How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying Movie

Wait is there a recent movie of this with matthew and megan? whoa!

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No recent movie - there's the old one with Robert Morse, Rudy Vallee and Michelle Lee. I like the movie version a lot, though there are some choices I don't like - like leaving out I THINK it's A Secretary is Not a Toy (either that or Coffee Break -- I know last time I saw it, which was a while ago, I was upset that one or the other was out), and the completely unnecessary addition of the I Believe In You for Lee. But it is a very funny movie, and it's great having Robert Morse's performance taped. I did see John Stamos as Finch (Megan Mullally was still in it then), and have to admit I sort of enjoyed it....

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The movie is ok, but it doesn't do justice to what is much funnier source material. For that matter, neither did the revival, though I enjoyed it immensely. Matthew Broderick was fantastic as Finch, Megan Mullaly was funny but a little coarse for my taste, and Victoria Clark was just wonderfully sly and funny as Smitty (my favorite element of the whole production). I thought the design was bright and enjoyable, and the direction (Des McAnuff) was fluid, but the choreography (Wayne Cilento) was only so-so. Anyway, back to the movie, I think the cuts were unnecessary and the film as a whole seems to neglect that the piece is SATIRE, not a SPOOF. The distinction is subtle, but important, and the productions I've seen that worked well were the ones that understood it.

The movie experience is painful if you know the show because of all the cuts; not only did they cut coffee break, but they also cut Happy To Keep His Dinner Warm -the girl parts, which were small to begin with, are butchered.

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I too prefer the stage version to the film. I felt like the film took itself too seriously and didn't play the satire enough. While I too didn't care for the cuts or the addition of the Michelle Lee "I Believe In You" I am thrilled that we have a record of Mr. Morse's wonderful performance along with Ms. Lee and Mr. Vallee.

I actually really loved the revival and from watching the film there was no one else who could attempt to fill the shoes of Mr. Morse other than Mr. Broderick. I liked Ms. Mullaly but I loved, loved, loved Ms. Clark. Also, let's not forget Lillias White brining the house down with her "Brotherhood Of Man" either.

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I actually really enjoy the film, because I think it captures the camp parody of the era a lot more effectively then any revival could ever hope to.

And its a treat to have so much of the original cast along for the ride.

Robert Morse is definitive, Michelle Lee (an early Broadway replacement Rosemary) is spot on. Rudy Vallee is a riot and Maureen Arthur as Hedy is the funniest you'll ever see in the role.

"The Coffee Break" number was filmed but cut. Apparently the footage is lost, but there are stills of it all over the internet.

Robert Morse in the film is WAY over the top. What might have worked on stage comes across as a spastic Jerry Lewis routine on the big screen.

Maureen Arthur, who plays Hedy, acts and sounds like Carol Channing on crack.

The script is very funny though about 1/2 hour too long. (A recent community theatre staging ran over 3 hours and really started to drag in the 2nd act.)

The original production had great sparkle judging from the OCR and pictures. The movie tightens the running time (good) but loses some of the satiric edge. They also dropped "Paris Original", "Coffee Break" and "Happy to Keep his dinner warm" which I regret.

The revival with Matthew Broderick was weak for much of Act One but suddenly seemed to catch fire and Lillias White blazed up teh stage with "Brotherhood of Man." Broderick was quite good in the early part of the run but later got bored and staretd doing strange line readings on stage. Cutting "Cinderella Darling" was a step in the right direction but they should get rid of "Love froma heart of Gold." The main idea of the song was to offer a pastiche of the kind of nuumber Rudy Valee did back in the 1930s. Withhout him doing it it makes little sense. And let's face it -how many people here know who Rudy Vallee was or what some of his hit records were? Probably not many!

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