How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | |
---|---|
Directed by | David Swift |
Screenplay by | David Swift |
Story by | Abe Burrows Jack Weinstock Willie Gilbert |
Based on | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying by Shepherd Mead |
Produced by | David Swift Walter Mirisch Irving Temaner |
Starring | Robert Morse Michele Lee Rudy Vallee Anthony Teague |
Cinematography | Burnett Guffey |
Edited by | Allan Jacobs Ralph E. Winters |
Music by | Frank Loesser (songs) Nelson Riddle (incidental music) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 121 minutes [2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3.5 million [3] |
Box office | $2,900,000 (rentals) [4] |
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1967 American romantic musical comedy-drama film based on the 1961 stage musical of the same name, which in turn was based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book. The film was produced by United Artists and directed by David Swift, with original staging by Bob Fosse.
The cast includes Robert Morse, Rudy Vallee and Michele Lee all reprising their Broadway roles; as well as Anthony Teague, and Maureen Arthur.
J. Pierrepont Finch (Robert Morse) buys the book How to Succeed in Business, describing in step-by-step fashion how to rise in the business world. The ambitious young window cleaner follows its advice carefully. He joins the "World-Wide Wicket Company" and begins work in the mail room. Soon, thanks to the ethically questionable advice in the book, he rises to vice president of advertising by having each person above him either fired or moved or transferred within the company.
Finch begins to fall in love with Rosemary Pilkington (Michele Lee), a secretary at the company. Finch finds out that Hedy LaRue (Maureen Arthur), a beautiful but incompetent woman the company has hired, is the mistress of J.B. Biggley (Rudy Vallee), the company president. Finch uses this information to assist his climb on the corporate ladder.
Biggley's annoying nephew, Bud Frump (Anthony Teague), also takes advantage of the situation and tries to get to the top before Finch. By story's end, however, Finch has become chairman of the board and might make the White House his next step to success.
$1 million was paid for the film rights with the other costs coming to $2.5 million. Both musical and non-musical versions were prepared. [3] The character of Finch was edited slightly as it was feared that the stage characterization of the character was too edgy and that audiences would not find him likable.
Many songs from the stage version were cut from the movie, most notably all of Rosemary's solos. She was given a version of the song "I Believe in You" in order to make up for this.
The Union Carbide Building (most recently the JPMorgan Chase Tower) that stood at 270 Park Avenue in New York City from 1960 until 2019 was used in exterior shots as the headquarters for the "World-Wide Wicket Company" in the movie. It most notably was used in the sequences in which Finch dashes into the building before his boss arrives in order to arrange coffee cups on his desk and pretends to have fallen asleep on it after apparently working all night as a way to convince his boss to promote him to a higher position in the company.
Several actors reprised their roles from the stage version, most notably Morse and Vallee. Dick Van Dyke was considered for the role of Finch, but he turned it down due to concerns that he was too old for the role.[ citation needed ]
The film received generally positive reviews. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times , for example, praised the film as successfully re-creating "just about everything that was conducive to the stage success," especially the performances of Morse and Vallee:
Seeing Mr. Morse in close-ups, as those wily expressions cross on his face and those wicked designs of Pal Joey gleam in his Horatio Alger-character eyes, is better (and I'm not chauvinistic) than seeing him on the stage. And Mr. Vallee—well, I can say nothing nicer than that he continues to improve with age. [5]
Upon its release, however, the film failed to make a profit and was a commercial disappointment. It currently holds a 92% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [6]
Although the original musical had been a great Broadway success, capturing seven Tony Awards, the film version was not nominated for any Academy Awards.
Broadcast television
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying premiered on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies on November 25, 1972.
DVD
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was released to DVD on April 1, 2003, by MGM Home Video in a Region 1 DVD and is available on Region 2 DVD from Simply Media.
Blu-ray
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was released to Blu-ray on March 14, 2017, by Twilight Time in a Region A Blu-ray.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1961 musical by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name. The story concerns young, ambitious J. Pierrepont Finch, who, with the help of the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, rises from window washer to chairman of the board of the World Wide Wicket Company.
Robert Alan Morse was an American actor. Morse, known for his gap-toothed boyishness, started his career as a star on Broadway acting in musicals and plays before expanding into film and television. He earned numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Michele Lee is an American actress, singer, dancer, producer and director. She is known for her role as Karen Fairgate MacKenzie on the prime-time soap opera Knots Landing, for which she was nominated for a 1982 Emmy Award and won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Actress in 1988, 1991, and 1992. She was the only performer to appear in all 344 episodes of the series.
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The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, an American actress who died in 1946.
Jonathan Freeman is an American actor and singer. He is known for voicing Jafar in Disney's Aladdin franchise, as well as the Kingdom Hearts franchise and the 2011 Aladdin musical.
Shepherd Mead, born Edward Mead was an American writer and is best known as the author of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which was adapted into a hit Broadway show and motion picture.
Anthony Scott Teague, also known as Scooter Teague, was an American actor and dancer.
Time Out for Rhythm is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Rudy Vallée, Ann Miller and the Three Stooges. It was based on the stage musical Show Business by Alex Ruben. Six Hits and a Miss perform, as well as Glen Gray and His Casa Loma Orchestra, and Eduardo Durant's Rhumba Band, and with eight original songs by Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn.
The 49th Annual Tony Awards was held at the Minskoff Theatre on June 4, 1995, and broadcast by CBS. Hosts were Glenn Close, Gregory Hines, and Nathan Lane.
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How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying may refer to:
Frump may refer to:
Rose Hemingway is an American actress, performer and singer. She made her Broadway debut starring as Rosemary Pilkington in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011) earning a Theatre World Award.
John Benjamin Myhers was an American stage and screen actor. His film roles included playing Mr. Bratt in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), Robert Livingston in the 1972 film adaptation of the Broadway musical 1776, and as the leader of the Roman Senate in Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I (1981).
Songs from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is the first extended play (EP) by American singer-songwriter Nick Jonas, released on May 8, 2012, through Broadway Records. It was produced by Robert Sher and features guest appearance by Rob Bartlett, Rose Hemingway and Ellen Harvey. All tracks featured on the record were written by American songwriter Frank Loesser, who wrote several Broadway musicals.
Cemetery Without Crosses, is a 1969 Spaghetti Western film by Robert Hossein, its director, co-screenwriter and star.
"I Believe in You" is a 1961 song written by Frank Loesser for his musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, where it was introduced by Robert Morse. The protagonist of the musical, J. Pierrepont Finch, sings the song to himself in the mirror while shaving. In the movie version, Rosemary also sings it to Pierrepont.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: The Dastard's Guide to Fame and Fortune is a humorous 1952 book by Shepherd Mead. It inspired a successful 1961 musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which was made into a movie in 1967.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: Soundtrack from the Musical Comedy is the cast album for the 50th anniversary Broadway revival of the 1961 musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which had music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name. Released digitally on May 31, 2011, and in physical formats on June 7 by Decca Broadway, the album featured performances of the musical numbers by the cast, headlined by Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette. It was nominated for Best Musical Theater Album at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.