Rich and Famous (1981)

Candice Bergen and more specifically her film Rich and Famous (1981) are my choice for The Great Muppet Guest Star Caper blogathon, primarily because it was the debut theatrical feature film of my favourite actress; Meg Ryan.
Rich and Famous wasn’t just Meg’s first step on the road to stardom. it was also the final film of George Cukor, the acclaimed director of many classic films. In an interesting twist Candice Bergen would play Meg’s mother again in the remake of The Women (2008). The original film was also directed by George Cukor.
This film was only inspired by the earlier film Old Acquaintance (1943) starring Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins according to producer William Allyn who stated that Rich and Famous was “not a remake”. Nonetheless, Allyn still took the trouble to acquire the remake rights to Old Acquaintance.
Old Acquaintance was based on a stage play of the same title by John Van Druten. The 1981 film is pitched as “The story of 29 years of friendship, rivalry and loyalty between two women. The leading characters are played by Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset. Meg Ryan appeared as Debby, the daughter of Candice Bergen’s character, at age eighteen. Baywatch’s Nicole Eggert played the same character at eight years old.Meg was chosen for the role of Debby from a casting call of 117 other actresses. Of her big screen debut Ryan recalled: “I had roughly 10 lines–which I would repeat constantly each night with my prayers. There was an actor’s strike so it took five months for my scenes to be completed. When I went to Los Angeles to finish the film, I had never even been on an aeroplane. I was intimidated by everyone then. If you look at the film, you’ll see I’m shaking in every scene.” According to Eric at Diary of a Movie Maniac: “Rich and Famous makes for an interesting comparative exercise (with Old Acquaintance). But all by itself, this sloppy melodrama deserves to be on any list of worst movie remakes.” Ouch!

The Great Muppett Caper Blogathon is hosted by  Rebecca from Taking up Room and Gill from Real Weegie Midget Reviews.

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