Search - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1967 DVD Release: 04/18/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 1 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 3 Genres: Comedy, Musical, Musical Comedy, Workplace Comedy

Robert Morse recreated his Tony-winning stage role in this 1967 film version of Frank Loesser's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical. A humble window washer at the New York offices of World Wide Wickets, J. Pierpont Finch applies the lessons he's learned from a book called How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to wangle his way to the top of the executive heap. Though advised by the mailroom supervisor (Sammy Smith) to keep a low profile and play things "The Company Way," Finch follows his own skewed set of rules, endearing himself to bombastic company president J. B. Biggely (Rudy Vallee) by posing as a graduate of Grand Old Ivy, Biggely's alma mater. As he climbs to the top, Finch manages to dispose of an over-amorous rival by arranging a tryst between that rival and curvaceous secretary Hedy LaRue (Maureen Arthur)--who happens to be Biggely's live-in girlfriend. Finch also gets rid of the troublesome Mr. Ovington (Murray Matheson) by exposing the latter as an alumnus of Old Ivy's hated rival university. Graduating to vice-president, Finch feels secure enough to sing the show's one genuine love song "I Believe In You"--to himself! Actually, he's really in love with true-blue secretary Rosemary (Michele Lee), but won't admit to this until he suffers a career setback. Most of Loesser's songs survived the transition from stage to screen, with the exception of "Paris Original," which is heard merely as background music. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Morse - J. Pierpont Finch
Michele Lee - Rosemary Pilkington
Rudy Vallee - Jasper B. Biggley
Anthony Teague - Bud Frump
Maureen Arthur - Hedy LaRue

In the time of its release, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was a rarity, a late '60s musical that was not of epic length, its 121-minute running time making it downright bite-sized next to such gargantuan entertainments as Hello, Dolly! and Oliver! It's also one of a handful of 1960s musicals that has retained its spring and snap without being consigned to the deadening reverence of being labeled a "classic" -- in other words, more than almost any of its other attributes, it's fun. And the DVD, though lacking special features of any kind, retains the essence of the film and all of the fun. The breezy pacing of David Swift's direction, and the excellent use of location footage of New York City in the opening section survive the transfer to the small screen beautifully -- this isn't the best looking movie that one is likely ever to see in DVD, even from its own period, but given that the picture was shot in Deluxe Color, which is notorious for not holding up over time, it does look damn good, and the disc producers have taken care to transfer the sound at a decent volume. Indeed, if one compares this disc to, say, the late-'90s vintage DVD of West Side Story from the same company, the differences are like night and day -- there's no serious lack of vocal or musical presence on this disc. There are no special features other than the original trailer, which is presented full-screen. The movie is letterboxed in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, capturing the original anamorphic Panavision image intact, and has been given 28 chapters, marking off each song and production number and all of the accompanying major plot points. And pricing is still one of the joys of DVD for longtime high-end video enthusiasts -- How to Succeed in Business was available on laserdisc for 40 dollars in the early '90s; the MGM/UA DVD lists for 20 dollars and looks better, avoiding all of the visual anomalies that used to afflict laserdisc playback. It's a bargain anyway one looks at it, and the only pity is that MGM/UA didn't get David Swift (who passed away in 2001, but had done narrative tracks for his Disney movies The Parent Trap and Pollyanna), Robert Morse, or Michele Lee, and perhaps even Cy Feuer, who produced the stage version, for an audio commentary track -- that would have been worth an extra five dollars, and would have done this disc 100 percent right, instead of getting it 90 percent of the way home. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide