The four divas all looked great. Would of liked to of seen more of Elizabeth Taylor. When Debbie and Elizabeth was talking to each other about the past, it was hilarious! Eddie Fisher got his just dues. Some of the storyline was a little corny. But it was great to see all of them again.
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paul_haakonsen18 February 2022I stumbled upon the 2001 movie "These Old Broads" by random chance in 2022, and seeing that the movie had such an impressive cast list, of course I had to sit down and watch it. And honestly, then I hadn't even ever heard about this movie from writers Carrie Fisher and Elaine Pope prior to watching it.
And I will say that "These Old Broads", from director Matthew Diamond, was actually a rather enjoyable movie. Its storyline was pretty straight forward and somewhat on the upbeat side. So yeah, "These Old Broads" was a rather uplifting and positive movie that will put you in a good mood.
It should be said that the cast ensemble in "These Old Broads" was amazing. The fact that they had these impressive talents from yester year together was just downright impressive. I mean, with the likes of Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Collins and Elizabeth Taylor then you really have an ensemble of the greatest of movie divas ever to grace the screen. And the movie also had the likes of Jonathan Silverman, Nestor Carbonell, Peter Graves and Pat Crawford Brown on the cast list. So there is a lot of talents here. And it was fun to see Carrie Fisher show up, even if just for a mere ten seconds or so.
I was genuinely entertained by "These Old Broads" and I found it to be a nice surprise of a movie. If you haven't already seen "These Old Broads", then you certainly should do so if you get the chance.
My rating of "These Old Broads" lands on a six out of ten stars. -
gurumaggie16 May 2022A group of golden girls rehash an old tale, I remember watching this thinking about my mum she would have loved this. I enjoyed it and it's very much of its time.
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PowerpuffNita23 October 2001If you're fed up to the back teeth with pretty young things with silicone enhanced breasts and un-enhanced talent, this is the movie for you! The team of Collins, Reynolds, and McClaine are a laugh riot in their roles as mature actresses with less-than mature mentalities, libidinous tendecies, and old grudges. And speaking of mature...well...let's just say that most of the humor is a bit too hot for children. (Especially when Collins' Mobster boyfriend...Nah, I'm not givin' it away!)
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A decent TV movie. Good interplay between the actresses. A little bit more slapstick humor than I would have expected.
It helped that I was watching it at my mother's house so she could explain the nuances of the interplay between the characters (e.g., that Elizabeth Taylor really did steal Debbie Reynolds husband). -
mark.waltz24 November 2015I first saw this movie when it originally aired on television, and curious like everybody else to see the involvements of these for legendary ladies working together for the first time. They had all known each other for decades, but other than through personal encounters and scandals had never appeared on screen together. Of course the big curiosity would be seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds working together in the same movie, their famous scandal involving husband Eddie Fisher still talked about to this day. What they are lacking however is a good script, and the weak plot that ties it together shows how desperate that someone was to get these four ladies together at least once in their careers.
Elizabeth is only on screen briefly, playing the three star's agent, a crass woman whose dealings didn't just take place in studio offices, many of them allegedly taking place in her bedroom as well. Joan Collins and Shirley MacLaine join Reynolds as three former movie stars who now hate each other for various reasons, reunited because their fictional 1960 film "Boy Crazy" has become a hit in an apparent re-release. If this whole idea doesn't strike it was ridiculous, then there's also the situations that they get involved in which our forest, often silly and sometimes through the talents of the three women very funny.
Among the men in their lives is MacClaine's gay son who has been estranged from her for years, Reynolds' handsome husband Peter Graves and Collins' lover, mobster Gene Barry. Add on Pat Crawford Brown as Collins' easy going very American mom, sleazy television producer and I rather if effeminate black choreographer, and you have enough sitcom situations to keep this slightly muse and if not remarkable.
There are enough references to the star's real lives to amuse the curious and entice the nosy into finding out more. You won't be surprised to find out that the three queens end up in a gay bar where Debbie and Joan turn almost into drag queens while performing Get Happy. Debbie had already done this in Connie and Carla while Shirley had encounters with female impersonators in Postcards From the Edge. So while outlandish and silly, this is a very gay friendly comedy. All it was missing was Ann Miller. -
Aussie Stud12 February 2001Or perhaps this movie should have been titled "Endless Arguing".
