How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)

Armed with a "How to..." manual, an ambitious window washer seeks to climb the corporate ladder.

Director:

David Swift

Writers:

Abe Burrows (book), Jack Weinstock (book),

Stars:

Robert Morse, Michele Lee, Rudy Vallee

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Morse	...	J. Pierpont Finch
Michele Lee	...	Rosemary Pilkington
Rudy Vallee	...	Jasper B. Biggley
Anthony 'Scooter' Teague	...	Bud Frump (as Anthony Teague)
Maureen Arthur	...	Hedy LaRue
John Myhers	...	Bert O. Bratt
Carol Worthington	...	Lucille Krumholtz
Kay Reynolds	...	Miss Smith aka Smitty
Ruth Kobart	...	Miss Jones
Sammy Smith	...	Twimble - Wally Womper
Jeff DeBenning	...	Gatch (as Jeff Debenning)
Janice Carroll	...	Brenda
Robert Q. Lewis	...	Tackaberry
Paul Hartman	...	Toynbee
Dan Tobin	...	Johnson

Storyline

Twenty-seven year old New York window washer J. Pierpont Finch believes he can be a success in the corporate world after he impulsively picks up the book "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". The book promises its reader that he can climb the corporate ladder simply and quickly. The Worldwide Wicket Corporation, the business in the office building whose windows he washes, is, according to the book, the perfect type of business. There, he meets secretary Rosemary Pilkington, who sees in Ponty, as she calls him, an unassuming man whom she believes the corporate world will eat alive. But Ponty, memorizing what the book tells him, does quickly climb the corporate ladder, but not by doing any real work. But Ponty has a few obstacles along the way, such as: Bud Frump, the nephew by marriage of the company president J.B. Biggley, Bud who sees Ponty as a rival; Hedy La Rue, a curvaceous but simple woman who has a secret or not so secret tie to someone important in the company; ...

---

Plot Keywords:

book | business | how to | secretary | advertising | 

---

Taglines:

Of all the Broadway musical comedies that ever made the screen sing out - nothing succeeds like "Succeed"!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Musical

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 March 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

How to Succeed in Business...

Filming Locations:

270 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

All of Rosemary's songs (including "Happy To Keep His Dinner Warm" and "Paris Original") were cut from the movie version. To make up for this "I Believe In You" was given to her for the movie. In the stage play, she does not sing this to him, and the first time it is heard is during the scene where Finch sings it to himself in the executive washroom, but she does a brief reprise of the song after this scene. In the film, she sings the full version in an earlier scene, making Finch's washroom version the reprise.

---

Goofs

An exterior shot implies that nightfall is descending on New York City at the end of the workday (5pm). This would indicate that it is winter. However, most of the women employees are wearing short-sleeved or sleeveless warm-weather styles, and the CEO mentions that he plans to play golf the next day.

---

Quotes

J. Pierpont Finch: This is the secret ingredient: it can't miss, I'm combining greed with sex.

---

Connections

Spoofs A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

---

Soundtracks

"A Secretary Is Not a Toy"
(uncredited)
Written by Frank Loesser
Performed by John Myhers, Anthony 'Scooter' Teague and office staff

User Reviews

Office politics spring eternal

This was one of the rare Broadway musicals whose book is actually more interesting than its score. So while roughly a half-dozen Frank Loesser songs from the stage version are deleted, they're not really missed. What survives is a witty skewering of office politics, featuring much of the Broadway cast. And while such '60s business staples as rampant sexism and smoking now look quaintly offensive, the gleeful satirizing of backstabbing and skulduggery in business will always be relevant. David Swift, whose training was in TV, doesn't do much with the widescreen format (except for the ingenious ballet-mechanique in "A Secretary Is Not a Toy"), but he cuts cleverly away from the production numbers just as the musical-comedy silliness is on the verge of becoming embarrassing, and he splices in some delectable location shots of '60s New York. The color scheme is bright, the pacing brisk, the cast friendly, the production values refreshingly modest. At a time in movie history when so many adaptations of stage hits were overbudgeted and overlong, what a pleasure to see something to faithful to its source material -- and so unpretentious.