Soapdish (1991)

An ambitious television soap actress connives with her producer to scuttle the career of the show's long-time star, but nothing works as they plan.

Director:

Michael Hoffman

Writers:

Robert Harling (story), Robert Harling (screenplay)

Stars:

Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Cathy Moriarty

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cathy Moriarty	...	Montana Moorehead
Teri Hatcher	...	Ariel Maloney
Robert Downey Jr.	...	David Barnes
Sally Field	...	Celeste Talbert
Paul Johansson	...	Bolt
Elisabeth Shue	...	Lori Craven
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Rose Schwartz
Kevin Kline	...	Jeffrey Anderson
Arne Nannestad	...	Burton White
Tim Choate	...	A.D.
Kathy Najimy	...	Tawny Miller
Costas Mandylor	...	Mark
Cornelia Kiss	...	Receptionist
Rob Camilletti	...	Actor (as Robert Camiletti)
Marianne Muellerleile	...	Housewife

Storyline

Celeste Talbert has been the queen of the soaps for over two decades. Montana Moorehead needs to get her out of her way before she can move on and begins her program to get her to leave. She hires an old boyfriend of Celeste to be on the show and has Celeste become a murderer in the script, but each attempt has unforseen consequences.

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Plot Keywords:

casting couch | casting director | bare chested male | misunderstanding | voyeur | 

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Taglines:

A Deliciously Malicious Comedy.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

Aaron Spelling was usually a producer of television productions, making sense of his association with this picture.

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Goofs

After Lori slides into Betsy Faye's office there is a long light colored streak on the floor at 00:14:00 in. At 00:14:02 it's gone.

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Quotes

[an audition]
Betsy Faye Sharon: Very, very good, Mark. And very true. I love what you're doing. I just, I think if we could try it one more time, and this time... I don't know... maybe try one without your shirt.
Mark: Sure.
[Removes it and reviews the script]
Mark: "Will you be having wine with dinner?"
Betsy Faye Sharon: [lustily] I think we've found our waiter!

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Crazy Credits

Early in the opening credits we see the words "a hamon cheimafflo film". The letters of the two middle words then rearrange themselves, one "o" slipping off the side of the screen, to form the name of director Michael Hoffman.

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Connections

References Sunset Blvd. (1950)

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Soundtracks

El sol también se pone
Written by Ludar Felsenstein
Performed by Ludar Felsenstein (as Ludar)

User Reviews

This one is worth it

It's funny. It's not Arthur Miller or T.S. Elliot, but man this is funny. Kline and Fields are great. (Her toss-off line "God, you are so disGUSting" as she climbs in his window - great! Kline's running into the door after scoping out Teri Hatcher - great too!) Robert Downey Jr. and Kathy Moriarty work together flawlessly - until he finds out who she really is... a soap opera turn if there every was one!

The scene near the end in the chinese dining area had my kids and I rolling on the floor - that scene alone is worth the rental price.

Doesn't solve any world problems or show the seemy underbelly of daytime T.V. (I hope). Just a lot of fun.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 May 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Soapdish

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,736,380, 2 June 1991

Gross USA:

$36,489,888

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$36,489,888

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1