We have all heard the adage “Be nice to people on the way up because you’ll meet them on the way down”, since its often been replicated in many an inspirational seminar and awards show acceptance speech  – and when acclaimed playwright Wilson Mizner made this memorable quip, he managed to condense perhaps the most important principle of wealth and influence into only a few words. We all yearn to be rich and famous in some way – or at least, we find the prospect somewhat appealing, even if we know it isn’t all it claims to be. Yet, very few achieve it, and it can ultimately become the source of a lot of disdain and frustration amongst those who seek to attain something so scarce that it impinges on their relationships with those around them, as evident in the case of Rich and Famous, a film based on the play Old Acquaintance by John Van Druten, and which has now been adapted to the screen by George Cukor in his final directorial outing. Much like the original play, this film follows roughly twenty years in the lives of two friends who met at college, and who were both interested in becoming writers – it always seemed like Liz would be the more likely of the pair to become notable, but it ultimately falls to Merry, whose unexpected rise to fame after the publication of a novel she wrote merely as a pastime becomes an overnight success, skyrocketing the humble Southern belle to worldwide acclaim, while her more academic friend quietly stews in her anger at seeing someone she believed to be less talented achieving everything she desired and more. A peculiar film in terms of some of its ideas, but still featuring some compelling elements, Rich and Famous is quite effective, even if it doesn’t reach the impossible heights we would expect from a master like Cukor working within his wheelhouse.

Fame is a fickle beast that no one truly knows how to handle – most simply attempt to find the balance between their personal and professional lives, in the hopes of maintaining some degree of order, but the reality is that we are not a species equipped to deal with being a public figure. Some adapt better than others, but as we’ve seen, even those who have spent their entire lives in the spotlight do often find themselves challenged by the demands of being a public figure. Rich and Famous is a film that lays all of its conceptual themes out bare for the audience to see, quietly and methodically unravelling itself to become a poignant and deeply revealing examination of fame, albeit through the eyes of those who surround the fame. We’ve discovered that stories that focus exclusively on the rise and fall of someone as they deal with fame are a dime a dozen, and actually not all that interesting when we factor in the details. However, there is still a lot of merit in how such a film handles these ideas, particularly through looking at the relationship between two friends who swore an allegiance to support one another through thick and thin, but find that this becomes increasingly more difficult when their personal feelings begin to contradict this promise. Jealousy and disdain are quite common when looking at the relationships between people who have broad ambitions and where only one of them actually manages to achieve the dream, and Rich and Famous looks at a lot of these ideas in vivid detail, Cukor making sure that he doesn’t leave anything open to ambiguity and instead allowing the film to examine the trials and tribulations of these woman properly and with a thorough assessment of the underlying themes.

One of the many reasons Cukor was not only acclaimed as an artist, but embraced as a beloved figure in the industry, is his ability to extract exceptional work from his actors, and considering his career spanned from the earliest days of the Golden Age of Hollywood right until the precipice of the modern age, he managed to work with several fantastic actors, allowing them to deliver some very strong work. Rich and Famous is anchored by the wonderful Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset, two icons of New Hollywood and cross-continental stars who had found acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic – and yet, there’s something so vulnerable about them as performers that makes them the perfect candidates for this film, which is a far more compelling endeavour than we would initially imagine. Bergen is certainly the more charismatic of the two in terms of her character – her effervescent, deeply lovable Southern belle is so beautifully composed, and her sensitivity is such a delight, especially considering we are more used to her playing these cold, intellectual types that are still likeable, but don’t possess this particular kind of warmth. Bisset is also cast against type, playing the more callous, sour intellectual who is annoyed that her friend, whom she always viewed as inferior, is leading the life she desired, which stirs discord amongst the pair as they attempt to go through the motions of a friendship that has clearly changed and become almost unrecognisable. Rich and Famous is set over a few decades, and in each passing year, there are subtle changes to the characters that both actors handle beautifully, and they deliver exceptional performances that may not be as deep as some of their other work, but still has enough impact to leave us wholeheartedly entertained and moved, especially in the quieter and more intimate moments.

While he was certainly not a stranger to the genre, at his peak Cukor didn’t peddle into melodrama all that much, choosing instead to craft sparkling, effervescent screwball comedies and upbeat period pieces that were defined by their wit, candour and charm. However, he was still equipped to handle more emotive pieces, as made evident by Rich and Famous, a film that so desperately wants to be a comedy that it frequently is bursting at the seams to express itself through the embedded humour, but is consistently forced into being far more subtle and dramatic, the comedic moments being a seasoning rather than the main ingredient in its composition. It’s still a very effective and well-crafted film, it just doesn’t have the spark we would expect from Cukor, who was arguably not as sharp as he was earlier in his career. The film does struggle to maintain a particular tone, which can be credited to writer Gerald Ayres, who attempts to update the original play into a contemporary piece, but seems to struggle under the weight of combining an already very dense story with modern elements. The film isn’t quite sure if it wants to be an examination of a shifting friendship, a deconstruction of the literary industry or a “woman’s picture”, a vulgar term used to describe this kind of melodramatic examination of female characters, but which ultimately did form the core of the film, whether intentional or not. Some aspects of Rich and Famous are better than others, but it does struggle when it comes to capturing the tone with precision, leading to a film that should have paid more attention to the smaller details where possible.

Rich and Famous does not represent the absolute best work done by anyone involved – Cukor was a Hollywood institution as a whole, so this small, intimate character study is a far cry from the countless masterpieces he made earlier in his career, while Bergen and Bisset were both quite good but also were not nearly as interesting as they were in other films around this time. Yet, it can’t be denied that this is still a very charming, well-made film that features some tremendous thought-provoking ideas and an easygoing tone that seems like an extinct style of storytelling. The melodramatic elements are mercifully scattered throughout, and we do find some of Cukor’s trademark wit shining through in certain moments, despite Ayres’ constant attempts to avoid leaning into the inherent humour, so its certainly not a complete waste of time and resources, even if we do wish a more assured hand had been allowed to guide the adaptation of the screenplay, since it seems unfortunate to have someone with the ingenuity and cultural cache of Cukor at the helm, but giving him a lacklustre screenplay that isn’t even sure of what it wants to achieve, and struggling to form its own identity in the process. It’s still very charming and has its moments of genuine brilliance in some parts, but as a whole, Rich and Famous is a minor work, albeit one that is still worth our time, especially in how it includes some fascinating ideas and an abundance of very unique, heartfelt humour throughout.