How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)

Armed with the titular 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
Kathryn Reynolds	...	Miss Smith aka Smitty (as Kay Reynolds)
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. Pierrepont 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 who 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. Ponty has a few obstacles along the way such as: Bud Frump who sees Ponty as a rival and is the nephew by marriage of the company president J.B. Biggley; Hedy La Rue, a curvaceous but simple woman who has a secret or not-so-secret tie to someone important in the company; Mr. ...

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Plot Keywords:

breasts | big breasts | breast | book | business | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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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:

The Mirisch Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1962. Only nine musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize in drama - one per decade from the 1930s to the 1990s. They are as follows: Of Thee I Sing (1972) from the 1930s, South Pacific (1958) from the 1940s, Fiorello from the 1950s, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967) from the 1960s, A Chorus Line (1985) from the 1970s, American Playhouse: Sunday in the Park with George (1986) from the 1980s, Rent (2005) from the 1990s, Next to Normal from the 2000s and Hamilton from the 2010s.

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Goofs

When all the secretaries are "working", they first change shoes from white to colored. After they make up their hair and stuff, a man yells "coffee break!" When they all get up to go, they're still wearing their white shoes.

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Quotes

TV Announcer: A day without a wicket is like a day without sunshine.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Fire Maidens of Outer Space (1992)

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Soundtracks

Gotta Stop That Man
(uncredited)
Written by Frank Loesser
Performed by Robert Morse and executives

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.