"Once in a lifetime you make a friendship that lasts forever"


In 1988, Bette Midler, with her partners Bonnie Bruckheimer, and Margaret South and their production company "All Girls Production" released their first movie. Though this film was not a huge box office hit, and it only received one Oscar nomination (Best Art Direction), it did something else, which is far far more important.
It brings people together, it celebrates the kind of friendship that one can only hope find once in a lifetime. The movie has humor, laughter, music, love, tears and sorrow, and takes the audience by the heartstrings and pulls them into this all encompassing friendship.
Just the Facts...
Category: Drama
Director: Gary Marshall
Running Time: 2 hours 13 minutes
Rating: PG- 13
Main Cast
Bette Midler.... CC Bloom
Barbara Hershey.... Hillary Whitney Essex
John Heard.... John Pierce
Spalding Gray.... Doctor Richard Milstein
Lainie Kazan.... Leona Bloom
James Read (II).... Michael Essex
Grace Johnston.... Victoria Essex
Mayim Bialik.... CC (age 11)
Marcie Leeds.... Hillary (age 11)
Carol Williard.... Aunt Vesta
Allan Kent.... Mr. Melman
Phil Leeds.... Sammy Pinkers
The movie starts off with a scene of Bette Midler singing/rehearsing on stage for a concert. This is our first glimpse into the movie, and knowing that Ms. M is playing a singer and performer is a great way to start off any movie. She is interupted by someone handing her a message, after reading it she rushes off to the airport in frantic search of a flight out to San Fransisco. When none becomes available, she rents a car, and begins driving to SF. As she drives she
begins remembering her childhood, and we are greeted with a wonderful scene of Atlantic City, the boardwalk and two completely opposite girls, one from the Bronx and the other from a rich neighborhood of San Francisco, who are DESTINED to be friends for life.

The first few scenes with the young star of the "Sammy Pinkers Kiddie Show", C.C. Bloom, and shy and proper Miss Hilary Whitney, set the scene beautifully for the rest of the movie. The casting of these younger versions of Bette Midler and Barbra Hershey were PURE genious, not only can they play the parts but they LOOK the parts as well.
Here at this part of the movie we are introduced to CC the performer, who HATES her frizzy red hair and is set on having a life in the limelight. And to Hilary the child of a rich family, who only wants to live life without the constraints put on it by her "position" or rather her families position. How do they do this? How do they bring these two girls togther though they live on opposite coasts? They have both girls read their letters to each other, while showing the audience
another piece of the life they live. I think that the interaction of these two girls, forever immortalized on that strip of photo booth paper, is ESSENTIAL to the movie. It wouldn't have been as powerful, had the audience not been allowed this glimpse into the past first.
The scene jumps ahead and we are at last allowed a glimpse of both Hilary Whitney and CC Bloom, still exchanging letters, but grown up. Eventually, Hilary drops everythign and moves to NY, where she finds CC at last, after a decade they are reunited face to face, and still haven't lost that spark of friendship that ties them together. They move in together, and carry on with life.
Through broken hearts, failed marriages, harsh words and misunderstandings, these two always manage to put their lives in perspective to forgive each other, and move on.
When Hilary becomes ill, CC jumps up to the plate, taking both Hil and her daughter Victoria to the beach house for the summer to help out. Eventually, Victoria and CC warm up to each other and become close, much to Hil's dislike, for her jealousy and anger at not being able to play with her daughter herself take over, as does the depression. However, friendship and love pay off. This summer they spend at the beach house, really is filled with some touching scenes. Fights, anger, desperation, love, fear and friendship all come into play.
Farther on in the movie, they return to the beachhouse, and there is a scene where the two girls are playing gin (they're always playing gin), and CC makes a comment,

"I know everything there is to know about you. And my memory is long, very, very long." When CC gets up to go in the house, Hilary looks off into the distance and says "I'm counting on it..."

That for me was the most touching scene, the strains of the now familiar ballad begin and it was tears for me!

This movie reaches out and begs you to reevaluate your life, to appreciate your friends, and after seeing it, you want to call up your girlfriends and say, "Hey, thanks for being there"

On another note, Lainie Kazan cracked me up with her high strung jewish mother, stage mother routine. "Mr. Pinkers, the Blooms are quitting.. Find another family to work for bumpkas.." Later in the film, when CC drags her butt across the sand on Maimi beach in her leather outfit to talk with Leona, Leona reveals honestly that CC just drains the people around her, that everyone needs a break from her constant need of attention. It's a touching scene of realization and of truth for both mother and daughter.

Of course one of the major highlights of the movie, besides it's amazing cast and storyline, is the music. Bette Midler fills the movie with her sweet voice, whether she's doing a broadway show, a concert or just her music in the background of some of the scenes. We are revisited by a number that appeared on earlier Bette Midler material, "Otto Titsling" first appeared on her album "Mud Will Be Flung Tonight" and has been wonderfully re worked into a stage show "Sizzle" for the movie. The soundtrack is amazing, it is able to envoke the same emotions as the movie itself.
The song "the Wind Beneath My Wings" which has now become a trademark inspirational ballad for Ms. Midler earned her a Grammy in 1989. The song and the movie, managed to capture another generation or two of Bette Midler fans, who were not even born when she started out singing at the Continental Baths with Barry Manilow.
Interesting tidbits of Info
During Bette's 1st appearance on Oprah (promoting "Beaches") she revealed that Iris Rainer Dart (author of the novel Beaches) had actually called up Ms. M BEFORE she wrote the book, telling Bette that she was the inspiration behind the book (and the character CC) and asked if Ms. M would read it when it was done. This means for us who know and LOVE the movie that it had been in the works since about 1980 when Ms. M recieved the call. The character had to be rewritten for the movie, in aspects, as did parts of the story to "fit."
Kathy Najimy (Ms. M's costar in Hocus Pocus; and co-star of "Sister Act") had a Bunny Costume made because she delivered singing telegrams. She went to one of Bette's concerts and Kathy managed to get backstage and pretended to be delivering a singing telegram and got to meet The Divine Miss M herself. Hence the inspiration for the Bunny suit!