How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

The longer I watched the movie the more convinced I became that the world of business in 2006 is the same as it was in 1967. Robert Morse as J.P. Finch finds a self-help book that he uses as his guide to get ahead in the corporate world. Nothing different there than now. Go to any bookstore and there are an amazing number of "how to" books simply written and easily read (don't get me wrong, many are indeed very good).

J.P. Finch follows every page's instructions very carefully. He learns how to utilize people's weaknesses to promote himself. Along the way he sings several quite original songs that are quite entertaining and definitely add to the story.

It was evident that everyone making the movie was having a good time. Yet they took their roles seriously and did not overplay their roles. The comedy is high level and the satire is nothing less than brilliant.

What a great musical! Too bad only one song made the hit parade( I Believe in You) Michelle Lee's singing voice has the depth and range of Barbara Striesand....wish we could have heard more of it. Rudy Vallee was a gem...topped off a remarkable career --the Elvis of the 1920s! Get the DVD....it's a beautiful transfer!

One of the great satirical, musical comedies of the 60s. Robert Morse in the lead role is not unlike a sophisticated version of one of the Jerry Lewis characters of the same era - with the exception that he sings. And, he sings some wonderfully witty songs that must be very close to the bone in companies that take themselves too seriously. Sammy Smith is superb in his dual roles as the quarter of a century mail room head who "plays it the company way" and then later as Chairman Wally, the ex window washer. The lyrics will never date, along with the hammy caricatures of the self serving executives and staff. Not all stage musicals have translated well to the screen but How to Succeed is a noteworthy exception - highly recommended.

HOW TO Succeed IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING is the 1967 film version of the Pulitzer Prize winning 1960 Broadway musical that broke Broadway box office records and made a star out of Robert Morse. Morse was thankfully allowed to recreate his Broadway role in this exuberant film version as J. Pierpont Finch, an ambitious young window washer who, through the aid of the title book, cleverly manages to work his way up the corporate ladder at World Wide Wickets, Inc. Morse lights up the screen in the best role of his career. He sadly never really got a role of this caliber again and I've never been able to figure out why. He gives a smart and brassy performance and is well-supported by 20's crooner Rudy Vallee, also reprising his Broadway role as company president JB Biggley and Michele Lee as devoted secretary/girlfriend Rosemary Pilkington. There is also standout work by Anthony Teague as company brown-noser Bud Frump and Maureen Arthur as Miss La Rue, Biggley's outspoken mistress whose physicals assets clearly outweigh her secretarial skills. David Swift's fast-paced direction is a plus as is Bob Fosse's inventive choreography. Sadly, the original score has been severely tampered with and several great songs from the stage show have been cut, but we still have "How to", "The Company Way", "A Secretary is not a Toy", "It's been a long day", and the show's most famous song, "I Believe in You." A clever and entertaining screen adaptation of a classic Broadway musical.

I saw this movie on a local PBS station for the first time since it originally came out in the movies. I was only 10 at the time so I didn't get it and I remember not being crazy about it. ALthough the song "I believe in you" was a favorite of mine. I actually looked at the TV schedule to see what else was on. And I vowed to change the channel at 12, the coming hour. But a funny thing happened, I forgot about the other movie and I remained glued to the screen and saw it to the end. The movie is about a window washer who pledges to become a CEO within a short time by reading a "How To Book", hence the title. How delightful to see Michelle Lee singing..what a voice. I didn't remember her singing I Believe in You. Then we have Robert Morse. I was never a big fan of the slap stick comedy ala Jim Carrey Chevy Chase and Robin Wiliams. Robert Morse could give them all a few lessons on playing broad comedy without going over board. Rudy Vallee and the man who played Big Deal in West Side Story (one of my favorite musicals) were hilarious. He was the nephew of the CEO Vallee so we all know what type of character he was playing. We also have the CEO's bimbo girlfriend who wants to get out of the Secretary pool. She actually is not as dumb as we are suppose to think she is. It was a very upbeat funny movie. And for some reason I believe a lot of people in the business world probably know even less then the Robert Morse character, a window washer Maybe they should read the same type of book he was reading. This musical actually would be good if it was just the story. The book could stand on its own. I felt the same way about Carousel. Which deals with very serious issues. The music adds to the story which IMO separates a OK musicals from a great musical. This is a great musical. Oh beware a few songs were cut for the film. The Broadway musical was almost 3 hours, as a lot are. They have intermissions on Broadway. So they cut musical numbers from movie musicals. They did that with Guys and Dolls, one of the great songs at that. HTSIBWRT they cut the Coffee break scene, a great scene. So just as a caution to people who look at movie versions of Broadway musicals. Don't expect to see/hear all of the songs. It's a dumb practice because there are movies made now which are running 3 hours which have a whole lot less going for them then a Broadway musical.