mark.waltz I first saw this movie when it originally aired on television, and curious like everybody else to see the involvements of these for legendary ladies working together for the first time. They had all known each other for decades, but other than through personal encounters and scandals had never appeared on screen together. Of course the big curiosity would be seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds working together in the same movie, their famous scandal involving husband Eddie Fisher still talked about to this day. What they are lacking however is a good script, and the weak plot that ties it together shows how desperate that someone was to get these four ladies together at least once in their careers.Elizabeth is only on screen briefly, playing the three star's agent, a crass woman whose dealings didn't just take place in studio offices, many of them allegedly taking place in her bedroom as well. Joan Collins and Shirley MacLaine join Reynolds as three former movie stars who now hate each other for various reasons, reunited because their fictional 1960 film "Boy Crazy" has become a hit in an apparent re-release. If this whole idea doesn't strike it was ridiculous, then there's also the situations that they get involved in which our forest, often silly and sometimes through the talents of the three women very funny.Among the men in their lives is MacClaine's gay son who has been estranged from her for years, Reynolds' handsome husband Peter Graves and Collins' lover, mobster Gene Barry. Add on Pat Crawford Brown as Collins' easy going very American mom, sleazy television producer and I rather if effeminate black choreographer, and you have enough sitcom situations to keep this slightly muse and if not remarkable.There are enough references to the star's real lives to amuse the curious and entice the nosy into finding out more. You won't be surprised to find out that the three queens end up in a gay bar where Debbie and Joan turn almost into drag queens while performing Get Happy. Debbie had already done this in Connie and Carla while Shirley had encounters with female impersonators in Postcards From the Edge. So while outlandish and silly, this is a very gay friendly comedy. All it was missing was Ann Miller.

karalyeva This film is filled to the brim with fantastic Hollywood injokes and highly entertaining dialogue for those people who are familiar with the historical private lives of these individual actresses. For those people who don't know the lives of "these old broads," don't bother watching it, you won't get it. I'm sure that's the situation with most of the people who gave this film negative reviews. I understand how this movie could be frightfully boring and meaningless to those people who aren't versed in classic Hollywood lore, as nearly all of the situations and lines are witty remarks about the actress playing the role, but for those of us who get the joke, it is a brilliant, hysterically funny piece of work.

algernon4 Lauren Bacall was not the first actress that was offered the Joan Collins' role. Shirley MacLaine personally offered the role to Doris Day, the #1 Boxoffice Star of All Time. Doris turned it down flat. She smelled a rat and avoided it.I saw this picture and watch it in horror. The funny thing is that June Allyson was offered to play the Collin's character's mother. Just think, if June had accepted it, she would have been playing Doris Day's mother! That struck me as toooooooooo funny.June felt that the role was too dowdy and she didn't want her fans to see her like that.Now that I think about it, there would have been some real billing problems if Doris had taken the role. None of the actresses ever had Day's boxoffice power (10 times on the the coveted Hearld's List of top ten box office stars - she was #1 five times - a record for a woman). The billing would have been like this: Doris Day, Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds and special guest star, Elizabeth Taylor. I really wish they had had a better script, perhaps a juicy, bitchy murder mystery. Day might have accepted, especially if they'd have shot it in Carmel, CA (since she refuses to make another film in Hollywood.)I felt "These Old Broads" was overacted throughout and the whole thing looked 'gaudy.' Doris, your instincts were right on. Also, I agree with you for not taking "Mother." After Day became a superstar, she NEVER played second fiddle to ANY actor and "Mother" would have had to have been REWRITTEN to make Day the star, not Albert Brooks.

Ashley All I can say is I wish it could have lasted longer! Four absolutely brilliant actresses in one absolutely hilarious movie. Reynolds is darling as well as hilarious as girl-next-door type Piper Grayson, MacLaine is funny as eccentric Kate Westburn, Joan Collins is great as sex-pot type Addie Holden and Elizabeth Taylor is remarkable as tough agent Beryl Mason. Chalk one up for Jonathan Silverman as MacLaine's son Wesley, and for Peter Graves as Reynolds' husband Bill. Although at times rather... risque (it's a bit odd to hear sweet Debbie Reynolds say words such as *screw*), it's a TV movie that will be remembered, if only to be remembered as the film that rekindled the friendship between Debbie Reynolds and Liz Taylor. It's an absolute riot of a movie!