it stars four of my favourite ladies from Hollywood's golden years (Joan Collins, Debbie Reynolds, Shirley MacLaine and Elizabeth Taylor) and features a script especially tailored for the gals by Carrie Fisher ("Postcards from the Edge"). Just like that autobiographical comedy based on her relationship with mother Debbie Reynolds--ironically played by Shirley MacLaine--this story is set in the world of backstage Hollywood, and has quite a lot of bite in it's satirical view of celebrity ego.

THESE OLD BROADS is the story of three has-been actresses who are asked to reunite when their 1960's "Where the Boys Are"-knockoff movie musical suddenly becomes popular again on the revival circuit. TV execs approach Wesley Westbourne (Jonathan Silverman), a serious producer of documentaries, to convince his born-again, New Age mother Kate (Shirley MacLaine) to commit to the project. He'll have an ever harder time swaying her former co-stars Piper Grayson (Debbie Reynolds), who has retired to operate a Vegas casino stocked with old movie costumes; and Addie Holden (Joan Collins), a virtual recluse still in close contact with a jailed Mobster boyfriend.

Once the ladies are set, the fun begins! Addie's boyfriend escapes prison and suffers a fatal heart-attack in the throes of passion (an hilarious throwback to one of Ms Collins' classic "Dynasty" scenes); Piper's husband (Peter Graves) looks certain to be yet another notch on Addie's bed post, and Kate must reveal a bombshell concerning Wesley's true parentage...

Elizabeth Taylor has a small but fun role as the ladies' agent Beryl Mason, a tough-talking, pot-smoking harpy. Carrie Fisher also appears in a brief cameo. One of the best scenes sees Piper and Beryl discussing their past romance with a certain man who is none-too-subtly based on Eddie Fisher. Taylor made headlines all over the world when Eddie Fisher left his wife, Debbie Reynolds and their children--one of course being Carrie Fisher--in order to marry Liz, still mourning the death of husband Mike Todd who was a close family friend. Although the two buried the hatchet long ago, congrats to Fisher for bringing together momma Debbie and "scarlet stepmother" Liz for this lovely on-screen reconciliation.

This will be an essential purchase if you're a fan of the gals.