The Register
MARILYN BECK
Monday, Feb. 6, 1984
FIRST THEY WILL, THEN THEY WON’T:
Don’t count on Joan Rivers and Bette Midler teaming on screen.
Reports have been popping up in print this month that the stars are ready to go before the cameras in “Poor Little Rich Girls” for Paramount Pictures. But the fact is, neither Joan nor Bette has seen the latest version of the script and won’t commit to the venture until they have read – and approved – the screenplay.
Actually, that “Poor Little” project has been kicking around for years. Joan wrote the original version several years ago –-
and expected it to go before the cameras in 1981 with herself and Lily Tomlin as stars.
Those production plans came to a screeching halt when Lily decided the comedy lacked “social consciousness” and insisted on a rewrite of Rivers’ work.
Writers were hired, but by the time the revisions were completed, Lily had pulled out of the project. And then . . .
Last year Paramount informed Joan they were going back to her original script. Bette Midler was lined up as co-star and “Rich Girls” almost seemed ready to roll. Until The studio had a change of heart about the material, deciding once again that Joan’s script wouldn’t do. And “Airplane II” author Ken Finkleman was hired to revise the “Poor” belabored script.
That’s the revision the performers are waiting to see now. If Joan likes it, if Bette likes’it – if Paramount likes it – “Poor
Little Rich Girls” will go into production. When and if it can be fitted into the actresses’ schedules.
