Rich Kids (1979)

Two 12-year-olds, the products of Upper West Side broken homes, struggle to make sense of their parents lives and their own adolescent feelings.

Director:

Robert M. Young

Writer:

Judith Ross

Stars:

Trini Alvarado, Jeremy Levy, Kathryn Walker

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Trini Alvarado	...	Franny Philips
Jeremy Levy	...	Jamie Harris
Kathryn Walker	...	Madeline Philips
John Lithgow	...	Paul Philips
Terry Kiser	...	Ralph Harris
David Selby	...	Steve Sloan
Roberta Maxwell	...	Barbara Peterfreund
Paul Dooley	...	Simon Peterfreund
Irene Worth	...	Madeline's Mother
Diane Stilwell	...	Stewardess
Dianne Kirksey	...	Ralph's Secretary
Olympia Dukakis	...	Lawyer
Jill Eikenberry	...	Juilliard Student
Kathryn Grody	...	Gym Teacher
Beatrice Winde	...	Corine (as Bea Winde)

Storyline

Two ultra-precocious Upper West Side twelve-year-olds, Franny and Jamie, are best friends. Jamie, the "new boy" in town, has experienced his parents' divorce and guides his friend Franny in the art of surviving her own folks' imminent split. Franny senses the divorce because she has been secretly watching her father arrive home at 5:00 every morning and pathetically try to brush off (to his wife) and hide (from his daughter) the fact that he has been away all night. She is down in the dumps and finds a kindred spirit in her buddy Jamie, whose mother and father split up long ago. He points out the advantages of being a "child of divorce" - and is so persuasive that he almost convinces himself as well as Franny. When Franny connivingly convinces her parents to let her go to a sleep-over with Jamie, they explore their budding curiosity for the opposite sex. When Franny's mother finds the book "The Joy of Sex" in her daughter's bedroom and discovers that her daughter has deceived her, ...

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Plot Keywords:

divorce | sleep over | tween girl | walking the dog | waterbed | 

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Taglines:

They know.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Lithgow appeared in 'All That Jazz' in the same year, 1979.

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Quotes

Jamie Harris: [grading his father's new bird-brained girlfriend to Franny] She's a C-minus... definitely a C-minus.

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Alternate Versions

The original theatrical version was 101 minutes. The film was cut to 96 minutes for early 1980s television showings in order to make it more "family-friendly". The video version is the version cut for television. However, most of the profanity remains in the television and video versions.

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Connections

Featured in Sneak Previews: Real Life, La Cage aux Folles, Over the Edge, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, Rich Kids (1979)

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Soundtracks

Happy Ida and Broken-Hearted John
Composed by Craig Doerge
Lyrics by Judy Henske

User Reviews

"He's driving a Maserati...in a city where you can't drive over 15 miles an hour."

12-year-old Manhattan classmates, an intelligent boy and a girl from affluent backgrounds, must deal with their clucking, suspicious, embattled parents. The boy, new in school, is shuffled back and fourth between his bitterly-divorced mother and father, while the girl's parents are trying to conceal from her the fact they are all but officially separated. Faintly amusing comedy-drama wavers uncomfortably at times between satire and hard-shelled sentiment, with the portraits of the immature adults far too obvious. After 22 minutes of character introductions, I was still waiting for the movie to get started. The picture was lent some critical cache at the time because of Robert Altman's involvement as executive producer, though it was released four months after "A Little Romance" and may have confused moviegoers. These kids (Trini Alvarado and Jeremy Levy) are sexually curious, precocious and combative--no angels--and they provide the only interest in an otherwise parched scenario. ** from ****

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rich Kids

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$53,064, 19 August 1979

Gross USA:

$1,856,122

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,856,122

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lion's Gate Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 96 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1