The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

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

Directors:

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (uncredited)

Writers:

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Stars:

Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, Jennifer Jason Leigh

3 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:

art deco | reference to oklahoma the stage musical | neo screwball comedy | comics page | coffeeshop | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The secretary of the Hudsucker brainstormers (uncredited Mary Beth Peil) is reading throughout the Hula 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, 1225 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

The "Finnish" dialogue between Norville and Mr. Finlandson is gibberish, and sounds more like Swedish or Dutch than Finnish.

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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 opening credits list production companies, the title, and the main cast. The crew is not listed until the ending credits, starting with a director credit.

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Connections

References Safety Last! (1923)

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Soundtracks

Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia
(uncredited)
From the ballet "Spartacus"
Composed by Aram Khachaturyan

User Reviews

Weird? Yes! Confusing? Yes! Entertaining? Very!

Just hearing the title "The Hudsucker Proxy" confuses people. I told my mom the other day, "I got 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'; 'The Big Lebowski' and 'The Hudsucker Proxy' from the library today". You know what she said? "What was that last one?" Uh-huh. Not many people know what a 'proxy' is, and Hudsucker sounds a lot like 'sucker', so it really freaks people out sometimes.

That's a reason why it's so good! From the moment it starts - with a 'comedic' suicide scene no less - the audience is left saying, "Huh?" It stars Tim Robbins as a dimwitted mail room worker for a large company. On his first day, the president (Charles Durning) kills himself, leaving Sydney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman) with a plan to elect a moron for the new company president so that their stocks can go down and they can sell. Naturally, Robbins' character is picked. After that, he gets barraged by co-workers, stocks, the press, and undercover reporter Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Naturally, Robbins and Leigh fall in love.

Sounds rather normal doesn't it? Well, when you watch and meet characters like the immortal Clock Man Moses (Bill Cobbs) and the evil Aloysius (Harry Bugin), and even get a surprise visit from Durning's ghost, you'll change your mind.

Of course, it's still no "Godfather", but if you have nothing to do and feel like watching an interesting Coen comedy, pop in "The Hudsucker Proxy", 8/10.

Details

Country:

UK Germany USA

Language:

English Finnish

Release Date:

11 March 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Hudsucker Proxy

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$104,490, 13 March 1994

Gross USA:

$2,816,518

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,816,518

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