Other People's Money (1991)

A corporate raider threatens a hostile take-over of a "mom and pop" company. The patriarch of the company enlists the help of his wife's daughter, who is a lawyer, to try and protect the ... See full summary »

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writers:

Jerry Sterner (play), Alvin Sargent (screenplay)

Stars:

Danny DeVito, Gregory Peck, Penelope Ann Miller

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny DeVito	...	Lawrence Garfield
Gregory Peck	...	Andrew Jorgenson
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Kate Sullivan
Piper Laurie	...	Bea Sullivan
Dean Jones	...	Bill Coles
R.D. Call	...	Arthur
Mo Gaffney	...	Harriet
Bette Henritze	...	Emma
Tom Aldredge	...	Ozzie
Leila Kenzle	...	Marcia
Cullen O. Johnson	...	Gus
William De Acutis	...	Pfeiffer
David Wells	...	Granger
Stephanie White	...	Angeli
Jeff Hayenga	...	Klein (as Jeffrey Hayenga)

Storyline

A corporate raider threatens a hostile take-over of a "mom and pop" company. The patriarch of the company enlists the help of his wife's daughter, who is a lawyer, to try and protect the company. The raider is enamoured of her, and enjoys the thrust and parry of legal manoeuvring as he tries to win her heart.

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Plot Keywords:

lawyer | satire | speech | corporate raider | money | 

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Taglines:

Meet Larry the Liquidator. Arrogant. Greedy. Self-centered. Ruthless. You gotta love the guy.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sex-related dialogue

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

18 October 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Riqueza ajena

Filming Locations:

Connecticut, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$25,682,090

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Yorktown Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the doc hollywood 1991 vhs, the first promo is of this film and Danny De Vito's beginning speech and the song it's money that I love by Randy Newman appeared in the promo trailer but not in the film. Ironically, Randy Newman's cousin David composed for this film.

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Goofs

When the envelope of the results is first seen, it is being handed over to the woman as a pink envelope. When she is reading the results, the envelope is yellow.

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Quotes

Lawrence Garfield: We're the same... We care more about the game than the players.

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Connections

Referenced in Mike & Mike: Episode dated 30 September 2016 (2016)

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Soundtracks

Solitude
Written by Edgar De Lange, Irving Mills and Duke Ellington
Performed by Stéphane Grappelli
Courtesy of Polydor Gmbh

User Reviews

Not even Adam Smith was this ruthless.

As a matter of fact, my understanding is that Adam Smith, part of the Scottish enlightenment, was a spiritual man who believed the invisible hand behind the market belonged to God and that happiness would be at the end of the capitalist road.

Danny Devito, as "Larry the Liquidator", acts more like a follower of Herbert Spencer or some other Social Darwinist. "Greed is good," as Gordon Gekko told us.

The story is simple. Gregory Peck is the crusty old owner of a Wire and Cable Company which has been in the center of a small town's economic life for generations. But the stock is in the dumps right now because, after all, who wants to buy wire and cable? It's like trying to sell orange marmalade. DeVito, a millionaire financial artist from New York, proposes to take over the company, fire everybody, and sell its assets because its book value is higher than the price of the stock, and the future for wire and cable looks bleak. Peck hires a lawyer to try negotiating with DeVito and save the company (Penelope Ann Miller, looking very good).

The upshot is that the President of Peck's company sells out to DeVito. At the stockholder's meeting, DeVito gives the kind of rabble-rousing money-hungry speech that Marc Antomy gave at Caesar's funeral and DeVito winds up owning the company. DeVito has been lusting after Penelope Ann Miller but she shuns him after the meeting.

However, at the movie's end, she calls DeVito back and out of nowhere announces that the Japanese have made a generous offer to reopen the factory and convert it from wire and cable to the manufacture of air bags for cars. Miller asks if they can get together and talk business. I think this is called a deus ex machina, with the Japanese playing God. It's a "happy ending" tacked onto a very bitter story. DeVito beams at the prospect of seeing Miller again, even while he's asking, "What's in it for me?" Actually, DeVito is a pretty repugnant character. I mean the role, not DeVito, who seems like a nice friendly guy with a keen sense of humor. Larry the Liquidator is out of somebody's nightmare. As written, I think the character was meant to be charming and unpretentious. He curses a lot and is vulgar in a childish way. His proposals to Miller lack all elegance. He's completely honest about his lust and his greed. But he's not a nice guy. He is driven around in a stretch limo. He snaps out orders to subordinates -- "Arthur, get the car!" And they have to call him, "Sir," and refer to him in formal terms. Oh, he's genuinely depressed when Miller rejects him towards the end, but it's the way that a kid might be saddened if he hadn't got the ice cream cone he'd expected. The character learns nothing in the course of the movie but he wins at the end. "What's in it for me?" indeed.

Gregory Peck radiates a stolid sincerity. And, man, does he look GREAT. This full head of marvelous gray hair, black eyebrows, and black mustache. All men should wish we looked like that when we are his age, and as rich as DeVito's character.

The performances are all pretty good, but this does leave a sour taste. Grab for all the money you can and things will turn out happily after all. What a lesson.