::: George Christy ::: From the Beverly Hills Courier

ÒIÕve been rich and IÕve been poor, but, believe me, rich is better,Ó is the refrain attributed to the late impresario Mike Todd. Which came to mind while viewing ABCÕs Wednesday night classy/trashy series, Dirty Sexy Money. Easy to get hooked watching Peter Krause run amok with crisis after crisis from the indulgent Darling dynasty as the do-gooder Manhattan attorney vowing to avenge his dadÕs death. Shades, they say, of the Kennedys and the Astors. A fine actor, Peter skids at a whirligig pace with a racy plot about the family of his Manhattan billionaire. His client is played by Donald Sutherland as the smarmy patriarch Tripp Darling, who offers him $10 million to unravel the messes. Jill Clayburgh plays DonaldÕs horse-loving wife, Leticia, William Baldwin is the married attorney-running-for-senator son Patrick Darling, with a tranny lover, and they are supported by young actors whoÕll be media stars and whose names soon will be familiar. ÒJust go along for the ride,Ó suggests executive producer Greg Berlanti, Òand have a lot of fun.Ó The series underscores the belief that Òmoney does not bring happiness, it brings complexity,Ó as Google backer Kavitark Ram Shriram reminds us. We met executive producer Matthew Gross when he was president of production for features and television for Anne and Arnold KopelsonÕs company, and is there anything better than seeing friends leaping up the ladder of success. No schadenfreude here. We should add that MatthewÕs produced Julie TaymorÕs Across the Universe, which is finding its audience and was Toronto Film Festival director Piers HandlingÕs favorite movie from the 10-day event. Everyone IÕve talked to has fallen in love all over again with the Beatles music in the film. Bulgari sponsored SundayÕs Dirty Sexy Money premiere at Paramount Studios, where creator Craig Wright bowed to ABCÕs Greg Berlanti, who Òhelped shape the idea,Ó acknowledged the immense support of Matthew, and praised director Peter Horton for Òkeeping us grounded in relatable humanity.Ó Ludicrous, he added, to credit him when many colleagues were involved, emphasizing, as have others in the past, that television is a major team effort. During the reception in the Paramount Theatre lobby, award-winning producers, Marcy and Ed Gross, were justifiably proud of son Matthew. We were introduced to BulgariÕs West Coast director Paul Jackson by YSLÕs Carolyn Mahboubi, with Paul noting heÕs made the adjustment to California after New York, appreciating itÕs scenic beauty and comfort Ð Òalthough it took a while.Ó Then, Hedi Gross introduced the Gross family rabbi, Paul Kipnis, whose ministry in Calabasas has grown from 90 to 200-plus worshippers. MatthewÕs now revving up to produce his wacky comedy, Fired Up, for Screen Gems, beginning production in April under the direction of Will Gluck Ð ÒitÕs Wedding Crashers meets Bring It On,Ó with casting underway. If youÕve heard of the Little Engine That Could, then youÕll be pleased with the Little Movie That Could. Miraculously produced for only $6 million, writer-director Robin SwicordÕs The Jane Austen Book Club is a delight. South Carolina-born Robin, whoÕs wed to Nicholas Kazan, adapted Rob MarshallÕs Memoir of a Geisha, which enlisted a huge budget, while The Jane Austen Book Club checked in for the $6 million, which wouldnÕt cover Craft Services for most movies. Working under Schedule F (for scale plus 10%), the actors include Kathy Baker, Maria Bello, Jimmy Smits, Emily Blunt, Amy Brenneman, Hugh Dancy, Marc Blucas, Maggie Grace, Kevin Zegers, along with Lynn Redgrave and Nancy Travis in cameos. ÒThey had only six weeks to prep, and 30 days to shoot,Ó says first-time director Robin. ÒActors paid for items on their own, as Emily Blunt did for that tidy French bob wig we couldnÕt afford Ð she couldnÕt cut her hair because of her next commitment. Maria Bello cooked pasta dinners. Nobody snoozed in their trailers Ð theyÕd get together and constantly rehearse. ÒMichael Barker and Tom Bernard of Sony Pictures Classics are the only two people in the world who would make a movie about people who read books.Ó Robin adds that it was former Sony Pictures chief John Calley who brought Karen Joy FowlerÕs novel to her attention. ÒI was writing an original screenplay about a dysfunctional family of Jane Austen scholars for Sony, immersed for years, as I was, in Austenalia. After I noticed four of AustenÕs six novels for sale at the Seattle airport, I imagined that contemporary readers are finding refuge in her well-ordered stories. Not surprising, given that weÕre seeking relief from congested traffic, ringing cell phones, airport security wands, blaring televisions at airport bars, etc. When you enter AustenÕs world, it doesnÕt seem that antiquated. Characters worry about money, embarrassing family members, social slights, and continually yearn for romance and love. People just like us.Ó RobinÕs likeable tale has the ensemble cast living in Sacramento, with Kathy Baker organizing her book club ladies as therapy, including that oddball guy, Hugh Dancy. Meeting monthly, with each session devoted to a different Austen novel. Not many know that the books published in her lifetime did not have her name on them. They were described as being written ÒBy a Lady.Ó With no cure for her Addisons Disease of the kidneys, she was 41 years old when she died in her sister CasasndraÕs arms. Her elegant and witty and satirical works continue to captivate to this day. Celebrity PhotoÕs Scott Downie and I were recalling our long-ago acquaintance with Jason Winters, when he was partnered with Eric Sterling in their Sterling-Winters agency that represented celebrities. Always soft-spoken and a dandy dresser, weÕve discovered that Jason, thanks to Liz SmithÕs column, is Elizabeth TaylorÕs beau, a romance that began last summer when she went swimming in a shark cage with a Ònew man.Ó They met when they were involved with promoting ElizabethÕs jewelry designs in Honolulu, where JasonÕs bought a Òbeautiful house for us to visit as often as possibleÓ when theyÕre not at her Bel Air mansionette with its Impressionist art work. Word is that JasonÕs managing her empire, and he was to escort Elizabeth to the Passport Aids gala last night in Santa Monica. In December, she and James Earl Jones are performing A. R. GurneyÕs Love Letters as an AIDS fundraiser. LetÕs hear it for Elizabeth. A survivor without peer, having wed eight times, twice to Richard Burton and divorced seven times, widowed when Mike Todd died in a 1958 plane crash, sheÕs battled addiction and devastating health problems, been hospitalized 100 times, recovered from tracheotomy and brain tumor surgery, suffers respiratory malfunction, intense back pain, congestive heart failure and osteoporosis. Last summer she broke her ribs slipping out of her wheelchair, with Jason standing by throughout her recovery. Friends are pleased that heÕs brought her out of seclusion -- theyÕve been seen in Palm Springs, and on the town at Mr. ChowÕs in Beverly Hills. One of the great beauties of the 20th century and a fabled Oscar-winning actress, Elizabeth long ago won our loving admiration, along with our highest hopes for her continued happiness. Scott Downie goes to movies at his favorite Grove cinemas hundreds of times during the year. ÒI love those theaters, load up with popcorn and a soda.Ó Lately, heÕs gotten sick occasionally from the popcorn and wonders Òif the oil that itÕs popped in is old and rancid.Ó Online at www.bhcourier.com.