The Betsy is a 1978 American romantic drama film directed by Daniel Petrie, from a screenplay by William Bast and Walter Bernstein, based on the 1971 novel of the same title by Harold Robbins.

It stars Laurence Olivier as a retired auto tycoon, with Robert Duvall, Katharine Ross, Tommy Lee Jones, and Jane Alexander in supporting roles.

[3] 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.

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.

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 that her great-grandfather is naming in her honor.

It shows construction and painting of 1978 Gremlin, Pacer, and Concord models on AMC's assembly line serving as the factory of the fictitious Bethlehem Motors.

How else do you explain the following tasteless scene, which inexplicably occurs in the middle of a saga of an automotive scion's attempt to build one last great car.

"[12] In the New York Daily News, Rex Reed stated that "the temptation to compare The Betsy with the Edsel stretches from here to deadline, but this movie is so bad, so numbingly obtuse, so bloatedly pretentious and awesomely corny, no capsule put-down seems adequate.

Lord Laurence Olivier’s attempt at a Texas twang is a hilarious flop, as is his incestuous relationship with his daughter-in-law, Katharine Ross.