Studio: An ITC Production for the CBS Television Network
Running time: 94 minutes
Malice in Wonderland (1985)
“During Hollywood’s heyday, two women wielded more power than the toughest studio boss. They could make—or break—a star’s career with one stroke of their poison pens—but they saved their nastiest comments for each other! Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and Jane Alexander (The Ring, The Cider House Rules) star in the real-life drama of legendary, rival gossip columnists, Loulla Parsons and Hedda Hopper.
“It’s scandalously wicked fun as ‘Hedda’ and ‘Lolly’ catapult unknowns into overnight fame or turn the biggest star into a has-been. The battle to be top Gossip Queen is about to turn into a perfect storm of rumours, threats and blackmail. These Divas of Dirt are headed for the biggest catfight Hollywood has ever seen and no one’s secrets are safe!” [From the DVD]
Cast
Louella Parsons: Elizabeth Taylor
Hedda Hopper: Jane Alexander
Louis B. Mayer: Richard Dysart
Dema Harshbarger: Joyce Van Patten
Dr. Harry “Docky” Martin: Jon Cypher
Harriet Parsons: Leslie Ackerman
Ida Koverman: Bonnie Bartlett
William Hopper: Thomas Byrd
Andy Kenderson: Joel Colodner
Iceman: Rick Lenz
Dot: Mary McCusker
Tommy Gallep: John Pleshette
Orson Welles: Eric Purcell
Joseph Cotten: Tim Robbins
Howard Strickling: Mark L. Taylor
Ann: Nancy Travis
June: B.J. Ward
Sam Goldwyn: Vernon Weddle
Joel: Allen Williams
Collins: Theodore Wilson
Jack Warner: Jason Wingreen
Ellen: Helen Baron
Hotel Clerk: Thomas Bellin
Carole Lombard: Denise Crosby
Heiner: Robert Darnell
Betty: Christine Dickinson
Young Bill Hopper: Douglas Emerson
Mrs. Washburn: Edith Fields
Mrs. Clayton: Lyla Graham
Dema’s Secretary: Anne Haney
Starlet: Mindi Iden
Elizabeth Arden: Amelia Laurenson
Hal: Galen Thompson
Mike Romanoff: Jan Triska
Albert: Keith Walker
Clark Gable: Gary Wayne
Journalists: Noni White and Leigh Kavanaugh
Crew
Director: Gus Trikonis
Executive Producer: Judith A. Polone
Producer: Jay Benson
Screenwriters: Jacqueline M. Feather and David Seidler
Based on the book “Hedda and Louella” by George Eels
Cinematographer: Philip Lathrop
Art Director: John D. Jeffries
Musical Score: Charles Bernstein
Miss Taylor’s Costumes: Nolan Miller
Other Costumes: Mina Mittleman
Editors: Allan Jacobs and Rebecca Ross
For Jane Alexander, it was a dream come true working with Elizabeth. The first film she had been taken to as a child was Lassie Come Home and she had been an admirer ever since:
“When I finally had the chance to work with her, I jumped at it. Elizabeth played Louella Parsons and I played Hedda Hopper... Both gossip columnists had, of course, chronicled Elizabeth’s life with no compunction and often with cruelty. It was poetic justice that the subject of their livelihood was now dishing the dirt in their lives. I told Elizabeth that Louella must be rolling over in her grave. She replied, ‘Are you kidding! She couldn’t be happier! She's trumpeting all over heaven that I’m playing her.’ She was easy and lovely to work with. She was funny too! And she was chronically late, but then, what can one expect of America’s only royalty? When one day she showed up especially late because she’d cracked a tooth in half while eating a piece of angel food cake, I knew that all the stories of bizarre accidents throughout her life were true. Angel food cake?!”
The film chronicles the professional rivalry between gossip columnists Louella Parsons (Elizabeth) and Hedda Hopper (Jane Alexander). Hedda and Louella terrorized Hollywood celebrities for years, including Elizabeth, and the chance for her to get the last laugh must have been irresistible. “Elizabeth knew both of them, so they both are probably turning in their graves,” joked Jane Alexander.
Elizabeth helped old friend and co-star Peter Lawford secure a two-day cameo as a talent agent in Malice in Wonderland. He was too ill to complete the assignment, however, and died on Christmas Eve 1984.
