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  | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
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Average user rating:  | |
| It's Good! It's Very Good! | |
| I haven't seen the Broadway play, so I can't make any comparisons in that regard. What I can say of the movie is: WELL DONE!! This is by far one of my favorite movies in the musical genre. What can I say? The cast is outstanding; every character is unique, expressive and played to virtual comedic perfection. I won't take time to list all the actresses and actors, or all the songs, as I'm sure others have done a good job of that in their reviews. Well, ok, I'll mention Robert Morse: he plays J.P. Finch without flaw. Innocent, sincere, devious, ambitious and lucky, Morse combines all these traits into an entertaining character. I instantly became a Robert Morse fan. I went out and rented all the Robert Morse movies I could find. Unfortunately, strangely, in all Morse's other starring roles he displays nary a hint of the comedic originality or aptitude he does in this film, ah well. As might be expected, I have a number of favorite parts, here are two: 1) Morse as he "walks the dance" down a New York street--real life, good stuff, wish it were a longer scene. 2) I have to laugh when, during the song "Brotherhood of Man," Mr. Biggley's secretary suddenly rises up on the desk behind the men and starts belting it out. These are not particularly significant scenes in terms of the whole story, nor do they tell you anything at all about the plot, but they are, perhaps, representative of the lively and light-hearted humor this movie serves up so well. Highly recommended! | |
| Success! | |
| This is one of the best transfers of a hit Broadway musical to movie musical. Everyone is superb! From Michelle Lee to Robert Morse to Rudy Vallee to Ruth Kobart--all re-creating their Broadway Roles! Robert Morse's brilliant performance alone is worth the price of the dvd. Maureen Arthur's sexpot defines the word and is hilarious. Okay you can gripe that a few numbers from the Broadway Musical were left out--but overall this is a major success. Concerns a window washer who reads a book "How to Succeed in Business" and within about a week, goes from Fosse's Broadway choreography was recreated by an assistant for the film. Frank Loesser's Score is classic and singable. And it shows how using the original Broadway Cast can make a film work incredibly well. (Take note those people who cast Lucille Ball in Mame and Peter O Toole in Man of La Mancha to terrible outcomes) I don't think this film was a huge hit when it came out but it surely deserved to be. I watch it over and over. I sing the songs. It's a keeper. | |
| Wonderful Re-creation of the Musical | |
| This musical transcends time. What was true in the 1960s - and before - is still true today. That is why this musical is a true mockery of the corporate world, which is in turn why it made my musical-mocking husband laugh out loud and physically turn away from the computer to watch. Before I bought the DVD version of How to $ucceed, I had seen it performed live. I loved it and subsequently purchased the soundtrack featuring Matthew Broderick. So, as you can see, it was with an already deep affection for (and prejudiced mind) that I bought the movie version. It surprised me greatly that this vision of How to $ucceed met up to my already high standards. Only a few songs from the musical were not included. But the movie is 2 hours long, so it was necessary to do some cutting. If you like musicals, if you like big business, if you like to make fun of big business, this movie will make you laugh. As far as the DVD goes, there were not a lot of special features, which is to be expected from an older film. It did include the trailer, which was amusing in its retro-style, and it's nice to be able to go back and play the scene of a particular song I liked here and there. The widescreen version really enhanced the film for me, especially when my cats decided to nap lazily on the television and dangle their limbs about while I was watching. Good movie! | |
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