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The Secret of My Succe$s (1987) 6.2
A talented young man can't get an executive position without rising through the ranks, so he comes up with a shortcut, which also benefits his love life. Director:Herbert Ross |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Michael J. Fox | ... | ||
| Helen Slater | ... | ||
| Richard Jordan | ... | ||
| Margaret Whitton | ... | ||
| John Pankow | ... | ||
| Christopher Murney | ... |
Barney Rattigan
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| Gerry Bamman | ... |
Art Thomas
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| Fred Gwynne | ... |
Donald Davenport
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| Carol Ann Susi | ... |
Jean
(as Carol-Ann Susi)
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| Elizabeth Franz | ... |
Grace Foster
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| Drew Snyder | ... |
Burt Foster
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| Susan Kellermann | ... |
Maureen
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Barton Heyman | ... |
Arnold Forbush
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| Mercedes Ruehl | ... | ||
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Ira Wheeler | ... |
Owens
(as Ira B. Wheeler)
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Brantley Foster, a well-educated kid from Kansas, has always dreamed of making it big in New York. On his first work day in New York, he is fired in a hostile take-over and learns that jobs - and girls - are hard to get. When Brantley visits his distant uncle, Howard Prescott, who runs a multi-million-dollar company, he is given a job in the company's mail room. Then Brantley meets Christy Wills, who happens to be one of the top executives. Brantley sees how poorly the company is being run and decides to create a position under the name Carlton Whitfield, to influence and improve the company's operations. Soon things get unexpectedly out of hand, not in the least because of his aunt, his girl and leading a double life. Written by watzdabigdeal
Taglines:
There's no such thing as an overnight success. Brantley Foster took two weeks.Genres:
ComedyParents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
10 April 1987 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
El secreto de mi éxito See more »Box Office
Gross:
$66,995,879 (USA)Company Credits
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company contact information
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
DolbyColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Brantley Foster: That's right. Brantley is Whitfield; Whitfield is Brantley.
Vera Prescott: And Christy is the bimbo! Well, now that we've all had Mouseketeer roll call, I'm just going to go call my lawyer.
Howard Prescott: [lying] No, wait a minute. Christy is not the bimbo I was screwing around with at the office.
Christy Wills: People better stop calling me bimbo!
Howard Prescott: It was an entirely different bimbo altogether.
Vera Prescott: That's fine; how many bimbos would you say there were?
Howard Prescott: I misspoke myself. There weren't any ...
[...]
See more »
Written, Performed and Produced by David Foster
David Foster appears courtesy of Atlantic Records
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Did You Know?
Trivia
A lot of height adjustments had to be made during the kissing scenes between Michael J. Fox and Helen Slater, since Fox is much shorter than Slater. See more »Goofs
The office that Brantley takes over as Carlton is a corner office, with windows on 2 adjacent walls. When Carlton (Brantley) is working late and trying to convince Christy about his ideas, the exterior shot of the building shows several offices with lights on, then fades to a shot with only 1 office light on, in the middle of the building, which could not be Carlton's office. See more »Quotes
Howard Prescott: Let me get this straight - Brantley is Whitfield?Brantley Foster: That's right. Brantley is Whitfield; Whitfield is Brantley.
Vera Prescott: And Christy is the bimbo! Well, now that we've all had Mouseketeer roll call, I'm just going to go call my lawyer.
Howard Prescott: [lying] No, wait a minute. Christy is not the bimbo I was screwing around with at the office.
Christy Wills: People better stop calling me bimbo!
Howard Prescott: It was an entirely different bimbo altogether.
Vera Prescott: That's fine; how many bimbos would you say there were?
Howard Prescott: I misspoke myself. There weren't any ...
[...]
See more »
Connections
Referenced in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack (2008) See more »Soundtracks
"GAZEBO"Written, Performed and Produced by David Foster
David Foster appears courtesy of Atlantic Records
See more »
The eighties, the decade of ugly clothes and hairstyles, bad music and easily forgettable movies. But there is one positive aspect about that decade and that is Michael J. Fox. He's probably one of the few actors who started his movie career at those days who I still admire. He's still nice to watch, especially in light weighted comedies like this one.
In fact, the title "The Secret of My Succe$s" already says enough about what you can expect from this movie (also notice the little dollar sign in the title), but I'll give a short resume anyway. It shows how Brantley Foster, a talented and well-educated young man coming from rural Kansas, goes to New York to find a suiting job and a nice girlfriend. But he isn't very successful, no company wants to hire him, because he doesn't have any experience. Before leaving Kansas for the Big Apple, his father had bought him a return ticket home and his mother gave him the address of his in New York living uncle, Howard Prescott, just in case when he should need some help. But what Foster didn't know is that his uncle runs a multi-million-dollar company. When he pays him a visit, he gets a job ... in the mail room. But then he meets Christy Wills, who happens to be one of the top executives. Believing that the best way to win her over is by posing as an executive, Brantley decides to take a position under the name Carlton Whitfield and of course things soon start to get completely out of hand...
I admit that this movie is as 'eighties' as you can get them. I'm pretty sure that no-one of todays directors would be able to make it exactly the way it looks, because they don't write scripts like that anymore and there are no more actors like Fox. The man that comes closest for this kind of role is probably Jim Carrey, but even then you would get a completely different kind of movie. It's probably thanks to Michael J. Fox, who is really very nice in this movie, that I forgot about most of its flaws. Once again he's the boyish, sweet guy and that's probably the best thing this movie has to offer. If it hadn't been for him, almost no-one would ever have seen the movie or would still remember it because the story isn't special and it's too typical for that time period.
All in all this is a fast-paced comedy full of typical eighties clichés, but it works thanks to Michael J. Fox's performance and that's why I still give it a 7/10.