How to Beat the High Cost of Living

Jul 11, 1980

1h 45m

★ 5.1

A hilarious new comedy for everyone who ever wanted to give the oil companies gas pains, turn off the power companies lights and make the banks stand in line for a change.

Overview

In order to beat inflation and subsidize their alimony checks, three suburban housewives plot to steal $1 million from a large plastic ball which is displayed in a local shopping center.

Genres

Comedy

Production Companies

Stage III Productions

American International Pictures

Cinema 77

Filmways Pictures

How to Beat the High Cost of Living Trailers

Cast

Jane

Susan Saint James

Elaine

Jane Curtin

Louise

Jessica Lange

Albert

Richard Benjamin

Max

Eddie Albert

Natalie

Cathryn Damon

Jack Heintzel

Dabney Coleman

Robert

Fred Willard

Gas Station Attendant

Art Metrano

Bill Pike

Ronnie Schell

Tom

Michael Bell

Charlotte

Sybil Danning

The New York club scene of the 80s and 90s was a world like no other. Into this candy-colored, mirror ball playground stepped Michael Alig, a wannabe from nowhere special. Under the watchful eye of veteran club kid James St. James, Alig quickly rose to the top... and there was no place to go but down.

5.4

The Lady Banker

Aug 27, 1980

Ambitious Emma Eckhert successfully makes her way into a world previously reserved for men: that of high finance. She quickly becomes popular with small savers, but leads a scandalous life that will cost her.

7.4

Sicko

May 18, 2007

A documentary about the corrupt health care system in The United States who's main goal is to make profit even if it means losing people’s lives. "The more people you deny health insurance the more money we make" is the business model for health care providers in America.

7.2

The Lady Eve

Feb 25, 1941

It's no accident when wealthy Charles falls for Jean. Jean is a con artist with her sights set on Charles' fortune. Matters complicate when Jean starts falling for her mark. When Charles suspects Jean is a gold digger, he dumps her. Jean, fixated on revenge and still pining for the millionaire, devises a plan to get back in Charles' life. With love and payback on her mind, she re-introduces herself to Charles, this time as an aristocrat named Lady Eve Sidwich.

6.3

Bandits

Oct 12, 2001

After escaping from prison, Joe and Terry go on a crime spree, robbing banks through Oregon and California in order to finance their scheme for a new life south of the border. Unfortunately, things get more complicated when they meet Kate, who runs into them with her car. She joins the bandits on their cross-country spree, and eventually she steals something, too: their hearts.

5.4

Such Good People

May 9, 2014

A young couple discovers a secret room filled with cash while house-sitting for rich friends who die while out of the country.

7.3

The Ladykillers

Dec 8, 1955

Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.

0.0

Finders Keepers

Jan 1, 1952

A curious toddler creates trouble when he finds bank robbers' loot

7.0

Momo

Jul 16, 1986

Momo is a young orphan girl who lives in the ruins of an old Roman amphitheater and becomes friends with everybody in the neighborhood. But when a powerful international corporation starts stealing everybody’s time, nobody has any time left for her, let alone their friends or families. Momo, together with Master Hora, the custodian of time, are the only ones who can go up against the time thieves before all is lost forever.

6.8

Mallrats

Oct 20, 1995

Both dumped by their girlfriends, two best friends seek refuge in the local mall. Eventually, they decide to try and win back their significant others and take care of their respective nemeses.

5.3

Deal

Jan 29, 2008

As an ex-gambler teaches a hot-shot college kid some things about playing cards, he finds himself pulled into the world series of poker, where his protégé is his toughest competition.

5.8

Nuns on the Run

Mar 16, 1990

Brian and Charlie work for a gangster. When the boss learns they want to "leave" he sets them up to be killed, after they help rob the local Triads of their drug dealing profits. Brian and Charlie decides to steal the money for themselves, but when their escape doesn't go to plan, they have to seek refuge in a Nuns' teacher training school.

5.2

Funny Money

Mar 9, 2006

Henry Perkins, a mild-mannered accountant, accidentally trades briefcases with another man, to find out that there's a million dollars inside. Henry tells his unsuspecting wife of their new-found fortune, but she doesn't embrace it as well as he does. Soon they're joined by their best friends, a cop on the take, a cop on the hunt, and the dreaded Mr. Big, who has come to claim his money.

5.0

New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford

Oct 3, 1931

Wallingford is a con-man whose specialty is taking money from suckers. His partners are Schnozzle, a pickpocket and car thief; and Blackie, who has played the game for years.

7.1

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Dec 14, 1988

Con artist Lawrence Jamieson is a longtime resident of a luxurious coastal resort, where he enjoys the lavish fruits of his deceptions -- that is, until a competitor, Freddy Benson, shows up. When the new guy's lowbrow tactics impinge on his own sophisticated work and believing him to be the infamous conman 'The Jackal', Lawrence resolves to get rid of him. Confident of his own duplicitous talents, he challenges Freddy to a winner-takes-all competition: whoever swindles their latest mark, American heiress Janet Colgate, out of $50,000 first can stay, while the other must leave town.

6.5

Nacho Libre

Jun 16, 2006

Ignacio, a disrespected cook at a Mexican monastery, can barely afford to feed the orphans who live there. Inspired by a local wrestling hero, he decides to moonlight as the not-so-famous Luchador "Nacho Libre" to earn money for the monastery -- not to mention the admiration of beautiful nun Sister Encarnación.

5.1

Friends with Money

Apr 7, 2006

As she reaches her mid-thirties and quits her lucrative job, singleton Olivia finds herself unsure about her future and her relationships with her successful and wealthy friends. She begins to envy the security of her richer friends and, although their lives may seem easier, Olivia's friends have their problems too: screenwriters Christine and Patrick are unable to collaborate on their latest project, Jane and Aaron have lost the romance in their relationship, and Franny and Matt have difficulties handling the demands of parenthood.

7.0

Smokey and the Bandit

May 26, 1977

A race car driver tries to transport an illegal beer shipment from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours, picking up a reluctant bride-to-be on the way.

7.1

The Barbarian Invasions

Sep 24, 2003

In this belated sequel to 'The Decline of the American Empire', middle-aged Montreal college professor, Remy, learns that he is dying of liver cancer. His ex-wife, Louise, asks their estranged son, Sebastian, a successful businessman living in London, to come home. Sebastian makes the impossible happen, using his contacts and disrupting the Canadian healthcare system in every way possible to help his father fight his terminal illness to the bitter end, while reuniting some of Remy's old friends, including Pierre, Alain, Dominique, Diane, and Claude, who return to see their friend before he passes on.

6.8

Barfly

Sep 2, 1987

Downtrodden writer Henry and distressed goddess Wanda aren't exactly husband and wife: they're wedded to their bar stools. But, they like each other's company—and Barfly captures their giddy, gin-soaked attempts to make a go of life on the skids.