The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen,

Stars:

Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tim Robbins	...	Norville Barnes
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Amy Archer
Paul Newman	...	Sidney J. Mussburger
Charles Durning	...	Waring Hudsucker
John Mahoney	...	Chief
Jim True-Frost	...	Buzz (as Jim True)
Bill Cobbs	...	Moses
Bruce Campbell	...	Smitty
Harry Bugin	...	Aloysius
John Seitz	...	Benny
Joe Grifasi	...	Lou
Roy Brocksmith	...	Board Member
John Wylie	...	Board Member
I.M. Hobson	...	Board Member
Gary Allen	...	Board Member

Storyline

When Waring Hudsucker, head of hugely successful Hudsucker Industries, commits suicide, his board of directors, led by Sidney Mussberger, comes up with a brilliant plan to make a lot of money: appoint a moron to run the company. When the stock falls low enough, Sidney and friends can buy it up for pennies on the dollar, take over the company, and restore its fortunes. They choose idealistic Norville Barnes, who just started in the mail room. Norville is whacky enough to drive any company to ruin, but soon, tough reporter Amy Archer smells a rat and begins an undercover investigation of Hudsucker Industries.

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Plot Keywords:

stock | industry | suicide | mail | reporter | 

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Taglines:

They took him for a fall guy... but he threw them for a hoop.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements

Details

Country:

UK Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 March 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

El gran salto

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$2,869,369 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, PolyGram Filmproduktion, Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The secretary of the Hudsucker brainstormers (uncredited 'Mary Beth Peil') is reading throughout the Hulla Hoop manufacturing sequence the novels "War & Peace" and "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. The idea is to show that the brainstormers are really taking their time to determine the name of the product since the novels have, respectively, 1,225 and 864 pages and are commonly known for being books you would spend a lot of time reading. In her case, if you'd consider 4 minutes per page, 8 hours a day, both books would've taken 18 days to read.

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Goofs

When Waring Hudsucker jumps from the conference room they say he "drops 44 floors...", "45.", "Counting the mezzanine.", we see from all the outside shots that this is the first floor under the clock. When Norville Barnes enters the elevator to take the blue card to Sidney J. Mussburger's office he asks to go to the 44th floor but since Sidney J. Mussburger's office has the "3" from the clock visible it must be 2 floors above the conference room floor, per the above mentioned outside shots, which would be the 46th floor assuming the conference room is on the 44th. And then at the end of the movie Moses says "Norville Barnes climbed waaay up to the forty-fourth floor of the Hudsucker Buildling... there was a man who jumped from the 45th floor", his office was on the 46th floor and assuming he meant the sign painter, he actually "jumped" from the upper level of the two story high 46th floor and would have landed on the conference room ceiling.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Moses the Clock Man: That's right. New York. Nineteen fifty eight.

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Crazy Credits

The foregoing was a fictional account of the development of the HULA HOOP® and the characters bear no resemblance to any real person or business concern. The HULA HOOP® was actually developed by the founders of the toy company WHAM-O®, a true American success story. WHAM-O® was subsequently responsible for the development of the FRISBEE® and numerous other toy products.

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Connections

References Cool Hand Luke (1967)

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Soundtracks

"Carmen"
By Georges Bizet
Performed by Grace Bumbry
Courtesy of EMI Classics
Under license from CEMA Special Markets

User Reviews

This film gets better with each subsequent viewing

The first time I saw this film, I enjoyed it. No doubt about it.

I wondered why some people didn't like it. What's not to like?

I saw it again, and paid more attention to some of the finer details, realizing what a rich, full textured film it was.

And yet again I saw it. Still more revelations.

In fact, every time I see it, and I'm sure to see it again, I enjoy it more and more with each subsequent viewing.

This film's narrative is nearly as perfect as the Hula Hoop itself, despite the albeit fictional account of the invention of said "dingus".

But it strikes me as odd and unfortunate when I encounter someone who's seen this and not enjoyed it.

All I can say is, have you tried it more than once? It isn't exactly what I'd call an acquired taste, but when you see how rich in detail and humour it is, you may begin to appreciate it for what it truly is; a great film that deserves a second chance. K.