Big Business (1988 film)
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''Big Business'' is a 1988 American comedy film starring Bette Midler and
Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...
, each playing two roles, as sets of identical twins mismatched at birth. The nature versus nurture farce adapts ''
The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. ...
'', but with female siblings in contemporary society: one of each twin being reared in a wealthy urban setting, while the others grew up in a poor rural environment. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, the film co-stars
Fred Ward Freddie Joe Ward (December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022) was an American actor and producer. Starting with a role in an Italian television movie in 1973, he appeared in such diverse films as '' Escape from Alcatraz'', ''Southern Comfort'', '' The R ...
,
Edward Herrmann Edward Kirk Herrmann (July 21, 1943 – December 31, 2014) was an American actor, director, and writer. He was perhaps best known for his portrayals of Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the miniseries ''Eleanor and Franklin'' (1976) and 1982 film ...
,
Joe Grifasi Joseph G. Grifasi (born June 14, 1944) is an American character actor of film, stage and television. Grifasi was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Patricia (née Gaglione) and Joseph J. Grifasi, a skilled laborer. Grifasi graduated from Bi ...
, and Seth Green, as well as siblings Michael Gross and
Mary Gross Mary Martha Gross is an American voice actress, comedian, and actress known for her four-year stint on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1981 to 1985. Her credits also include minor roles on ''Animaniacs'', ''Boston Legal'', ''That's So Raven'', '' ...
. Directed by
Jim Abrahams James S. Abrahams (born May 10, 1944) is an American movie director and writer, best known as a member of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Life and career Abrahams was born to a Jewish family in Shorewood, Wisconsin, the son of Louise M. (née Oge ...
, critical reaction to the film as a whole was generally lukewarm. Both Midler and Tomlin were nominated for the
American Comedy Award The American Comedy Awards were a group of awards presented annually in the United States recognizing performances and performers in the field of comedy, with an emphasis on television comedy and comedy films. They began in 1987, billed as the "f ...
for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture for their performances with Midler winning.


Plot

In 1948, wealthy businessman Hunt Shelton and his pregnant wife are lost in rural West Virginia when Mrs. Shelton goes into labor near the town of Jupiter Hollow. At the local hospital, they are turned away, because it is exclusively for employees of Hollowmade, the local furniture maker. Mr. Shelton purchases the company on the spot, and Mrs. Shelton is then admitted. The Ratliffs, an impoverished couple, arrive moments later with Mrs. Ratliff also in labor. Both women give birth to twin girls, and the elderly nurse attending the doctor confuses and mixes up the sets of twins. Mr. Ratliff overhears the Sheltons deciding to name their daughters Rose and Sadie, and suggests the same names to his wife. Forty years later, the Shelton sisters are now co-chairwomen of Moramax in New York City, a conglomerate that is the successor to their father's business interests. Sadie Shelton is focused on her career to the detriment of her family, while Rose Shelton wishes for a simpler life in the country. As part of her business plan, Sadie plans to sell Hollowmade, but must get stockholders' approval to proceed. In Jupiter Hollow, Rose Ratliff has risen to the position of forewoman at the Hollowmade Factory, and is also very career-driven. Meanwhile, Sadie Ratliff has always felt misplaced in rural life, and wishes for a more sophisticated life in a big city. Rose discovers Moramax's plans to sell Hollowmade, and makes plans to travel to New York City to stop the sale. Wanting to see the city, Sadie agrees to join her sister. While Sadie Shelton makes plans for the shareholders' meeting, she learns from her employee Graham Sherbourne that "R. Ratliff" plans to come to New York with his sister to stop the sale. Sadie orders Sherbourne to locate "R. Ratliff" to prevent them from appearing at the meeting. A series of mixups at JFK Airport leaves the Shelton sisters stranded while the prospective buyer of Hollowmade, Mr. Fabio Alberici, takes their limousine back to the Plaza Hotel with the Ratliff sisters. The Ratliffs are checked into the Sheltons' suite, and the Sheltons take the suite next door, leading to a series of near-misses between the four sisters, and the men who are pursuing them romantically. In the meantime, Graham and his assistant/boyfriend assume that a visitor from Jupiter Hollow, Rose Ratliff's beau Roone Dimmick, is actually "R. Ratliff". All sisters discover their mixup in the lobby bathroom. After Sadie Shelton acts like she will call off the Hollowmade sale, Rose Ratliff calls her out on the strip mining plans. Rose Shelton then realizes that Sadie has been lying to her, and helps the Ratliffs trap her in the broom closet. Rose Ratliff sits outside the broom closet to keep Sadie Shelton trapped, while Rose Shelton and Sadie Ratliff attend the shareholders' meeting and stop the sale of Hollowmade. Both sets of twins later leave the Plaza hotel with their newfound loves.


