How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
(On Cable TV, June 2022) Even though it’s dated 1967, I have more fun associating How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying either with the poppy bright optimistic style of the early 1960s, or the surprisingly satirical films of the 1950s taking aim at the way post-WW2 American society had restructured itself. This is not accidental, nor much of a stretch considering that the film is based on a 1961 stage musical that was itself based on a satirical 1952 book. Tony Randall (a fixture of both eras) would have been right at home here, but it’s Robert Morse who gets one of his two iconic roles (the other being on the Mad Men TV show, obviously inspired by this one) reprising his stage performance as a young man making his way to the top of a corporation. The opening moments of the film are nothing short of irresistible, as our protagonist shoots up from the mailroom to an executive position thanks to an improbably prescient book and ambivalent morals. (It’s both a strength and a problem of the film that we’re never sure if there’s a shred of sincerity to the way he acts.) Bright colourful backdrops and musical numbers satirize the way big Manhattan-based corporations were seen in the popular imagination, and this broadly comic approach has helped the film age remarkably well: even when it’s depicting some horrifying sexism, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying feels as if it’s laughing at itself and the elements it wants to showcase as terrible. There are some very funny bits (although my favourite part, when the protagonist is confronted by someone who has read the same book, is a bit short) and the film keeps some energy even in its inevitable third-quarter lull. Michele Lee is quite good in the female role, but it’s Kay Reynolds that I liked best as a supporting character. I’m picky about 1960s musicals but How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is one of the good ones of the era – even if it’s not quite as well known as it should be, either as a colourful example of its era or as a remarkably enjoyable film by itself.
