Bright, splashy film musical about an ambitious young window washer who rises through the ranks of a large corporation following the advice of a self-help book. Textbook example of how to do everything right in translating a musical from stage to film. Features a wonderful Frank Loesser score including the songs, “I Believe In You” and “The Brotherhood of Man”. Robert Morse and Rudy Vallee reprise their original Broadway roles. Film debut of Michele Lee.
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There are a surprising number of good movies (and this is a very good one) that let the story go on past the place where it ought to end. A suggestion to prospective watchers of “How to Succeed”: stop watching after “the brotherhood of man” number.
(A few others that come randomly to MY mind: the paradine case, the man who knew too little, brazil, the sundowners, the ten commandments)
I like this topic very much. After the screenwriter, I think the editor is the most important person working on a film. I’ve always resented the ending to Fatal Attraction. It’s one of those “She’s dead. Wait, no she’s alive!” tricks that’s a part of virtually every horror film made these days. Fatal Attraction is a film I like very much, but it pushed credibility to the limit with that ending. I mean who can hold their breath for that long?!?
On the subject of “holding your breath” in movies, if you ever saw Diabolique, I bet you remember a guy that was pretty darn good at it. You think the Fatal Attraction screenwriter might have seen it too? Nah, that’d be plagiarism. Wouldn’t it?