After watching this original made-for-television movie, I started to wonder just what on Earth everyone involved had been thinking? I can understand the CEOs at ABC nodding their heads in approval at reuniting actresses from the silver screen (I suppose Joan Collins would be included in that category). But what on Earth was Debbie Reynolds, Shirley MacLaine, Joan Collins and Elizabeth Taylor thinking?
Okay, maybe Joan Collins knew what she was doing. After all, she did headline that hilarious 1978 film "Empire Of The Ants" and she did play Alexis Carrington for all of Dynasty's entire 80's run on television. Looking timeless as always, she spent the entire movie arguing with everyone who stepped in her path. Her wigs and wardrobe were fantastic. Her acting was a notch below embarrassing. The only slightly amusing thing about her character was that she called her British accent her 'Hollywood accent'.
When Elizabeth Taylor appears in the earlier part of the movie, her performance was reminiscent of the blunders she made at the Golden Globe Awards earlier this year. She appeared discombobulated, jittery and somewhat scary. No doubts, she is still in remission after her brain tumor operation, but she didn't have to appear in this dull telemovie to show it! I kept wondering how many takes the director had to make while she tried to memorize her lines. Half the time her accent changed from "Noo Yawk" to Australian. I love Elizabeth Taylor, but this telemovie exploited her for all she is currently worth. The most unfortunate thing is, the most laughs in this telemovie were during Elizabeth Taylor's scenes and the sad thing is, I don't think she was trying to be funny either.
Debbie Reynolds barely got enough screen time. She made several references to her ex-husband Eddie Fisher, disguising him as "Freddie". Most of the time she spent bickering with Joan Collins who kept trying to make a move on her husband, played by Peter Graves. I started to wonder what exactly her character meant to the movie's plot. She seemed to appear only to either get into an argument or break one up.
And last but not least, Shirley MacLaine. You might have thought after "Mrs Winterbourne", she would have changed agents. I'm sure whoever her agent is now will receive the full brunt of her anger after starring in this movie. She spends half the time portraying her real-life persona and the other half arguing with her co-stars. The sub-plot involving her gay son was written into the movie to bring out her emotional side. It didn't work. Considering that not even five minutes after she confides in her son about his sexuality, she's driving off in an automobile on hot pursuit of Joan Collins and Debbie Reynolds to engage in yet another countless argument.
Sure, there were a few referrals to each actresses' real-life issues, but it was really a tongue-in-cheek joke to appreciate among themselves. When Debbie, Shirley and Joan appeared on stage for their final performance, the build-up of anticipation was almost non-existent. I wondered at the time if this part was the big hurrah? They really didn't spend that much time rehearsing for the performance, and what scenes they did show rehearsing, they always ended up arguing. At the end, there was really nothing to appreciate or applaud for.
I felt really sorry for these gifted actresses. The story was tired. The jokes got old really quick and became tired. They deserve better than telemovies, and certainly better than this garbage. ABC should be ashamed of themselves. As was the plot in the movie, this was obviously nothing more than shameless corporate thinking to obtain ratings at the expense of good talent.
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bbigham2 June 2006When 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.
And whatever you do, ignore the snide comments of the adolescent male critics who panned this as a "geriatric" outing. These guys can't stand the idea of having older women who aren't ashamed of their bodies -- they'd prefer them all to go hide away so the young nubile and witless wonders can fill the screen. -
Patrick-9613 February 2001I believe that Carrie Fisher is a very talented writer, but you wouldn't know it by this fiasco. The script is full of off-color lines that probably would be funny if they were taken out of context, but strung along with a plot that is very predictable, it just doesn't work. There also are many feeble attempts at slapstick, which is another huge mistake. Everyone just tries to hard to be funny. Everything is forced and unnatural.
Elizabeth Taylor (I think) attempts a Yiddish accent. Well, it's either Yiddish or a Brooklyn accent, I just simply couldn't tell. Seeing the fabulous Dame Elizabeth is this cheesy TV movie made me depressed. The memory of GIANT, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and VIRGINIA WOLF are still too fresh in my mind.
Joan Collins, who has kept her beautiful figure, demonstrates that she is no natural comedian. But given a better script perhaps Joan could have done better. At least I like to think so.
