Troop Beverly Hills

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Troop Beverly Hills
Troop Beverly Hills.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jeff Kanew
Produced by Jerry Weintraub
Ava Ostern Fries
Screenplay by Pamela Norris
Margaret Grieco Oberman
Story by Ava Ostern Fries
Starring Shelley Long
Craig T. Nelson
Betty Thomas
Mary Gross
Jenny Lewis
Music by Randy Edelman
Cinematography Donald E. Thorin
Editing by Mark Melnick
Studio Weintraub Entertainment Group
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)
  • March 24, 1989 (1989-03-24)
Running time 106 minutes [1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $18 million
Box office $8,508,843[2]

Troop Beverly Hills is a 1989 adventure comedy film. Produced by Weintraub Entertainment Group and directed by Jeff Kanew, it starred Shelley Long, Craig T. Nelson, Betty Thomas, Mary Gross, Shelley Morrison, a host of young stars including Tori Spelling, Carla Gugino, Jenny Lewis, Emily Schulman, Ami Foster, and Kellie Martin, and numerous celebrities in cameo appearances as themselves.[3]

Contents

Plot [edit]

In the summer of 1984, Phyllis Nefler's a Beverly Hills wife separated from her husband Fred, a wealthy owner of a chain of auto shops. Fred feels Phyllis is a self-absorbed "shopaholic" who never follows through on her commitments. Phyllis decides to prove him wrong by applying to be the new den mother of their daughter Hannah's unruly, leaderless local girl scouting troop of the Wilderness Girls.

Phyllis is severely lacking in the skills found in most troop leaders and resolves to teach the girls how to survive in "the wilds of Beverly Hills," and to that end customizes new merit badges for her troop. Despite her unorthodox ways, Phyllis demonstrates an unwavering commitment to the girls' well-being, acting as a surrogate mother/friend to the girls, who're often neglected by their own wealthy parents.

Phyllis's unorthodox ways run afoul of another leader, Velda Plendor, a traditionalist who runs her troop, the Culver City "Red Feathers" (including her own daughter, Cleo), like a military unit, and has considerable pull at the regional council level. Velda revokes Phyllis' customized merit badges and sends her assistant troop leader, Annie Herman, to Troop Beverly Hills to infiltrate it.

Troop Beverly Hills, which is yet unrecognized by the regional council, can gain recognition by passing a series of tests at an upcoming Jamboree. In order to qualify for the Jamboree, the troop needs to sell cookies. Velda sabotages the cookie sales by having the Red Feathers sell cookies in Troop Beverly Hills' own territory. Seeing this, Annie Herman betrays Velda and joins Phyllis' troop for real. Phyllis, unfazed, decides to beat Velda at her own game and devises a new plan to sell cookies - a series of star-studded events. It's a success, as the girls sell over 4,000 boxes of cookies, more than enough to qualify for the Jamboree.

Phyllis is then hit with a one-two punch: although Fred has broken up with his new girlfriend, he wants to proceed with the divorce and wants joint custody of Hannah; and Velda meanly tries to talk her out of attending the Jamboree, warning her that someone might get hurt. She sinks into a deep depression and finally decides to disband the troop, but the girls talk her out of it.

During the Jamboree, the Red Feathers try to get ahead of Troop Beverly Hills by misdirecting them into a snake-infested swamp which causes the troop to lose vital radio contact with Annie, but a skunk scares Phyllis and the girls into running fast, indirectly making them first in the qualifying event. Velda takes charge of the Red Feathers herself in the final run by cutting down a rope bridge, but this also fails. However when Velda cheats by going into a restricted area used only for hunting, she wounds herself on a bear trap. The Red Feathers, especially Cleo, leave her behind for the sake of winning. Troop Beverly Hills finds her and reluctantly carries her to the finish, after being reminded by Phyllis that they have to be considerate to those in need, even if they are adversaries.

The Red Feathers cross the finish line first, but they're disqualified because they did so without their leader. Although Cleo runs off with the trophy, Troop Beverly Hills is declared the winners of the Jamboree and are validated as true Wilderness Girls. Francis Temple, the regional leader, fires Velda from the Wilderness Girls Organization as Velda hurled insults at the councilwomen for recognizing Troop Beverly Hills. The girls' families show up moments later, very proud of them. Fred, impressed by Phyllis' complete turnaround, decides to call off the divorce, and he and Phyllis get back together. One year later, in the summer of 1985, Troop Beverly Hills is seen as the Poster Troop, while Velda's shown with a very humiliating job at Kmart, announcing a "Blue Light Special" on cookies in of the aisles.

Cast [edit]

  • Shelley Long as Phyllis Nefler, a Beverly Hills socialite and new leader of Wilderness Girls Troop Beverly Hills.
  • Craig T. Nelson as Fred Nefler, Phyllis' entrepreneur husband and Hannah's father.
  • Betty Thomas as Velda Plendor, the ruthless leader of a rival troop who despises Phyllis and her troop's Beverly Hills-attitude.
  • Mary Gross as Annie Herman, Velda's assistant and spy, and later Phyllis's assistant.
  • Jenny Lewis as Hannah Nefler, Phyllis and Fred's daughter who just wants her mother to lead like a normal troop leader. She's also a skilled gymnast.
  • Emily Schulman as Tiffany Honigman, the daughter of a prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon.
  • Carla Gugino as Chica Barnfell, a stern girl who's generally left alone by her jet-setting parents.
  • Aquilina Soriano as Lily Marcigan, the daughter of Dictator Bong Bong and Karina (based on Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos respectively) who rule an unspecified Southeast Asian country.
  • Kellie Martin as Emily Coleman, the daughter of an unemployed actor.
  • Tasha Scott as Jasmine Shakar, the outspoken daughter of a well-known boxer.
  • Heather Hopper as Tessa DiBlasio, the daughter of two well-known movie directors.
  • Ami Foster as Claire Sprantz, a child actress/daughter of a romance novelist and a successful lawyer.
  • Audra Lindley as Frances Temple, the head leader of Los Angeles County Wilderness Girls who is often undermined by Velda.
  • Stephanie Beacham as Vicki Sprantz, Claire's mother, romance novelist, and Phyllis' friend.
  • Shelley Morrison as Rosa, Phyllis' maid who helps out with the troop.
  • Dinah Lacey as Cleo Plendor, Velda's daughter. The two don't have much of a mother/daughter-relationship, pretty much just a troop leader/scout relationship.
  • Tori Spelling as Jamie, Cleo's friend who helps sabotage Troop Beverly Hills.
  • Willie Garson as Bruce.
  • Mary Pat Gleason as Kindly troop leader.
As themselves

Locations [edit]

Many landmarks in Beverly Hills are seen throughout the film, including: Beverly Hills Hotel, Cristophe Salon, Jane Fonda's "Workout", Wolfgang Puck's Spago, and Rodeo Drive.

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Troop Beverly Hills". Bbfc.co.uk. 
  2. ^ Troop Beverly Hills at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ Janet Maslin (1989). "Troop Beverly Hills". The New York Times. 

External links [edit]

Films directed by Jeff Kanew
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
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