How to Beat the High Co$t of Living
Encyclopedia
How to Beat the High Co$t of Living is a 1980 comedy
film
, starring Jane Curtin
, Susan Saint James
and Jessica Lange
. Also in the cast are Dabney Coleman
, Fred Willard
, Richard Benjamin
, Eddie Albert
, Cathryn Damon
, and a cameo by Jane Curtin's fellow Saturday Night Live
co-star Garrett Morris
. The movie was released in summer of 1980, grossing approximately US $7.5 million.
), Elaine (Jane Curtin
), and Louise (Jessica Lange
) are three suburbanites in Eugene, Oregon
. These three women have been friends since high school, and are currently all struggling with money.
Jane is divorced, trying to cope with the man she is dating, Robert (Fred Willard
), her newly-single father (Eddie Albert
) who has just moved in with her after his wife leaves him for another woman, and her two young children, one boy and his younger sister who need dental work. At the same time as Robert needs thousands to buy his half of a business, Jane learns she is pregnant, which leaves neither of them very happy since both are nearly broke.
Elaine's husband, an architect, has recently left her for a younger woman. He has also left her with no money, no credit cards, and lots of bills, all of which are very overdue (leading later to a scene with a man at the power company (Garrett Morris
)). She decides the best way to deal with this surprise situation by getting drunk and going for a drive, where she is caught by police officer Jack (Dabney Coleman
). She makes a pass at him, asking him to go for coffee, when he accepts, he says he can't go to his house because his wife is there. Elaine then starts smacking him with her purse, when he objects she makes it clear that if she is arrested her one phone call will be to his wife. Later she finds that even a garage sale, in which she tries to sell everything her husband owned - including his deodorant - doesn't bring in any money.
Louise owns and operates an antiques store; unfortunately, it's not a very successful operation, and she is always accepting funds from her veterinarian husband (Richard Benjamin
) to keep the store open. While they are in bed one evening, in the early process of making love, the doorbell rings and she is served and learns her husband plans on suing her to force her into bankruptcy and thereby wipe away the enormous debt she has incurred.
) has pushed her into helping out with lighting a small pageant being held there. Making a phone call, she stares at the large, clear ball in the middle of the mall which is soon due to hold thousands and thousands of dollars in a giant cash "give away" and suddenly formulates the idea of stealing the money so the three of them can all get the money they need. She calls them to the mall, where they scheme to steal the money during the "give away" by drilling a hole beneath the cash ball and sucking out as much cash as possible with a high-powered vacuum, then escaping to the river in back of the mall.
Despite getting caught in the act of stealing some of the items needed for the heist by officer Jack, Elaine once again manages to sweet-talk their way out of being taken to prison. Later, on the evening of the heist, each of them finds an unexpected distraction but finally find their way to the mall, where Jane and Louise begin their work beneath the cash ball, and Elaine readies herself to throw the switch to the mall's light controls (which would give them all enough time to finish the job and escape unnoticed). Unfortunately, a minor occurrence takes place during both the give away and the pageant, nearly causing the police to notice the noise caused by Jane and Louise stealing the money. With no other way to distract the police, and the audience present, Elaine begins to rant about the high cost of living and how so many things cost "the shirt off your back - and even THAT'S not enough!" Very soon, she starts an impromptu striptease and ends with exposing her bosom to the crowd, effectively taking the attention away from what's REALLY going on. Shortly thereafter, one of the indoor light poles falls directly into the ball, sending cash flowing out into the mall, driving people into a frenzy as they dive to collect the cash. Noticing the uproar going on above, Jane and Louise make their escape with two large trash bags filled with dollar bills, only to have their canoe tip over when Louise stands up. They both fall in, and right away Louise yells she can't swim, leaving Jane to decide - quickly - to either save the cash or her friend. She saves Louise and the two bags float away.
Hours later, the sun is rising and both Jane and Louise are still on the bank of the river, crestfallen over the loss of the money after all the trouble they'd gone to steal it; Elaine works her way to them, wrapped in a blanket, distraught at the news. The three begin to fight, but within moments Louise notices a bag in sight and the three of them dive in after it...
At the film's end, Jane has married Robert and gotten her father a condo in a senior's complex; Louise reopens her store and takes back her husband, whom she'd left; and Elaine begins dating the officer, with enough secret money to bring her back to the level of living she'd been used to.
1 million. None of them would sign on because they didn't want to be in a film with two other star women. They would all do the film with two men, but not two other leading women. Kaufman and Henshaw wanted younger female leads, but the major studios all kept insisting on older, more established stars. Kaufman and Henshaw could not get the movie made until Henshaw got hired at American International Pictures as executive senior vice-president in charge of production. The pair first made Love at First Bite
, this success gave them the go ahead to make How to Beat the High Co$t of Living with younger, lessor known names.