Shirley MacLaine, who still has somewhat of a career in movies left, should have passed on this one. Hopefully it won't damage her credibility being in this turkey.
Of all the women, Debbie Reynolds comes off the best. The few times I had a chuckle was because of her. But then again, Debbie has made movies like this before so it wasn't much of a shock seeing her outrageous antics.
It was reported that right before production began, June Allyson, who was to portray Joan Collins' mother, backed out without explanation. I have a funny feeling June read the script. -
bkoganbing21 June 2007Of the four female icons in the cast of These Old Broads only one so far at least has chosen this to be her last film. It could and should be the coda for the careers of Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Collins, and Elizabeth Taylor.
The first three play aging film stars who co-starred in a musical that has become a cult item and has just had a smash hit re-release. What better than a nice television special reuniting the three.
Only problem is that they all can't stand each other. It's going to take someone of the skills of a Mideast peace negotiator to bring them all together. The catalyst might be Jonathan Silverman who is MacLaine's estranged, adopted son. Of course it turns out to be their agent, Elizabeth Taylor who deals from a financial point of view.
MacLaine, Collins, and Reynolds must have really been great sports about this female version of The Sunshine Boys. All the roles that Reynolds daughter Carrie Fisher wrote were such dead-on satires of each one of them. The three look like they're having a great old time spoofing themselves, it's positively infectious for the audience.
Of course the real highlight is at the beginning when Reynolds goes to see Taylor about the reunion. Today's audience cannot possibly appreciate all the innuendo because they weren't around in the Fifties when the Elizabeth Taylor-Eddie Fisher-Debbie Reynolds triangle was the number one news story in the nation. President Eisenhower was having trouble getting as much ink as the most famous movie love triangle ever. And that was only until the Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor-Eddie Fisher triangle topped that one.
You could never have imagined over 40 years later seeing Taylor and Reynolds on the screen together. Older, wiser, and sadder, they definitely came to a meeting of the minds about Eddie Fisher.
Collins and MacLaine don't lack for good material either, all of them are just fabulous. These Old Broads is an old stargazer's dream. -
jawz4312 February 2001The world is a terrible place when they cannot find decent roles for the talents of Shirley MacLaine and Debbie Reynolds. This movie was not worthy! Is Carrie holding a grudge against her mother? There were some good liners in this thing, but on the whole it must have been humiliating for these actresses to make. Joan Collins fit right in! She was a 'B' movie actress in the first place and she always overacted on Dallas. I loved her in that show.I must say she really keeps herself in good shape. The producers and directors and writers of this show owe these ladies another movie so they can redeem themselves!
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This movie is by far one of the funniest movies ever made! What more can you ask for from a movie? I mean the 4 best actresses and a hysterical plot! Awesome writing, loved every minute of it! For sure one of those movies you can't help but watch over and over again!
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HotToastyRag26 June 2017Is there anyone out there who wants to see Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor sit down, hold hands, and argue about sex and a man Taylor's character stole from Reynolds's character decades ago? How about hearing Shirley MacLaine say, "My inner child is having such a tantrum" while wearing a turban and waving incense in front of her face? These Old Broads was co-written and co-produced by Carrie Fisher, as yet another hate letter to her mother. Apparently, she didn't get it all out of her system in Postcards From the Edge. In this one, her mother plays one of the title characters. Fisher had problems, problems she desperately wanted the world to know about via projecting her hatred for her mother up on the big screen. Why else would she create a movie about four old hags, all playing caricatures of their real-life personas, who hate each other and quip extremely stupid one-liners about their age, appearance, and sex lives? The only reason anyone would sit through this terrible, terrible movie would be if they were 100% on Debbie Reynolds's side during the Eddie Fisher scandal and still want revenge on Elizabeth Taylor, and if they get a thrill from making fun of older actresses. Basically, Carrie Fisher. Anyone one else will most likely, and wisely, turn it off.
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jimwhitley4418 February 2001Dreadful, awful, a wasted opportunity to do something really fun with a great cast. Carrie Fisher's script was corny and predictable, vulgar and very seldom funny. Another waste of potentially good material, from someone who has proven talent, as evidenced by her "Postcards from the Edge".....what causes a good idea to go so wrong?
