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    10
    Jul
    2012
    9:41am, EDT

    Rags to riches stories are alive and well ... in Hollywood

    Slideshow: Rags-to-riches, Hollywood style

    Everett Collection

    Rags-to-riches stories are pretty much fantasy; only 4 percent of Americans actually make the leap. Here are some of Hollywood's best rags-to-riches movies.

    Launch slideshow

    By TODAY.com staff

    We like to think of the United States as the type of place where anyone with enough gumption can rise from rags to riches.

    A report released Monday by Pew Charitable Trusts threw some cold water on that notion. The report found that only 4 percent of Americans whose parents were in the bottom fifth of the income ladder ended up in the top rung when they became adults.

    That's not the case in Hollywood, where rags-to-riches stories are the lifeblood of romantic comedies, tearjerkers and even summer blockbusters.

    Here's a sampling of our favorites.

    Did we miss one? Tell us about your favorite rags-to-riches movie on our Facebook page.

    Related: Do you make $30,000 a year or less? We want to hear from you.


    Follow @todaymoney

    6 comments

    This is all part of the same bullcrap that hollywood has been doing for years. The goal is to get poor and unhappy people to live vicariously through the lives of the rich. That's why all sorts of stupids watch shows like "The Kardashians." What is even worse is that they are influencing children,  …

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