Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke

I just caught this film on TUBI (an excellent free streaming service). I'd never heard of this film. The cast, Lauren Bacall Richard Chamberlain and Mare Winningham, is what got my attention. They were all amazing here. The story, about tobacco heiress Doris Duke, was very well made. The acting, direction, and writing were all top notch. The miniseries, shown on CBS in 1999, holds up well in 2021. It's a sad tale, covering Ms. Duke's turbulent life: her relationship with her mother and father, her marriages, her adoption, and her relationship with her butler. Though I believe many liberties were taken with the script, this was very well written. The leads do a very good coveting Ms Duke and her butler Bernard. You route for Ms. Duke, and you hate the scheming Bernard. All and all, a very good 2 part miniseries. Thanks TUBI for making these old TV movies available.

This was an enjoyable production. I had not seen the movie the first time it was released all the way through. Although I am certain producers took much license with some aspects of Ms. Duke's history, I think the general core of her life was well demonstrated. Sequential scenes were well produced and flowed throughout the production. Overview of major experiences in Ms. Duke's life were well developed and portrayed, giving us a taste, on a small scale, but yet a taste, of what struggles Ms. Duke had to endure. It was easy at times to forget about her wealth and see through to a genuine human being struggling to find her place and to find happiness.

It is a prime example of the old adage that money does not buy happiness. In fact, it can create more problems than an average wage earning person could experience. The butler did it, there is no doubt. The entrance of the adopted child, Chanzy, into Ms. Duke's life was one of the saddest and most despicable situations I have witnessed. I think this individual absolutely broke Ms. Duke's heart and destroyed the last little bit of trust Ms. Duke had in human beings. I would be interested to find out if Chanzy truly did inherit from Ms. Duke's estate and if she is still with us, what her life has been like since Ms. Duke's death and what she is doing now.

I saw this movie last night on TV. For some reason it has not come out on DVD though I can't understand why not. Its better than most mini series in my view. I think its probably the best role Lauren Bacall has played since she was older. I have always liked her starting with her first acting role when she was 19, which was "To Have and to Have not" with soon to be husband Humphrey Bogart. For someone in their first acting part, she was good. Too Rich: Story of Doris Duke was very interesting and one of the main points I got out of it, was that money does not always bring happiness and in fact can cause great misery. Doris Duke had a sad life looking for love in the wrong people and appears to have been taken advantage of because of her money, much of her life. She adopted a grown up young woman as a daughter but the daughter only did things for her own gain. Doris had a baby either dead at birth or shortly after. Richard Chamberlain, young Dr. Kildare of years ago on TV, played a great dramatic part as the scheming Bernard, Doris's butler. I won't tell you the ending, but its quite surprising. I would very like to see this mini series released on DVD as the acting is very well done, and the mini series deserves exposure. I hope that happens soon.

The life of a rich American heiress, whose fabulous fortune poses an obstacle to happiness. This saga, devoted to the heartache of an overly wealthy woman, provides a good opportunity to savour some fine actors.