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susras13 February 2001I have always been a big fan of all the ladies but not particularly of Joan Collins, I wasn't as familiar with her work and never knew she had such a great sense of humor. I LOVED this movie!!!! All the under remarks were the best knee-slapping part of the entire film! Everyone of the ladies were fantastic, poking fun at themselves and laughing and I just could not stop laughing! I wish I had taped it! I hope this is one tv movie that will be available for sale. Neither my husband nor myself wanted this movie to be over - what a great job everyone! The writers wrote great material and those old broads pulled it off grandly! Thank you for a great night of comedy!!!!! And thank you for laughing at yourselves. That wig scene that Debbie Reynolds did, the look on her face when she realized her wig was off, ohmygosh, I thought I was going to bust a gut! And Joan Collins, when she saw Debbie's wig was off....oh gosh, we had tears running down our faces we were laughing so hard! Then the cat fight with Shirley McLaine.....I just can't tell you how our sides are hurting today from laughing so. Thanks again, it was GREAT!!!!!
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standardmetal25 April 2003The "Old Broads" were playing themselves of course (or at least their public image) and a fabulous sendup it is. I thought it all hilarious and cheers to the ladies for their sense of humor. Maybe Liz was rather much with her obviously phony Brooklyn accent but it fit in with the camp sensibility.
I can't imagine why anyone finds the scene in the gay bar objectionable since it's no more "real" than the rest of the movie and fits in with the plot IMHO.
It's not Shakespeare but who cares?
January 20, 2017: In view of the events surrounding the recent day-apart deaths of Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds, I think it's time to put out a deluxe DVD reissue of this TV movie. -
SCManCA14 December 2021And who were these guys they cast?
Especially the guy who played the producer, or whoever he was. Talk about awful. He was cast for one reason, and it wasn't his acting ability. Sorry, when the guy puts his feet up on the desk, lusting after Joan Collins' picture.
I mean, how cliche can you get.
Had to turn it off out of embarrassment for all involved.
I'll choose to remember Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor in their hey day. Not this nonsense. -
SirLizrd22 February 2001I had been looking forward to this film ever since I first heard about Carrie Fisher's script. Unfortunately, the TV movie didn't live up to my expectations. It was great to see these legendary ladies working together, but the results were not as I had hoped. I don't know if it was the script or the directing, but most of the jokes fell flat. I know that Carrie Fisher had as hard a time getting the film made as the characters had in getting their reunion special aired. Studios wouldn't put up the money because they didn't think that it would be worth it. If the film was given the right director it could have been as witty and wicked as the 1939 classic "The Women" (Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine, Mary Boland).
I believe that the Joan Collins role was originally intended for Lauren Bacall. When Bacall passed the role was offered to Julie Andrews, who also turned it down. I think that Tony Curtis was supposed to play the gangster lover and June Allyson was supposed to play the mother of the Joan Collins character. I can't help to wonder if all of these bail-outs had anything to do with the poor quality that was ultimately produced?
It wasn't all bad, though. There were some really funny moments. I enjoyed the camp factor of Debbie and Joan's performance in the gay club. These bigger-than-life legendary stars are practically drag queens, anyway. The gay subplot was pointless, however, without having been developed properly. Carrie Fisher did toss in some great zingers and one-liners.
I'd definitely watch this movie again some day, but I'll always be haunted by the thoughts of "what might have been"... -
robtyrrell-986071 February 2022It's appalling that they had four stars of this magnitude and managed to make a movie this terrible. How on Earth any of them got convinced to do it, if they'd taken 10 minutes to read the script, boggles the imagination.
What's really tragic is that someone could have made a GREAT, truly hilarious movie with these women. They clearly enjoyed working together, and the banter between them could have been genuinely funny with better writing, because they all knew how to deliver a line.
Terrible writing, idiotic plot development and clumsy pacing make for a train wreck of a movie, which I can only imagine at least one of these women must've been embarrassed about.
What a waste. -
pacificgroove-315-4949319 March 2024I was really sure that the actor playing Shirley MacLaine's son was in real life, Eddie Fisher's son with either Debbie Reynolds or Liz Taylor ! When I looked him up, I was surprised to find he aparently isn't. But how can the very strong resemblence not have been a strong factor in casting him ?