Cast

* Bette Midler as Sadie Shelton / Sadie Ratliff *
Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...
as Rose Ratliff / Rose Shelton *
Fred Ward Freddie Joe Ward (December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022) was an American actor and producer. Starting with a role in an Italian television movie in 1973, he appeared in such diverse films as '' Escape from Alcatraz'', ''Southern Comfort'', '' The R ...
as Roone Dimmick *
Edward Herrmann Edward Kirk Herrmann (July 21, 1943 – December 31, 2014) was an American actor, director, and writer. He was perhaps best known for his portrayals of Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the miniseries ''Eleanor and Franklin'' (1976) and 1982 film ...
as Graham Sherbourne *
Michele Placido Michele Placido (; born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco ...
as Fabio Alberici *
Daniel Gerroll Daniel Gerroll (born 16 October 1951) is an English theatre, television and film actor. Life and career Gerroll was born in London, the son of Kathleen Cordelia (née Norman), a fashion model, and Harry Gerroll, a clothing designer. Gerroll h ...
as Chuck *
Barry Primus Barry Primus (born February 16, 1938) is an American television and film actor, director, and writer. Career While Primus is primarily an actor, he has also worked as a writer and director in films in which he has acted. For the first decade ...
as Michael * Michael Gross as Dr. Jay Marshall *
Deborah Rush Deborah Rush (born April 10, 1954) is an American actress. She has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy ''Noise ...
as "Binky" Shelton * Nicolas Coster as Hunt Shelton * Patricia Gaul as Iona Ratliff * J.C. Quinn as Garth Ratliff *
Norma MacMillan Norma MacMillan (September 15, 1921 – March 16, 2001) was a Canadian actress, best known for voicing numerous characters in animation and claymation, including Casper the Friendly Ghost on '' The New Casper Cartoon Show'', Gumby on '' The ...
as Nanny Lewis *
Joe Grifasi Joseph G. Grifasi (born June 14, 1944) is an American character actor of film, stage and television. Grifasi was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Patricia (née Gaglione) and Joseph J. Grifasi, a skilled laborer. Grifasi graduated from Bi ...
as Desk Clerk * John Vickery as Hotel Manager *
John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of t ...
as Older Harlan *
Mary Gross Mary Martha Gross is an American voice actress, comedian, and actress known for her four-year stint on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1981 to 1985. Her credits also include minor roles on ''Animaniacs'', ''Boston Legal'', ''That's So Raven'', '' ...
as Judy * Seth Green as Jason *
Leo Burmester Bernard Leo Burmester (February 1, 1945 – June 28, 2007) was an American actor. Burmester worked for director John Sayles several times, including in ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and '' Lone Star'' (1996), and also for directors such as John Schl ...
as Bum *
Lucy Webb Lucy Webb is an American comedienne and actress, most famous for her work on the 1980s HBO series ''Not Necessarily the News''. She was raised in Cookeville, Tennessee. She has appeared in multiple films and television programs, including '' Corri ...
as Wenona *
Roy Brocksmith Roy Brocksmith (September 15, 1945 – December 16, 2001) was an American actor. Life and career Brocksmith was born in Quincy, Illinois, the son of Vera Marguerite (''née'' Hartwig) and Otis E. Brocksmith, who was a mechanic. He graduated from ...
as Dr. Parker *
Carmen Argenziano Carmen Antimo Argenziano (October 27, 1943February 10, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in over 73 movies and around 100 television movies or episodes. He was best known for playing Jacob Carter on ''Stargate SG-1''. He had recurring role ...
as Board Member (uncredited) *
Chick Hearn Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association for 41 years. Hearn is remembered for his rapid ...
as Himself (uncredited) *
Shirley Mitchell Shirley J. Mitchell (November 4, 1919 – November 11, 2013) was an American radio, film, and television actress. Early life Mitchell was born in Toledo, Ohio, the daughter of Sam Mitchell & Mary Ann Daniels, Jews who emigrated to America to esc ...
as Stockholder (uncredited)


Production

The movie was originally written for
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
(Midler's role) and
Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Go ...
(Tomlin's role). The plot playfully combines three recognizable stories: Aesop's ''
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" is one of Aesop's Fables. It is number 352 in the Perry Index and type 112 in Aarne–Thompson's folk tale index. Like several other elements in Aesop's fables, 'town mouse and country mouse' has become a ...
'', Mark Twain's ''
The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547 ...
'', and Shakespeare's ''
The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. ...
''. The production company could not get the rights to film at the actual Plaza Hotel in New York City, so it had the hotel replicated on a Walt Disney Studios sound stage. To recoup construction costs,
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
built a sitcom titled ''
The Nutt House ''The Nutt House'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for five episodes on NBC from September 20 to October 25, 1989. Overview ''The Nutt House'' was the creation of executive producers Mel Brooks and Alan Spencer and was a broad ...
'' around it.
Jim Abrahams James S. Abrahams (born May 10, 1944) is an American movie director and writer, best known as a member of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Life and career Abrahams was born to a Jewish family in Shorewood, Wisconsin, the son of Louise M. (née Oge ...
said he staged one of the boardroom scenes based on an experience he had when a large agency used many employees to get him to sign with them.


