A comic tale of financial woe, How To Beat The High Cost Of Living is the story of three high school friends, now grown, their dreams of suburban splendor dashed, who find themselves down on their luck just trying to make ends meet. The friends are: Jane (Susan Saint James, TV’s McMillan & Wife, Kate & Allie), a divorcee with a less-than-sympathetic boyfriend (Fred Willard, TV’s Modern Family, Best In Show), a house full of children and the added burden of her father (Eddie Albert, TV’s Green Acres) who has moved in with her after his wife has dumped him; Elaine (Jane Curtin, TV’s Saturday Night Live, Kate & Allie) a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown with no financial support to speak of after her husband has left her for a younger woman; and Louise (Jessica Lange, TV’s American Horror Story, Tootsie, The Postman Always Rings Twice) the owner of an unsuccessful antiques business who faces the added embarrassment when her own husband (Richard Benjamin, The Sunshine Boys, The Last of Sheila) sues her in order to declare bankruptcy. The tipping point has been reached. Together the wily trio hatch a plot to manage the high cost of living by stealing a “money ball” filled with loads of cash from the local mall. It’s a comic free-for-all when they decide to take the money and run. However, fate … and a local police officer (Dabney Coleman, 9 To 5) … may have something else in store for them in this laugh-filled, comic caper directed by Robert Scheerer (TV’s The Love Boat) from a screenplay written by Robert Kaufman based on a story by Leonara Thuna.

Rated: PG
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year Filmed: 1980
Screen: 1.85:1; Color
Languages: English