Troop Beverly Hills (1989)
Troop Beverly Hills is one of my all-time favorite movies (though you’ll hear me say that a lot, because I have a lot all-time favorites).
The Premise: A spoiled, Beverly Hills divorcee, whose main skill in life is shopping, agrees to become her daughter’s “Wilderness Girl” troop leader, to the dismay of Velda Plendor, Wilderness Girls’ Second in Command. The animosity that Velda feels towards the Beverly Hills troop inspires much hilarity, as she sets out to sabotage everything the Beverly Hills troop does. Which boils down to selling Girl Scout Wilderness Girl cookies, and surviving in the wild. Velda even goes as far as convincing her sidekick, Mary, to act as a spy. Good thing Mary’s loyalties were not fixed on the Dark Side!
I think Velda Plendor is one of my favorite villains of all times (second, perhaps, to Dr. Evil). You’ve got to love a character whose main obsessions in life include selling cookies. She’s one of those great characters you just love to hate.
This is just one of those movies you have to watch in order to love. I watched it so many times as a kid that I blanked out half of it on the tape. Good thing it’s now out on DVD.
Looking back, here’s a few of the actors/actresses you might recognize:
- Kellie Martin
- Tori Spelling
- Shelley Long
- Craig T. Nelson
- Jenny Lewis
- Carla Gugino
And a bonus for all of you Will & Grace fans: Shelley Morrison (a.k.a. Rosario), who plays … yup, the maid … who’s name is … Rosa. Talk about type casting!
How this movie affected my life: There’s a scene where Phyllis (Shelley Long) is binge drinking Evian water. Since that moment, I decided my favorite bottled water would be Evian. It is to this day. Good thing I’m in France. It’s much cheaper here!
2 Comments