Soapy, swampy and occasionally sultry, Daughters of Privilege (1991) is above all else fairly silly, even though its star, Dick Van Dyke, doesn’t trip over any ottomans—or, for the Golden Girls aficionados among us, practice law while wearing a clown suit. As Buddy Keys, a hard-headed businessman whose empire includes construction, real estate and newspaper publishing, there are secrets in his eyes and wisdom in his mustache, little of it shared with either us or his plentiful daughters.
From his first marriage to Trina (Marj Dusay), a treacherous social climber, he is father (or “Daddy,” as they call him) to crusading physician Mary Hope (Daphne Ashbrook) and rebellious Diana (Kate Vernon). He shares young newspaperwoman Felicia (Angela Alvarado) with an unseen second wife from whom he’s estranged. “A kid who doesn’t depress me!” he proudly calls Felicia. When she pronounces his newspaper boring, he is invigorated even as he chides her: “Why don’t you just speak your mind? Why don’t you show up here after 25 years of court-enforced visitation and tell me how to run my business?” And then he makes her an associate publisher.
From Buddy’s wealth and influence springs a never-ending stream of problems, few of which screenwriter Michele Gallery is permitted to fully explore. (A solo Emmy winner for Lou Grant, Gallery also shared an Outstanding Drama Series award with fellow L.A. Law producers.) Schoolmarmish Mary Hope, who works for the county health department, wants her father’s paper to print exposés on corporate pollution. That subplot goes nowhere, as do her encounters with star reporter Ballard Moss (Dan Futterman), whose advances she declines in favor of a mystery man. (If Daughters of Privilege had been made even 10 years later, I suspect her hidden partner might’ve been a woman.)
Aimless Diana, who is secretly seeing Eric Swope (Jon Tenney), her father’s slick protégé, has decided on a whim to try her hand at managing a bad boy NASCAR driver (Ben Browder). Attraction blinds her to the possibility that she is being used, but those too are dramatic threads that mostly lead nowhere. Diana’s promiscuity, it is implied, stems from a trauma she endured at 14 that still keeps her awake at night; it’s revealed in a jolting scene with inadequate followup. Felicia, whose mother is Cuban and apparently sane, carries less in the way of emotional baggage. But she clashes editorially with Buddy and her interactions with Ballard and Eric are imbued with the suspense of whether she might dabble in romantic as well as sibling rivalry.
At the heart of this disorganized family drama is Buddy’s escalating war with a former associate, Hibbard (Burke Byrnes). If the paper proceeds with its planned takedown of his crooked dealings, Hibbard faces certain indictment. Surely it isn’t a coincidence that as publication of this blockbuster investigation looms, Buddy is targeted in a series of high-profile stunts that find him wrongfully arrested for solicitation and accused of trafficking in exotic birds.
These goofy capers play like Carl Hiaasen meets Too Close for Comfort, and are better suited to a series than a 90-minute film. (It seems possible the project, originally called Keys to the Kingdom, was first conceived as either a series or miniseries.) But credit to Vernon, Daughters’ best and most appealing actress, for keeping a straight face as she says “Dad will get past this. He always has. Nobody—nobody who knows him—would think he’d gotten involved with smuggling birds!”
Van Dyke is adroit at wringing humor from such frippery, though even he struggles to sell the scenes in which Buddy is physically restrained by characters he could easily overpower. Michael Fresco’s direction also leaves him stranded in a pivotal clash with Dusay’s Trina, which is par for the course—few of the film’s dramatic punches land; the plot is too crowded and underdeveloped. It works best in its lighthearted family scenes featuring Vernon (who was a good sport as Diana tries to emulate Felicia’s moves on the dance floor), or with Van Dyke amusedly observing his brood.
Streaming and DVD availability
Daughters of Privilege has not been released on DVD. It isn’t currently on any authorized streaming platforms but I was able to catch it on YouTube. You can also watch The Dick Van Dyke Show free with ads on Amazon.
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Cranky Lesbian is a disgruntled homosexual with too much time on her hands. Click for film reviews or to follow on Instagram.
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