Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Michael J. Fox | ... | Brantley Foster / Carlton Whitfield | |
Helen Slater | ... | Christy Wills | |
Richard Jordan | ... | Howard Prescott | |
Margaret Whitton | ... | Vera Prescott | |
John Pankow | ... | Fred Melrose | |
Christopher Murney | ... | Barney Rattigan | |
Gerry Bamman | ... | Art Thomas | |
Fred Gwynne | ... | Donald Davenport | |
Carol Ann Susi | ... | Jean (as Carol-Ann Susi) | |
Elizabeth Franz | ... | Grace Foster | |
Drew Snyder | ... | Burt Foster | |
Susan Kellermann | ... | Maureen | |
Barton Heyman | ... | Arnold Forbush | |
Mercedes Ruehl | ... | Sheila | |
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Ira Wheeler | ... | Owens (as Ira B. Wheeler) |
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
Whenever I see groups of people in suits slaving away at their laptops and wonder what they are doing, I am reminded of this film. The suits who don't talk to the mailroom staff, whose ties cut off the flow of blood to their brains, and who cut down the effectiveness of their company are looked at with a jaundiced eye.
Is it possible for a someone from the mailroom to open up an office, get himself a secretary, and start operating within the organisation as a suit? It's ridiculous, of course. Utter fantasy. Or is it? I would find it unbelievable, had I not witnessed for myself the kind of conditions that would allow this sort of thing to happen in a large organisation. I dare say anyone who had the nerve could do it.
Michael J Fox turns in a good performance as the protagonist. Fred Gwynne is very photogenic, and Margaret Whitton is excellent as the protagonist's leggy, amorous aunt-in-law.
This film is well worth watching.