Cash McCall (1960)

Cash McCall is a young and slick business man who buys failing businesses and resells them. Grant Austen's Plastics is even more of a prize to Cash, for Cash is also making a bid for ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Pevney

Writers:

Lenore J. Coffee (screenplay) (as Lenore Coffee), Marion Hargrove (screenplay)

Stars:

James Garner, Natalie Wood, Nina Foch

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Garner	...	Cash McCall
Natalie Wood	...	Lory Austen
Nina Foch	...	Maude Kennard
Dean Jagger	...	Grant Austen
E.G. Marshall	...	Winston Conway
Henry Jones	...	Gilmore 'Gil' Clark
Otto Kruger	...	Will Atherson
Roland Winters	...	General Andrew 'Andy' Danvers
Edward Platt	...	Harrison Glenn (as Edward C. Platt)
Edgar Stehli	...	Mr. Pierce
Linda Watkins	...	Marie Austen
Parley Baer	...	Harvey Bannon

Storyline

Cash McCall is a young and slick business man who buys failing businesses and resells them. Grant Austen's Plastics is even more of a prize to Cash, for Cash is also making a bid for Austen's beautiful daughter, Lory. This is Cash's toughest deal ever.

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Plot Keywords:

entrepreneur | business ethics | based on novel | character name as title | business | 

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Taglines:

1960's Romantic Bonanza!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 January 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cash McCall

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

McCall's plane is a demilitarized Douglas A-26 Invader, a type used in World War II.

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Goofs

Lory has her arm around her father's shoulder and camera cuts from another angle and her arm is by her side.

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Quotes

Cash McCall: You're a cheery little group. You look like Santa Claus is dead.

User Reviews

Wheeler-Dealer Instruction Manual that Loses its Nerve

The best part of this Technicolor exercise is the light it shines on high-power business dealings and how these were treated in the Production Code 1950's-- and is worth a quick few words.

In that Cold War decade, Hollywood discovered the drama of corporation boardrooms and big business in such films as the ruthless Patterns (1956), the intrigues of Executive Suite (1954), and the comedic Solid Gold Cadillac (1956). All in all, these movies hold up well despite the passage of years. The trick for films of this type was to be realistic enough with the big money scheming to hold audience interest without at the same time indicting the upper tiers of capitalism. For to do the latter would, among other reasons, serve the interests of the Soviet side of the Cold War then at its peak. As a result, in such movies conscience or a force for good usually prevails at the last minute over ruthless business connivings no matter how unconvincing the abrupt triumph. And that's very much the case in the otherwise routine Cash McCall.

At first, McCall is characterized as a corporate vulture—a wheeler-dealer who buys up struggling companies, disassembles them for profit, and then walks away from whatever communities he may have destroyed in the process. But, of course, it's hard to make a sympathetic lead out of such a ruthless character, even for such a likable personality as James Garner. So the screenplay begins to fudge. He's next characterized as a dis-assembler whose aim is to build up anew from the pieces, though the human consequences are not made clear. And finally, after a thorough conversion, he becomes a full-fledged business humanitarian putting communities first for reasons that also remain rather unclear, but does, of course, produce a happy ending. Thus, the ends of the Production Code, the Cold War, and audience expectations are duly served.

The movie itself is pretty unmemorable. To me the pairing of the mature Garner and the rather callow Wood seems a brittle one, no matter how much the winsome Wood is glamorized. Then too, Garner suppresses his charming Maverick side in the interests of getting into McCall's character, but in the process gives up his special appeal as an actor. On the other hand, it's a fine array of supporting players, especially Henry Jones whose Bassett- hound face registers an unusual array of subtle emotions. His is a very different appearance for that glamour-obsessed time period. Anyway, the movie's a decent enough entertainment, but outside of its wheeler-dealer instruction manual, remains pretty forgettable.