Reception

Critical reaction to the film as a whole was generally lukewarm. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 42% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 19 reviews, with an average score of 5/10.
Sheila Benson Sheila Benson (December 4, 1930February 23, 2022) was an American journalist and film critic. She served as film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1981 to 1991. Early life and education Benson was born in New York City on December 4, 193 ...
from the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' called ''Big Business'' a "bright whirligig of a movie" and added: "As you watch its buoyant hilarity, the intricacies flow smoothly as honey off a spoon ..Like a sensational party the night before, "Big Business" may not bear the closest scrutiny in the cold light of day, but it gives an irresistible glow at the time. And when it gets on a roll, it's a movie with more wit to its lines and a more pungent array of them than much of the mishmash that has passed as Bette Midler's ''Greatest Movie Hits''." ''Philadelphia Daily News'' writer
Ben Yagoda Ben Yagoda (born 22 February 1954) is an American writer and educator. He is a professor of journalism and English at the University of Delaware. Early life Born in New York City to Louis Yagoda (1909-1990), a labor mediator and arbitrator with ...
felt that the film was "big fun. Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler are a double dose of hilarity. Call out the
National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...
— ''Big Business'' is a laugh riot". In his review for ''The New York Times'',
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
remarked that ''Big Business'', "though it never quite delivers the boffo payoff, is a most cheerful, very breezy summer farce, played to the hilt by two splendidly comic performers...Sometimes he film's writersdo have trouble in characterizing the two sets of twins, allowing them to blend in such a way that the comic edge finally becomes blurred. Yet the film moves at such a clip, and with such uncommon zest, that it's good fun even when the invention wears thin." Roger Ebert, writing for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', gave the film two out of four stars. He declared the film "an endless and dreary series of scenes in which the various twins just barely miss running into each other in the Plaza Hotel," and found that it felt "unfinished" and missed a payoff. ''Variety'' called the film "a shrill, unattractive comedy." The staff felt that Midler's "loud brashness generally dominated omlin'ssly skittishness". John Simon of the ''National Review'' called ''Big Business'' a "dreadful film".


Box office

In the United States, ''Big Business'' debuted within the top three on the box-office chart and became a modest success, eventually grossing $40.2 million during its domestic run.


Home media

The film was released to VHS, Betamax, and Laserdisc in 1989 by
Touchstone Home Video Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the Home video, home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films ...
, with a DVD release in 2002. In 2011, ''Big Business'' was among a selection of titles from Touchstone and
Hollywood Pictures Hollywood Pictures was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established on February 1, 1989, by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner and then-studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood ...
to be licensed to Mill Creek Entertainment on behalf of Disney, and a DVD and Blu-ray disc were released of the film. The DVD is available on its own, as a double-feature with ''
Straight Talk ''Straight Talk'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Barnet Kellman and starring Dolly Parton, Jerry Orbach, Griffin Dunne and James Woods. Plot Shirlee Kenyon is a dance instructor living in Arkansas. Fired for giving advi ...
'', and as a triple-feature with ''Straight Talk'' and ''
V.I. Warshawski Victoria Iphigenia "Vic" "V. I." Warshawski is a fictional character, fictional private investigator from Chicago who is the protagonist featured in a series of Detective fiction, detective novels and short story, short stories written by Chicag ...
''. In December 2017, ''Big Business'' and ''
Scenes from a Mall ''Scenes from a Mall'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Paul Mazursky, written by Mazursky and Roger L. Simon, and starring Bette Midler and Woody Allen. The title is a play on Ingmar Bergman's ''Scenes from a Marriage'', and the film ...
'' were re-released on DVD and Blu-ray by
Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...
under license from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.Big Business / Scenes from a Mall Bette Midler Double Feature
/ref>


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Business (1988 Film) 1988 films 1980s buddy comedy films 1980s business films 1980s female buddy films American business films American buddy comedy films American female buddy films 1980s English-language films Films scored by Lee Holdridge Films about twin sisters Films based on The Comedy of Errors Films directed by Jim Abrahams Films set in hotels Films set in 1948 Films set in 1988 Films set in New York City Films set in West Virginia Touchstone Pictures films Twins in fiction 1988 comedy films 1980s American films