As for the movie -- as a old move buff, I found it fun to see the old broads still had their performing chops. The barbed dialog is amusing, though not for me, laugh out loud funny.
I see I have to use at least 600 characters, so I'll also note that I find it very hard to imagine Julie Andrews in Joan Collin's role, and am not surprised she turned the role down. -
This film is filled to the brim with fantastic Hollywood injokes and highly entertaining dialogue for those people who are familiar with the historical private lives of these individual actresses. For those people who don't know the lives of "these old broads," don't bother watching it, you won't get it. I'm sure that's the situation with most of the people who gave this film negative reviews. I understand how this movie could be frightfully boring and meaningless to those people who aren't versed in classic Hollywood lore, as nearly all of the situations and lines are witty remarks about the actress playing the role, but for those of us who get the joke, it is a brilliant, hysterically funny piece of work.
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Marie-6216 February 2001I have never seen Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, or Joan Collins act in their prime, and what drew me to this movie was the fact that all of the old stars were in it. I have seen Shirley MacLaine act, and I was pretty much hoping that they didn't give her a dopey motherly part in which she's too eccentric and snotty. Let me just say one thing about that, they gave her a motherly part in which she's eccentric. A little on the snotty part, yes, but she's definitely not dopey. Shirley plays Kate Westbourne, a mother of "documentary" producer Weslie Westbourne. Kate was once in a show with two other women, Piper and Addie, and now finds herself realizing on what she really missed with her son. Addie (COLLINS) is a real sex-maniac whom slept with basically EVERYBODY and has a run-away jail-bird for a boyfriend. What makes Addie so funny is her "tummy tucks" and "face lifts". She still thinks that she's twenty-five. ("Look dear, one more face lift and she'll be able to blow her nose through her forehead.) Piper is the good-two-shoes ditzy blonde whom everyone loves. Debbie plays this part perfectly and is so cute at it. Piper and her husband Bill have a hotel. The nice thing about this woman is that she raised four children and unlike her 'peers' has a decent life. The truly funny thing about this movie is not only in the cast, but in the writing as well. Carrie Fisher was FANTASTIC. She wrote the script so that it had that wring of adultness to it but didn't stray from reality. As a fan of old movies, I was grateful to see one more "dance in the limelight" for the old broads. They deserved it. :)
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Sweet Charity12 February 2001All I can say is I wish it could have lasted longer! Four absolutely brilliant actresses in one absolutely hilarious movie. Reynolds is darling as well as hilarious as girl-next-door type Piper Grayson, MacLaine is funny as eccentric Kate Westburn, Joan Collins is great as sex-pot type Addie Holden and Elizabeth Taylor is remarkable as tough agent Beryl Mason. Chalk one up for Jonathan Silverman as MacLaine's son Wesley, and for Peter Graves as Reynolds' husband Bill. Although at times rather... risque (it's a bit odd to hear sweet Debbie Reynolds say words such as *screw*), it's a TV movie that will be remembered, if only to be remembered as the film that rekindled the friendship between Debbie Reynolds and Liz Taylor. It's an absolute riot of a movie!
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chad47827 February 2001This is definitely the best made-for-TV movie that I have ever seen! Four of Hollywood's greatest stars, Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Collins, and Elizabeth Taylor team up for this absolutely hilarious comedy. MacLaine, Reynolds, and Collins play three former movie stars who appeared together in a '60's musical entitled "Boy Crazy", and team up once again for a reunion special. They're all terrific, but it's Elizabeth Taylor's delightful performance as an eccentric Hollywood agent that is sure to stay with you long after the movie is over.
I hope they make a sequel! It would be such a great joy to see these four equally gifted ladies together again. -
Cenobitehell30 April 2004i love this movie to bits. for a million reasons
its funny, witty and a great way to reuinted the great classics actresses. and a lot of the story lines and jokes are true to the real actresses lives. which is great of them to joke about.
but there is one thing that dissapoints me
in the gay club scene Joan sings a dance version of "get happy", im so dissapointed that this was never released
i would sell my soul for this song. im quite dissapointed that a soundtrack wasnt released actually. ah well. i must sit and wait for this movie to eventually be released on dvd. its only available in canada for hvs rental for some reason.
if im wrong then someone please tell me