The story deals with Gloria Vanderbilt's difficult coming-of-age when, at eleven, she was a pawn in a custody battle between her sybaritic mother and her aunt.
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The true story of one of the richest women in America - heiress to the Woolworth fortune. She had vast wealth and seven husbands, but never found lasting love.
Director:
Charles Jarrott
Stars:
Farrah Fawcett,
David Ackroyd,
Stéphane Audran
The working class twin sister of a callous wealthy woman impulsively murders her out of revenge and assumes the identity of the dead woman. But impersonating her dead twin is more complicated and risky than she anticipated.
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An aging Bette Davis is a flight instructor at an old Texas airport. When a young girl in a wheelchair finds the airport by watching gliders fly, she decides she wants to learn how to fly. ... See full summary »
A sculptor hires young college girls to take care of his elderly mother and his supposedly insane sister, both of whom live in the old family mansion with him.
Director:
Gordon Hessler
Stars:
Ted Bessell,
Bette Davis,
Sian Barbara Allen
A poor, elderly white woman living in a tenement in a black ghetto is befriended by a neighborhood boy, and the two of them form a mutually beneficial relationship: he provides her ... See full summary »
Director:
Jackie Cooper
Stars:
Bette Davis,
Ernest Harden Jr.,
Eileen Heckart
The story deals with Gloria Vanderbilt's difficult coming-of-age when, at eleven, she was a pawn in a custody battle between her sybaritic mother and her aunt.
In reality, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt and her sister Thelma were identical twins. Lucy Gutteridge, who plays Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt in this TV movie, later played Thelma in The Woman He Loved (1988). See more »
Goofs
In the opening credits, at the end of the cast, there is the proud display "and Betty Davis." Academy members apparently got her name right when they nominated for for an Emmy. See more »
I remember seeing this one weekend years back, and really thought the story was cruel. The film portrays the custody battle of young socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, legend in the world of fashion design, and the possible ramifications of this emotional turmoil.
The thing that struck me about this movie was that it didn't feel like a movie. It was technically very competent, but didn't move well. There were props, there were costumes, there were sets, even one or two locations (though I seem to recall that most of the movie was comprised of interior shots), but there was little in terms of moving the story along, and less action.
Most of the film, from what I recall, was comprised of emotional vignettes. Like they were episodes out of a TV series as opposed to a feature film. Now that I've found this entry on the IMDb I understand that this was a made for TV movie, which makes a little more sense. Even so, not that I know that and it explains my viewing experience, I can't say that I would recommend this film nor call it good. It struck me as a movie made about a wealthy individual's childhood. A story that had emotional ups and downs, but otherwise wasn't much different than any other custody battle except that it involved the rich and famous.
And I guess that's what gets me about this film. For all of its gloss the basic tale wasn't anything more than a glitzed up version of "Kramer versus Kramer" or a made for TV movie thereof. We see suggestive tawdry details, but we're not really privy as to whether they're actually true or not. And that's the other thing that holds back this film; you don't know how much truth there is on either side of the trial. So, as a viewer, what do you do with that? I endured it, and sat through it, but to be exceedingly honest, I wish I had tuned it out.
I can't recommend this film in any capacity unless you're into the whole custody battle thing, and like stories about rich and famous people's childhoods. It's visually rich in terms of the shots that are there, and you do sympathize with young Gloria as her family tears itself asunder, but if this had been a couple in a trailer park, or a couple living out in rural or mountainous America, would you still find it interesting? If it had been a couple in India, Bhutan, outer Mongolia, Portugal, Brazilian Amazon, would you still tune in and sit through it? Of course you wouldn't.
I saw it once, and once was enough. To be fair it's an okay movie for what it is, but the entire production felt like it could have been more in terms of material portrayed, as well as trimmed down in terms of length.
Give it a shot.
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I remember seeing this one weekend years back, and really thought the story was cruel. The film portrays the custody battle of young socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, legend in the world of fashion design, and the possible ramifications of this emotional turmoil.
The thing that struck me about this movie was that it didn't feel like a movie. It was technically very competent, but didn't move well. There were props, there were costumes, there were sets, even one or two locations (though I seem to recall that most of the movie was comprised of interior shots), but there was little in terms of moving the story along, and less action.
Most of the film, from what I recall, was comprised of emotional vignettes. Like they were episodes out of a TV series as opposed to a feature film. Now that I've found this entry on the IMDb I understand that this was a made for TV movie, which makes a little more sense. Even so, not that I know that and it explains my viewing experience, I can't say that I would recommend this film nor call it good. It struck me as a movie made about a wealthy individual's childhood. A story that had emotional ups and downs, but otherwise wasn't much different than any other custody battle except that it involved the rich and famous.
And I guess that's what gets me about this film. For all of its gloss the basic tale wasn't anything more than a glitzed up version of "Kramer versus Kramer" or a made for TV movie thereof. We see suggestive tawdry details, but we're not really privy as to whether they're actually true or not. And that's the other thing that holds back this film; you don't know how much truth there is on either side of the trial. So, as a viewer, what do you do with that? I endured it, and sat through it, but to be exceedingly honest, I wish I had tuned it out.
I can't recommend this film in any capacity unless you're into the whole custody battle thing, and like stories about rich and famous people's childhoods. It's visually rich in terms of the shots that are there, and you do sympathize with young Gloria as her family tears itself asunder, but if this had been a couple in a trailer park, or a couple living out in rural or mountainous America, would you still find it interesting? If it had been a couple in India, Bhutan, outer Mongolia, Portugal, Brazilian Amazon, would you still tune in and sit through it? Of course you wouldn't.
I saw it once, and once was enough. To be fair it's an okay movie for what it is, but the entire production felt like it could have been more in terms of material portrayed, as well as trimmed down in terms of length.
Give it a shot.