Down and Out in Beverly Hills is a 1986 American comedy film based on the 1919 French play Boudu sauvé des eaux, which was later adapted as Boudu sauvé des eaux, a 1932 film by Jean Renoir. Down and Out in Beverly Hills was directed by Paul Mazursky, and starred Nick Nolte, Bette Midler and Richard Dreyfuss. The plot follows a rich but dysfunctional family who save the life of a suicidal homeless man. Musician Little Richard appears as a neighbor, and performs "Great Gosh A'Mighty" during a party scene.
Released by Touchstone Films, a film label of The Walt Disney Studios, Down and Out in Beverly Hills has the distinction of being the first film released by Disney to receive an R-rating by the MPAA. The film was Dreyfuss's first substantial hit after his much publicized drug problems and helped to reignite his career.
Plot
Dave Whiteman and his wife, Barbara, are a nouveau-riche couple in Beverly Hills whose 20-year marriage has become stale and sexless. Dave is the owner of "Dave-Bar", a manufacturing business that makes wire garment hangers. He is having an affair with Carmen, the live-in maid, while Barbara tries to relieve her constant feelings of anxiety through shopping and experimenting with various New Age therapies. She admits to having hired Carmen partly to satisfy Dave's lust. Their teenage son, Max, has a strained relationship with his parents, communicates with them largely through his avant-garde videos, and is having issues around his gender presentation. Dave feels estranged from his 19-year-old daughter Jenny, who he believes is anorexic and making poor life choices. The family dog is also poorly adjusted.
Jerry Baskin, a down-and-out homeless man, attempts to drown himself in the Whitemans' pool, driven to despair by the loss of his own dog. Dave saves him and offers to let him to recuperate at their home for a few days. He is intrigued by Jerry's colorful accounts of his past life and former success and wealth, and offers to help him back onto his feet. As they spend time together, meeting Jerry's friends, Dave finds liberation in observing Jerry's lifestyle and outlook, which contrasts his own materialistic conformism. Meanwhile, Jerry overcomes Barbara's hostility and begins a sexual relationship with her. This reawakens her sex drive, and she and Dave re-consummate their marriage.
Jerry soon also has sex with Carmen, who now rejects Dave's advances as exploitative, thanks to the political literature Jerry introduced her to. He also cures the dog of its behavioral problems through his empathetic skills, and he persuades Max to come out to his parents in his androgynous persona. Finally, he seduces Jenny, just as she vehemently denounces him as a manipulative psychopath. When next seen, at an extravagant party thrown by the Whitemans, she has overcome her apparent anorexia and declares herself deeply in love with him. This development impels Dave to physically attack Jerry, and the major characters end up floundering in the swimming pool.
The following morning, Jerry ruefully confesses to inventing the stories he had told of his past and prepares to leave the Whitemans' home. Wandering down the back service alley with the family dog (now his firmly bonded companion), Jerry turns to see the entire household gathering in the alley, gazing after him longingly. Without a word, he turns back to rejoin them, and they re-enter the grounds of the house together, apparently to resume their unorthodox living arrangement.
Cast
Nick Nolte as Jerry Baskin
Bette Midler as Barbara Whiteman
Richard Dreyfuss as Dave Whiteman
Elizabeth Peña as Carmen the Maid
Little Richard as Orvis Goodnight
Evan Richards as Max Whiteman
Tracy Nelson as Jenny Whiteman
Felton Perry as Al
Dorothy Tristan as Dorothy
Production credits
Mino Argento – Paintings
Toni Grant as herself, talk radio host
Reception
Box office
The film was a financial success. It opened on 806 screens and was number one at the US box office with an opening weekend gross of $5,726,495. It added 10 more theatres and grossed 7% more in its second weekend, remaining at number one. It grossed $62,000,000 in the US alone on a budget of $14,000,000.