Hollywood Flashback: 'Down and Out in Beverly Hills' Mocked the Rich in 1986
Thirty-five years ago, before L.A.'s homelessness epidemic exploded into a humanitarian crisis, the vast divide separating the city's haves from its have-nots was skewered in a very progressive studio comedy. In 1984, just a few days after taking over as CEO of the then-floundering Disney, former Paramount chief Michael Eisner got a call from ICM's Sam Cohn on behalf of his client, director Paul Mazursky (Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice).