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The First Wives Club is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson, based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Olivia Goldsmith. The film stars Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton as three divorcées who seek retribution on their ex-husbands for having left them for younger women. The supporting cast comprises Stockard Channing as Cynthia; Dan Hedaya, Victor Garber, and Stephen Collins as the three leads' ex-husbands; and Sarah Jessica Parker, Elizabeth Berkley, and Marcia Gay Harden as their respective lovers. Supporting roles are played by Maggie Smith, Bronson Pinchot, Rob Reiner, Eileen Heckart, Philip Bosco, and Timothy Olyphant in his feature film debut; cameo appearances include Gloria Steinem, Ed Koch, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Ivana Trump. The film became a surprise box-office success following its North American release, eventually grossing $181 million worldwide, mostly from its domestic run, despite receiving mixed reviews. It developed a cult following particularly among middle-aged women, and as the actresses' highest-grossing project of the decade, it helped revitalize their careers in film and television. Composer Marc Shaiman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score, while Hawn was awarded a Blockbuster Entertainment Award and both Midler and Parker received Satellite Award nominations for their portrayals. Plot In 1969, four friends, Annie, Brenda, Elise, and Cynthia, graduate from Middlebury College. Cynthia gives each of them matching pearl necklaces and during a celebratory champagne toast, she has them promise always to be there for each other before they take a group photo. In the present day, the four women have lost touch, and Cynthia's ex-husband, who was made wealthy by her family connections, has just married a much younger woman. She mails letters to her three former friends, gives her housekeeper her pearls, and commits suicide. Annie, Brenda and Elise are reunited at Cynthia's funeral. They discover that, like Cynthia, they are all having similar marital problems. Annie is separated from her advertising executive husband, Aaron, and is in therapy for self-esteem issues. Elise is an alcoholic Oscar-winning actress in the process of divorcing her film producer husband, Bill, and relies on plastic surgery to keep hold of her fading career. Brenda is struggling financially after divorcing her husband, Morty, who runs a successful chain of electronics stores. Annie remains hopeful that she and Aaron will reconcile, especially after he takes her to dinner and they make love in a hotel room, but Aaron stuns her by asking for a divorce, revealing that he has been seeing her therapist. Elise, meanwhile, meets with an up-and-coming director about a role, only to discover that he had actually wanted her to play the character's unattractive mother. While shopping, Brenda runs into Morty and his beautiful, much younger girlfriend, Shelly, who cruelly insults Brenda's weight. The three women come together to commiserate, but decide that getting "justice" is preferable to revenge, noting that they all have supported their husbands and are largely responsible for their success. They form the "First Wives Club" and plan to destroy their ex-husbands. Annie enlists her daughter to get a job at Aaron's advertising agency so that she can act as a spy. She discovers that Aaron's partners want to sell their share of the agency. Elise begins confronting Bill at his office and at home to repossess the several pieces of artwork and furniture that she bought him and sells them to Annie for one dollar. Annie in turns auctions them off, tricking Shelly into buying many of the items, and uses the proceeds to buy out Aaron's partners. Brenda's Sicilian uncle reveals that the merchandise from Morty's first store was acquired nefariously and that his financial records are "fiction." Elise becomes frustrated, continuing to drink excessively, when the club cannot find anything compromising to threaten Bill with, leading to a vicious fight among the women. Elise and Brenda reconcile and convince Annie not to give up on the club. They soon discover that Phoebe is actually 16 years old, unbeknownst to Bill. The wives meet with their former husbands. They threaten to destroy the three men with what they've uncovered unless they agree to fund their non-profit organization, named in honor of Cynthia, dedicated to helping impoverished and abused women. Bill, Aaron, and Morty all agree to the women's demands. At the grand opening celebration, Morty becomes fed up with Shelly's narcissism and cruelty and reconciles with Brenda. Shelly flirts with Bill, though he hesitantly asks her how old she is. Elise, now starring in a successful Broadway play, has begun dating a co-star. Annie, now more confident and independent, rejects Aaron when he asks to come back to her. After the party has ended, the three women reminisce and together triumphantly sing "You Don't Own Me". Cast Bette Midler as Brenda Morelli-Cushman, a wise-cracking Sicilian-Jewish single mother who helped set her husband Morty on his feet financially, before he left her for his younger employee Shelly, cheating her out of an equitable settlement. She later blackmails Morty to get ownership of his business. However, when she realizes Morty is contrite about his sins, Brenda accepts attempts at reconciliation of their relationship. Michele Brilliant as young Brenda Morelli Goldie Hawn as Elise Eliot-Atchison, a former one-time Oscar-winning actress, now an alcoholic and heavy smoker relegated to B movies due to her "unprofitable" age. Her husband, Bill, who left her for another woman, is suing for alimony and insisting that all of their joint assets be sold and the profits divided between them. She liquidates their assets by selling them to Annie for a very low amount, and Annie auctions them so she can buy out her husband's partners. Elise also blackmails Bill about dating a minor. Dina Spybey as young Elise Eliot Diane Keaton as Annie MacDuggan-Paradis, the vehicle for the film's sporadic voice-over and its central character; an anxious and slightly neurotic housewife, saddled with self-esteem problems, attempting to save her marriage with estranged husband Aaron – much to her daughter's dismay. After Aaron has sex with her and then leaves her for her therapist, she decides to band together with Brenda and Elise to form the First Wives Club. Annie learns that Aaron is having problems with his advertising firm partners through the help of her daughter, and buys them out at the end of the film; making her the majority owner of Aaron's firm. Adria Tennor as young Annie MacDuggan Maggie Smith as Gunilla Garson Goldberg, a wealthy New York City socialite who helps the First Wives Club with their schemes because she was once a first wife, as well as a "second, third and fourth wife", according to Annie. She fools the social climbing Shelly into thinking Duarto Feliz is a reputabl.... Discover the David Rakoff Timothy Young popular books. Find the top 100 most popular David Rakoff Timothy Young books.