Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills Reviews

With SCENES FROM THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN BEVERLY HILLS, independent filmmaker Paul Bartel (EATING RAOUL; LUST IN THE DUST; and LONGSHOT) continued his assault on decorum, but again his film is a hit-and-miss affair. Wealthy divorcee Lisabeth (Mary Woronov) temporarily moves her household in with her Beverly Hills neighbor, Clare (Jacqueline Bisset), a recently widowed, onetime sitcom star, whose late husband (Paul Mazursky, the director of such films as DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS and ENEMIES: A LOVE STORY) periodically haunts the place. Also in the house are Lisabeth's invalid son, Willie (Barret Oliver); her brother, Peter (Ed Begley, Jr.), a talentless playwright; and To-bel (Arnetia Walker), Peter's Vegas showgirl wife. Lisabeth's sleazy houseman, Frank (Ray Sharkey) makes a $5,000 bet with Clare's servant, Juan (Robert Beltran), that he--Frank--will bed Clare before Juan can bed Lisabeth. An upstairs-downstairs game of musical mattresses follows, as the help pursue the ladies of the house, and the houseguests play their own variations on the theme. Bartel's film isn't nearly as shocking as it would like to be. Sex of all kinds is discussed (and discussed, and discussed), but once the no-holds-barred tenor of the film is established, it loses its sting. Bartel and screenwriter Bruce Wagner offer a number of funny caricatures, however, most of them well played, and the director's pacing keeps the bedroom doors revolving quickly and unexpectedly to make the partner switching entertaining.