Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills is an American black comedy film

Black comedy

A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...

 released in 1989

1989 in film

-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...

. Co-written and directed by Paul Bartel

Paul Bartel

Paul Bartel was an American actor, writer and director. Bartel was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy Eating Raoul, which he wrote, starred in and directed.-Life and career:...

, Scenes re-unites Bartel with his Eating Raoul

Eating Raoul

Eating Raoul is a 1982 black comedy about a married couple living in Hollywood who resort to killing swingers for their money. It was directed by Paul Bartel and written by Bartel and Richard Blackburn...

co-stars Mary Woronov

Mary Woronov

Mary Woronov is an American actress and writer. She is primarily known for her roles in independent and cult films. Woronov has appeared in over 80 movies, as well as numerous appearances in mainstream television series, such as Charlie's Angels and Knight Rider.-Early life:Woronov was born in the...

 and Robert Beltran

Robert Beltran

Robert Adame Beltran is an American actor, known for his role as Commander Chakotay on Star Trek: Voyager.-Early life:...

. Scenes also stars Jacqueline Bisset

Jacqueline Bisset

Jacqueline Bisset is an English actress. She has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award. She is known for her roles in the films Bullitt , Airport , The Deep , Class , and the TV series Nip/Tuck in 2006...

, Ray Sharkey

Ray Sharkey

Raymond "Ray" Sharkey, Jr. was an American actor best known for his role as Sonny Steelgrave in the television series Wiseguy.-Early life and career:...

, Ed Begley, Jr.

Ed Begley, Jr.

Edward James "Ed" Begley, Jr. is an American actor and environmentalist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He is best known for his role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich, on the television series St...

, Wallace Shawn

Wallace Shawn

Wallace Michael Shawn , sometimes credited as Wally Shawn, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, author, voice artist, and intellectual. His best-known film roles include Wally Shawn in My Dinner with Andre , Vizzini in The Princess Bride , and debate teacher Mr...

, Paul Mazursky

Paul Mazursky

Paul Mazursky is an American film director, screenwriter and actor.-Personal life:He was born Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jean , a piano player for dance classes, and David Mazursky, a laborer. Mazursky was born to a Jewish family; his grandfather was an immigrant from...

 and the late Rebecca Schaeffer

Rebecca Schaeffer

Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer was an American actress best known for her role in the sitcom My Sister Sam...

.

Rebecca Schaeffer

Rebecca Schaeffer

Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer was an American actress best known for her role in the sitcom My Sister Sam...

 appeared in her first major feature film role in what many critics considered to be a breakout performance; however, she was murdered by Robert John Bardo

Robert John Bardo

Robert John Bardo is an American man serving life imprisonment without parole after being convicted in October 1991 for the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer on July 18, 1989, whom he had stalked for several years beforehand....

, an obsessed fan, just six weeks after the film's release.

Woronov was nominated for a 1990 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her role.

Plot summary

Clare Lipkin (Bisset) is a recent widow, dealing with everything from houseguest Lisabeth (Woronov), to Lisabeth's libidinous ex (Shawn) to family problems. She is also being haunted by the ghost of her recently deceased husband (Mazursky).

Lisabeth's houseboy Juan (Beltran) and Clare's chauffeur Frank (Sharkey) make a bet on which of them can seduce the other's employer first. The bisexual Frank puts up cash for the wager but if he wins he wants Juan to sleep with him. Juan wins the bet but claims that he lost and has sex with Frank anyway.

DVD release

Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills was released on Region 2 German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 on May 18, 2005 and in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 with its Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 title : "Scene di lotta di classe a Beverly Hills". It has yet to be released on DVD in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.