Packaging Back
Packaging Bookend Spine
Packaging Front

The Betsy

Catalog Number
7190
-
Primary Distributor (If not listed, select "OTHER")
Release Year
Country
VHS | N/A | Slipcase
N/A (NTSC)
N/A | N/A | N/A
N/A | N/A
The Betsy (1978)

Additional Information

Additional Information
Based on the novel by Harold Robbins, this is the story of Loren Hardeman, Sr., a Midwestern automobile manufacturer (Lord Olivier) who pins his future on The Betsy, a "wonder car" named after his daughter (Kathleen Beller). The Betsy is designed to last practically forever, which doesn't rest well with the "planned obscolence" mindset of the auto industry. Flashbacks cover his career from his 40s to the present, when he is in his 90s. Hardeman, Sr. has a weak-willed son, Hardeman, Jr., (Robert Duvall) who is forced into taking charge of the family business.

A fading family-owned automobile manufacturer and its owners pin their hopes for a return to profitability on a new model named for the great-granddaughter of the firm's founder.

The aging Loren Hardeman Sr. remains the titular head of a Detroit automotive conglomerate. (An obvious parallel exists between this fictional character and that of Henry Ford.) His grandson, Loren Hardeman III, now runs the company as president, but has diversified into other fields and is concerned that the auto division is not as lucrative as it once was and might even need to be eliminated.

A young auto racer, Angelo Perino, has been secretly commissioned to develop a ground-breaking fuel-efficient car. He juggles romantic relationships with a British royal, Lady Bobby Ayres, and the young Betsy, who is about to turn 21 and inherit a fortune, including the new car her great-grandfather is naming in her honor.

Loren Hardeman III bitterly despises Hardeman Sr., who once carried on an affair with Loren's mother. The older Hardeman is not the man he used to be, but neither is he ready to step aside forever.


90-year-old Loren Hardeman is the head of an American car manufacturing dynasty. He has given his grandson control of the family business, but still has one project that he desperately wants the company to complete for him. Loren's dreams of an efficient, economical car to be called The Betsy after his great-grandaughter, and he hires injured race car driver Angelo Perino to design it in secret. But Loren d sn't know that Angelo is also seducing Betsy, as well as having an affair with his grandson's mistress, and that his project is not a secret from rest of the auto industry who are determined to sabotage it.

Related Releases1

Comments0

Login / Register to post comments

2

0