Most of the film was shot in and around Eugene, Oregon
. Eugene was chosen because they needed an indoor mall next to a river. The mall used for filming was the Valley River Center
, situated next to the Willamette River
. The budget for the project was $
4.75 million, a 42-day shooting schedule, and filming began on September 5, 1979 and wrapped up in late October.
While filming an outdoor shot in Eugene a middle-aged man drove by in a car and yelled, "Jane, you ignorant slut!," in reference to Curtin and Dan Aykroyd doing their Point/Counterpoint segment on Saturday Night Live
, and the crew cracked up laughing.
This movie featured both Curtin and Saint James, who would go on to star together in the sitcom Kate & Allie
.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, starring Jane Curtin
Jane Curtin
Jane Therese Curtin is an American actress and comedienne. She is commonly referred to as Queen of the Deadpan.First coming to prominence as an original cast member on Saturday Night Live in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on the 1980s...
, Susan Saint James
Susan Saint James
Susan Saint James is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.-Early life:...
and Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. The recipient of several awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Emmy, Lange is regarded as one of the première female actors of her generation.Lange was discovered by producer...
. Also in the cast are Dabney Coleman
Dabney Coleman
Dabney Wharton Coleman is an American actor, best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.-Early life:Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary...
, Fred Willard
Fred Willard
Fred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
, Richard Benjamin
Richard Benjamin
Richard Benjamin is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of productions, including Goodbye, Columbus , based on the novella by Philip Roth, and Westworld .-Life and career:...
, Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
, Cathryn Damon
Cathryn Damon
Cathryn Lee Damon was an American actress, best known for her roles on television sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s....
, and a cameo by Jane Curtin's fellow Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
co-star Garrett Morris
Garrett Morris
Garrett Gonzalez Morris is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.-Early life and career:...
. The movie was released in summer of 1980, grossing approximately US $7.5 million.
Exposition
Jane (Susan Saint JamesSusan Saint James
Susan Saint James is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.-Early life:...
), Elaine (Jane Curtin
Jane Curtin
Jane Therese Curtin is an American actress and comedienne. She is commonly referred to as Queen of the Deadpan.First coming to prominence as an original cast member on Saturday Night Live in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on the 1980s...
), and Louise (Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. The recipient of several awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Emmy, Lange is regarded as one of the première female actors of her generation.Lange was discovered by producer...
) are three suburbanites in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
. These three women have been friends since high school, and are currently all struggling with money.
Jane is divorced, trying to cope with the man she is dating, Robert (Fred Willard
Fred Willard
Fred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
), her newly-single father (Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
) who has just moved in with her after his wife leaves him for another woman, and her two young children, one boy and his younger sister who need dental work. At the same time as Robert needs thousands to buy his half of a business, Jane learns she is pregnant, which leaves neither of them very happy since both are nearly broke.
Elaine's husband, an architect, has recently left her for a younger woman. He has also left her with no money, no credit cards, and lots of bills, all of which are very overdue (leading later to a scene with a man at the power company (Garrett Morris
Garrett Morris
Garrett Gonzalez Morris is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.-Early life and career:...
)). She decides the best way to deal with this surprise situation by getting drunk and going for a drive, where she is caught by police officer Jack (Dabney Coleman
Dabney Coleman
Dabney Wharton Coleman is an American actor, best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.-Early life:Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary...
). She makes a pass at him, asking him to go for coffee, when he accepts, he says he can't go to his house because his wife is there. Elaine then starts smacking him with her purse, when he objects she makes it clear that if she is arrested her one phone call will be to his wife. Later she finds that even a garage sale, in which she tries to sell everything her husband owned - including his deodorant - doesn't bring in any money.
Louise owns and operates an antiques store; unfortunately, it's not a very successful operation, and she is always accepting funds from her veterinarian husband (Richard Benjamin
Richard Benjamin
Richard Benjamin is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of productions, including Goodbye, Columbus , based on the novella by Philip Roth, and Westworld .-Life and career:...
) to keep the store open. While they are in bed one evening, in the early process of making love, the doorbell rings and she is served and learns her husband plans on suing her to force her into bankruptcy and thereby wipe away the enormous debt she has incurred.
Main plot
At the peak of their woes, Elaine visits the local mall, where an acquaintance (Cathryn DamonCathryn Damon
Cathryn Lee Damon was an American actress, best known for her roles on television sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s....
