Beaches [Special Edition] DVD

Beaches
Based on a novel by Iris Rainer Dart, Beaches traces the 30-year oil-and-water friendship between free-spirited Bronx Jew CC Bloom (Bette Midler) and uptight San Francisco WASP Hillary Essex (Barbara Hershey). The two meet as children in Atlantic City (played by Mayim Bialik and Marcie Leeds) and are reunited in the 1960s, when CC is a struggling singer and Hillary is trying to break free from her staid upbringing by becoming an activist. The two ladies room together, then fall out when both are attracted to off-Broadway producer John Pierce (John Heard). CC wins John, but she quickly outgrows him as she matriculates into a bawdy performer. The recently patched-up friendship between CC and Hillary is torn asunder again when Hillary and her new husband express distaste for CC's performing style. Comes the 1970s, and CC and Hillary are reunited after shedding their respective spouses. Broke again, they once more become Manhattan roommates. Their bond strengthens, but there is tragedy in store for the duo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Bette Midler as CC Bloom Barbara Hershey as Hillary Whitney Essex John Heard as John Pierce Spalding Gray as Dr. Richard Milstein Lainie Kazan as Leona Bloom James Read as Michael Essex Grace Johnston as Victoria Essex Mayim Bialik as C.C., Age 11 Marcie Leeds as Hillary, Age 11

Crew Frank Richwood - Art Director Mike Fenton - Casting Judy Taylor - Casting Lynda Gordon - Casting Dee Dee Wood - Choreography Margaret Jennings South - Co-producer Bette Midler - Co-producer Nick Abdo - Co-producer Robert de Mora - Costume Designer Benjamin Rosenberg - First Assistant Director Garry Marshall - Director Nick Abdo - Second Unit Director Richard Halsey - Editor Teri Schwartz - Executive Producer Georges Delerue - Composer (Music Score) Stephen Abrums - Makeup Albert Brenner - Production Designer William Barclay - Production Designer Dante Spinotti - Cinematographer Bette Midler - Producer Margaret Jennings South - Producer Bonnie Bruckheimer-Martell - Producer Harold L. Fuhrman - Set Designer Garry Lewis - Set Designer Alan E. Lorimer - Special Effects Jim Webb - Sound/Sound Designer Mary Agnes Donoghue - Screenwriter Michael Dennison - Costumes Supervisor Iris Rainer Dart - Book Author

Beaches
The type of film for which the term "chick flick" was coined, Beaches dishes out all manner of weepy scenarios, including the erosion by jealousy of the central long-distance friendship and the inevitable onset of debilitating disease. Perhaps because it's such a prototype of its genre, Beaches caught on and became a guilty part of many video collections. Almost all of Beaches is maudlin -- after all, this is the film that gave the world Bette Midler's "The Wind Beneath My Wings" -- but within that, there's decent consideration given to the different paths women take and how those choices satisfy and fail to satisfy different yearnings. Beaches marked a turn for Midler away from high-concept physical comedies to a more thoughtful, message-centered type of movie; it was also the first produced by her new production company. As convincingly as Midler plays a semi-autobiographical, flamboyant Jewish entertainer, Barbara Hershey is equally capable at conveying conflicted WASP elitism. The two actresses keep the audience interested, and the solid direction of Garry Marshall (two years before Pretty Woman) delivers home a populist "sisters through the years" tearjerker, paving the way for films like Steel Magnolias (1989) and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991). ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
 

Albert Brenner: Academy, Best Art Direction (nominated) Garry Lewis: Academy, Best Art Direction (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French Subtitle Options: French Sound Processing: DDS: Dolby Digital Surround Additional Features: Beaches bloopers 1989 Grammy award-winning song of the year and record of the year "Wind Beneath My Wings" music video - performed by Bette Midler AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs With Bette Midler (clip) Mayim Bialik remembers Beaches Barbara Hershey screen test Audio commentary with director Garry Marshall Theatrical trailer Dolby Digital surround sound Widescreen (1.85:1) - enhanced for 16x9 televisions French language track and subtitles DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: PG13 DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 123 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Opening Titles/"Under the Boardwalk" [15:37] 2. Best Friends [9:03] 3. Careers [15:01] 4. Marriages [13:41] 5. Growing Apart [4:03] 6. Friends Again [11:12] 7. New Productions [5:49] 8. Summer at the Beach House [6:59] 9. "Wind Beneath My Wings" [10:54] 10. "The Glory of Love"/End Credits [14:17]