vincentlynch-moonoi I must admit, I'm baffled. How did this story become such an acclaimed Broadway musical and successful film musical? Perhaps the sheer presence of Robert Morse? That's about the only thing I can figure (although others have reprised the role on Broadway successfully).There are some things I like about this film (aside from Morse). Michele Lee is great as the love interest; wish she had done more films. It's nice to see Rudy Vallee, not that he is any great shakes here. I really did enjoy Anthony Teague as the ultimate kiss-up; a really bright performance.But aside from that, nothing. It's basically a one joke film (kissing ass to get ahead), and a one-notable-song musical ("I Believe In You"). It took me over 30 years to finally watch this film; must have been my intuition; I'll never watch it again.

cheryllynecox-1 It is brilliant that tonight, June 29, 2010, TCM is paying tribute to an icon of American Popular Music; one whose canon includes the brilliant "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". Straight out of the ring-a-ding sensibility of the mid-sixties, "HTSIBWRT" is a pitch perfect parody that nobody but Frank Loesser could have captured with such wicked aplomb.Carefully directed by David Smith, Loesser's music and Bob Fosse choreography transition well from Broadway to the Big Screen. The costumes and set decor reflect the post-modern lines and plastic palette of 1967 as a last ditch defense against the intrusion of anti-establishment Bohemia and counter culture codification.J. Pierpont Finch, masterfully brought to life by Robert Morse, is shamelessly self-serving without being obnoxious. Morse demonstrates absolute genius in the lead: he sings effortlessly and is a charming hoofer. He gets a major assist from a gorgeous Michelle Lee, as Rosemary, whose clarion voice beautifully conveys some of Leosser's loveliest lyricism.What I find particularly compelling 43 years after HTSIBWRT premiered is the role that Morse is currently playing on the small screen. As the head of "Mad Men"'s Sterling-Cooper, he has immersed himself in a role that comes from another angle of the sixties corporate culture. I wouldn't be surprised if the creative forces behind AMC's "Mad Men" weren't influenced by Frank Loesser's exceptionally clever "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying".

funkyfry I hadn't really heard much about this one and it was recommended to me by other IMDb posters. I think it's a very good movie, I enjoyed it a lot. Robert Morse (who I recognized from the cast album for the musical "Sugar") is hilarious and unpredictable as Finch (F-I-N-C-H), a former window cleaner who decides to use the tricks from a self-help manual to get him to the top of the corporate ladder. Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows, of "Guys and Dolls" fame, provide the excellent music for this fully integrated show that spoofs inter-office politics and sex.Michele Lee is very perky and vivacious in sort of a generic 60s kind of way that reminded me of Mary Tyler Moore, but she does a good job with her character, playing up the motherly elements as an ironic contrast to her real position. Rudy Vallee has a good role too, as the President of the company beset by his wife's interventions on behalf of the idiot nephew Bud Frump (Anthony Teague) and trying desperately to please his showgirl type paramour, Hedy (Maureen Arthur). Carol Worthington also puts in a notable performance as the head of all secretaries who takes her job very seriously.Morse's performance carries the film, a sort of variation on the kind of comedy that Jerry Lewis used to be so good at, or maybe Danny Kaye and guys like that. At least that's the closest thing I can think of to compare it to, because I really haven't seen anybody give a performance quite like this one. He's all up in everyone's faces and very "touchy" in the literal sense that he touches everybody, all over. Somewhat spastic, and yet inclined to the passive shrug of the shoulders and sly smile.My opinion is pretty much always that Abe Burrows was a better lyricist than Frank Loesser was a musician, and my feelings about this play in particular aren't any different based on the movie version. Burrows had the kind of wit that could be unobtrusive, not cutesy, the kind of thing you could compare to the greats of the previous generation like Lorenz Hart and Ira Gershwin. Loesser's music is good enough, but not particularly special in and of itself here.A very well made movie, I don't know how close it is to the show because I don't know very much about the show. But at the very least this film made me want to know more. And I wonder why Robert Morse isn't in more movies? I've been informed he's doing television these days at least.

Poseidon-3 A popular hit on Broadway, the film version has much to offer, even though some of the songs were reassigned or left out. Morse plays a scamp who picks up (the real life!) book "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." He goes from a window washer to a high-level executive at the World Wide Wicket Company in record (make that farcical) time. Referring to the book for advice he plays out scenario after scenario to his advantage, ruthlessly clawing his way to the top (much to the consternation of fellow worker and management relative Teague) while stopping occasionally for a flirtation with pretty Lee, a secretary with the firm. Eventually (and predictably), however, he realizes that success in business isn't all there is to life. The world this film takes place in is a day-glo, candy-confection dream-scape in which everyone is clean, neat, stylish and always ready to break into song or dance. Morse, whose stage version of this character was somewhat less sympathetic and more driven, has here the role of his career. He perfectly suits the goofy, ambitious, resourceful part he was given to play. Lee is appealing and talented, with a very nice singing voice. Oddly, she receives some questionable lighting, at times having a shadow over her face and with catch-lights in only one eye during her solo. This is something she would more than take care of during her 12 year run on "Knots Landing", infamous for its flattering lights. Vallee appears to good effect as the preoccupied president of the company. Arthur provides plenty of pneumatic comic relief as his curvy, air-headed, yet resourceful, mistress. She's a sort of goofy blend of Carol Channing, Marilyn Monroe and Gracie Allen. Teague gives a broad, but enthusiastic performance. Hobart, who plays a stern employee with a secret soft spot, would later turn up as a bus driver in "Dirty Harry'! The musical numbers tend to be dispersed fairly evenly among the cast, with many folks getting a crack at a song rather than the leads getting most of them. There's a lot of ensemble work, both in the songs and in the impressively staged (by Fosse) dances. Sadly, one of the memorable dances from the stage show – "Coffee Break" – was eliminated from the finished picture due to a quality issue with the film. Another, "A Secretary is Not a Toy" should drop the jaws of some modern-day audience members with its jubilant incorrectness. The script begins to overstay its welcome and veer off into tiresome subplots, but overall it's a pretty lively and entertaining affair. The opening shots of a shimmering and vintage New York City are to be treasured.