) has pushed her into helping out with lighting a small pageant being held there. Making a phone call, she stares at the large, clear ball in the middle of the mall which is soon due to hold thousands and thousands of dollars in a giant cash "give away" and suddenly formulates the idea of stealing the money so the three of them can all get the money they need. She calls them to the mall, where they scheme to steal the money during the "give away" by drilling a hole beneath the cash ball and sucking out as much cash as possible with a high-powered vacuum, then escaping to the river in back of the mall.
Despite getting caught in the act of stealing some of the items needed for the heist by officer Jack, Elaine once again manages to sweet-talk their way out of being taken to prison. Later, on the evening of the heist, each of them finds an unexpected distraction but finally find their way to the mall, where Jane and Louise begin their work beneath the cash ball, and Elaine readies herself to throw the switch to the mall's light controls (which would give them all enough time to finish the job and escape unnoticed). Unfortunately, a minor occurrence takes place during both the give away and the pageant, nearly causing the police to notice the noise caused by Jane and Louise stealing the money. With no other way to distract the police, and the audience present, Elaine begins to rant about the high cost of living and how so many things cost "the shirt off your back - and even THAT'S not enough!" Very soon, she starts an impromptu striptease and ends with exposing her bosom to the crowd, effectively taking the attention away from what's REALLY going on. Shortly thereafter, one of the indoor light poles falls directly into the ball, sending cash flowing out into the mall, driving people into a frenzy as they dive to collect the cash. Noticing the uproar going on above, Jane and Louise make their escape with two large trash bags filled with dollar bills, only to have their canoe tip over when Louise stands up. They both fall in, and right away Louise yells she can't swim, leaving Jane to decide - quickly - to either save the cash or her friend. She saves Louise and the two bags float away.
Hours later, the sun is rising and both Jane and Louise are still on the bank of the river, crestfallen over the loss of the money after all the trouble they'd gone to steal it; Elaine works her way to them, wrapped in a blanket, distraught at the news. The three begin to fight, but within moments Louise notices a bag in sight and the three of them dive in after it...
At the film's end, Jane has married Robert and gotten her father a condo in a senior's complex; Louise reopens her store and takes back her husband, whom she'd left; and Elaine begins dating the officer, with enough secret money to bring her back to the level of living she'd been used to.
Production
Robert Kaufman had written the script in 1971-1972, and Kaufman (and then later with Jere Henshaw) had 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures, all interested in the project if he could land major stars. The studio wanted Kaufman to ask Ann Margaret, Shirley MacLaine, Glenda Jackson, Raquel Welch, Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, all to be in the film. Diane Keaton, Margot Kidder, Dyan Cannon, Sally Field, Jill Clayburn, were also approached. He asked most of them, and even offered Ali MacGraw $United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 million. None of them would sign on because they didn't want to be in a film with two other star women. They would all do the film with two men, but not two other leading women. Kaufman and Henshaw wanted younger female leads, but the major studios all kept insisting on older, more established stars. Kaufman and Henshaw could not get the movie made until Henshaw got hired at American International Pictures as executive senior vice-president in charge of production. The pair first made Love at First Bite
Love At First Bite
Love at First Bite is a 1979 comedy horror film directed by Stan Dragoti and written by Robert Kaufman, using characters originally created by Bram Stoker. It stars George Hamilton, Susan Saint James, Richard Benjamin and Arte Johnson. The original music score was composed by Charles Bernstein...
, this success gave them the go ahead to make How to Beat the High Co$t of Living with younger, lessor known names.
Most of the film was shot in and around Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
. Eugene was chosen because they needed an indoor mall next to a river. The mall used for filming was the Valley River Center
Valley River Center
Valley River Center is a super-regional-class shopping mall located in Eugene, Oregon, U.S. It is the largest shopping center between the Portland and San Francisco area with over 130 local and national stores and restaurants....
, situated next to the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
. The budget for the project was $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
4.75 million, a 42-day shooting schedule, and filming began on September 5, 1979 and wrapped up in late October.
While filming an outdoor shot in Eugene a middle-aged man drove by in a car and yelled, "Jane, you ignorant slut!," in reference to Curtin and Dan Aykroyd doing their Point/Counterpoint segment on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, and the crew cracked up laughing.
This movie featured both Curtin and Saint James, who would go on to star together in the sitcom Kate & Allie
Kate & Allie
Kate & Allie is an American television situation comedy which ran from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989. Kate & Allie first aired on CBS as a midseason replacement series and only six episodes were initially commissioned, but the favorable response from critics and viewers alike easily convinced CBS...
.