How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

This 1967 big screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical is a satire of big business, corporate culture, and sexism in the workplace with a very ‘60s perspective. Robert Morse stars as J. Pierpont Finch, an ambitious window washer who follows the advice of the titular self-help book to rise through the ranks of the World Wide Wicket Company, and Rudy Vallee is the company's president, J.B. Biggley, an old school eccentric with a mistress, a coterie of spineless yes-men, and a secret passion for knitting. Both Morse and Vallee reprise their roles from the stage production, bringing a big, theatrical style to their screen performances, which fits the direction by David Swift. Morse, with his boyish face and brash personality, is an energetic protagonist who is oddly likable despite his scheming, particularly when he is compared to the backstabbing company men more concerned with protecting their position than actually running the company. Michelle Lee costars as a secretary who falls for Finch and helps him on his rise. The songs by Frank Loesser include the rousing "I Believe in You" (actually a sly paean to narcissism) and "A Secretary is Not a Toy" (a cartoonish commentary on sexual harassment). It's a snapshot of an era by way of a broad lampoon of stereotypes and caricatures, basically spoofing the same culture that Mad Men would take on decades later with a far more sophisticated approach (and it's surely no coincidence that the series cast Morse as their ad agency head honcho). Recommended. (S. Axmaker)