Cash McCall is a business tycoon who has been taking over various corporations through buy-outs without regards for the people he works for him goes after a plastics company owned by Dean Jagger so he can resume a relationship with Jagger's daughter, Natalie Wood. It appears that the year before, they had a brief romance which somehow soured, and now he wants to marry her. James Garner plays the title character, and Natalie Wood is the girl. Wood looks a bit older here than she does in several films she did shortly after (particularly "Splendor in the Grass", "West Side Story", and especially "Gypsy"). Her hair style is probably the main reason, and the character appears to be a bit older too, even though she still lives with her folks. While Garner and Wood are undoubtedly gorgeous together, they don't share the same spark that Rock Hudson and Doris Day did in the previous year's big romantic comedy hit "Pillow Talk", or even the two films that Garner later did with Ms. Day. Wood, who as "Queen of Warner Brothers" after Ms. Day departed, probably thought it looked good on paper, and while it has some amusements, it actually looks better than it actually plays. The lead characters, even Garner's rather ruthless businessman, are likable, and Garner indulges McCall with a sense of standards of decent business practices that other hot young actors of the time might have.
This is an unfortunate film choice for poor Nina Foch, who must suffer all sorts of indignities as an embittered divorcée who develops a crush on McCall and is humiliated by him after she ruthlessly tries to break him and Wood up. It's sad to see this pathetic creature pine after a man who obviously doesn't love her. The scene where she begins to think he is just isn't convincing enough to make us believe that she would think he was talking about her in the first place, when it was very clear he was talking about someone else. She also has the misfortune to wear probably the ugliest hat in film history, one that's actually feathered but looks like a fruit bowl turned upside down.
There have been much better films on big business, including one by the same author ("Executive Suite"). It features a wonderful supporting cast, most notably Henry Jones (who will never be confused here with his role of LeRoy in "The Bad Seed") and Eli Wallach. It's colorful and beautifully designed, but ultimately superficial and weak.
This is an unfortunate film choice for poor Nina Foch, who must suffer all sorts of indignities as an embittered divorcée who develops a crush on McCall and is humiliated by him after she ruthlessly tries to break him and Wood up. It's sad to see this pathetic creature pine after a man who obviously doesn't love her. The scene where she begins to think he is just isn't convincing enough to make us believe that she would think he was talking about her in the first place, when it was very clear he was talking about someone else. She also has the misfortune to wear probably the ugliest hat in film history, one that's actually feathered but looks like a fruit bowl turned upside down.
There have been much better films on big business, including one by the same author ("Executive Suite"). It features a wonderful supporting cast, most notably Henry Jones (who will never be confused here with his role of LeRoy in "The Bad Seed") and Eli Wallach. It's colorful and beautifully designed, but ultimately superficial and weak.