Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
| 30 April 1989 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    Exoticalot

    People are voting emotionally.

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    Aubrey Hackett

    While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

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    Erica Derrick

    By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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    Haven Kaycee

    It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

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    Morbius Fitzgerald

    I went into this film knowing nothing about it. I didn't know who Barbara Hutton was nor what kind of lifestyle she led. I sat through the entire near 4 hour run of this film and every second is worth it.I will be honest, this movie packs a lot of plot in so I will keep it as short as I can. Barbara Hutton inherited her Grandfather's fortune, who was F. W. Woolworth, but her mother committed suicide when she was young and every person she meets either wants to get control of her money or acts like she can buy off her happiness, which includes the many men she marries.Now the acting is fantastic. While Farrah Fawcett doesn't look like how Barbara did in real life (I looked up her photo), through the emotion she portrayed of just loosing a son, it was amazing, and that was only in the last third of the film, the rest packed with more situations equally as tragic and Fawcett puts in exactly the right amount of emotion. You get emotionally drawn into the situation and characters because the actors were emotionally drawn into the situation and their characters. And from what I have read about her life, this miniseries is pretty accurate towards what happened. If you also take a look almost none of the actors look like the real people they're portraying but in the end, that doesn't matter, every single one of them puts in the amount of effort required for their role.Now the one thing I have to complain about is that the version of the film I have is not fully restored as in, it looks like an 80's TV miniseries and of something that is legit, there are numerous shots where the boom mic is seen at the top of the shot. I don't know if they didn't think it was worth another take or if they thought they could get away with it but, either way, its pretty distracting. There is one more thing, the makeup for the actors is almost, for the first half of the movie, non existent in increased age. I mean Barbara's father lived until he was 63 and they cast a man who was nearly at that age for the entirety of the film and they don't even try to hide it. Maybe it was a limitation of the network but again, its still distracting.Overall this film is a well made dramatic retelling of the life of a woman who, sadly, had a pretty bad life and this movie does everything it can to tell her side of the story and it does so incredibly well. I suggest if you hold even the remotest of interest in this film, see it.

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    phd_travel

    This is one of the best biographical miniseries ever made. The fascinating life of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton is told to perfection here. Very entertaining and well cast and acted. Really enjoyable from her sad childhood through the many marriages to her death. The screenplay is very good. It's told chronologically - no needless jumping around in time. It shows both the triumph and tragedy of her life but doesn't dwell too much on the sordid or unpleasant like some of the new biopics. It's much better than the Doris Duke TV movie with Lauren Bacall and Richard Chamberlain - that one was depressing. The locations are beautiful from South of France and Venice to Morocco. Farrah Fawcett did a superb job. She is beautiful here and shows a lot of range. The supporting cast are all very well cast - especially those who played her many husbands. Some of the outstanding supporting cast drawn from European and US actors include Carmen du Sautoy as her sister in law, James Reed as Cary Grant, Nicholas Clay as her first husband the list goes on. The actor who played Court Raventlow is good too. Bruce Davison as cousin Jimmy is a scene stealer. The score is very suited too. They don't make miniseries like this anymore.

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    justhanginin

    I love this picture, The portrayal of the late great Barbara Hutton was exceptionally done by Farrah Fawcett, and the rest of the cast was also very professional and great. The amount of hardship and loneliness one has to face when they have all the money in the world and all the people in her life that was suppose to make it easier for her only made it that much more sad. I felt sad for this rich woman as she grows into one of the country's wealthiest woman and only to find she is alone in life, and in love. With a few rare exceptions of real happiness and love, she is more to be pitied than envied. She is rich only in monetary value, not in life, Barbara Hutton is defiantly the poorest little rich girl I've ever read about her seen. I felt for her throughout the entire movie and even cried at the end when she dies a lonely, broken, broke woman. I can only say that it was then and there that I learned that money does not buy happiness or friends. I wonder if this particular television movie will soon be released on DVD as I cannot locate it anywhere.

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    sundar-2

    It is fashionable to look down on made-for-TV movies. But this one is one of the best examples of such flicks. Despite its length, I watched it fully, because the title character was an interesting person. Farrah Fawcett does a good job playing Barbara Hutton, the much-married Woolworth heiress. Cary Grant, who was, at one time, wedded to her is portrayed as a nice guy, who divorces her because of her partying. Hutton was also married to a sadistic Danish count who tries to steal her fortune. She even renounced her American citizenship in order to live with him. Another of her husbands was Count von Kramm, the Nazi-trained tennis player who failed to win at Wimbledon and suffered consequences in Germany. Hutton discovered that he was bisexual, so she divorced him. Barbara Hutton was an ardent socialite, so she neglected her only son. The movie has her telling him that she could not live with him in Arizona because she was not that kind of mother. Later, when someone calls him a "son of a bitch", he simply says "Exactly"! Probably, the most memorable dialogue in the film!The film follows Hutton around the world. It is interesting to see the film's depiction of exotic countries in the middle part of the twentieth century.(Reviewed by Sundar Narayan)

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