Madison Avenue

Well, I must admit that I watched this movie, only because it is the last one directed by the bland and lame director Bruce Humberstone, who was far more inspired by this CHARLIE CHAN movies, back in the thirties, and some other features in the meantime: FURY AT FURNACE CREEK. His only and unique masterpiece was I WAKE UP SCREAMING, of course, and I have a bit tenderness for SOUTH SEA SINNER and the several Tarzan adventures he also made in the late fifties. So, I am totally amazed that he was involved in such a sophisticated drama speaking of business, business and business, where glamor shines by its superb absence.... What the f....happened to him, regarding to his filmography? Imagine John Ford finishing his career with a musical...But Henry Hathaway ended his with a lousy Blaxploitation movie.

Dana Andrews is an ambitious public relations man in "Madison Avenue," a 1962 film that also stars Eleanor Parker, Jeanne Crain, Eddie Albert, Kathleen Freeman, Howard St. John and Henry Daniell. By 1962, this was no longer an A cast, and this is a second tier film at best. Andrews romances reporter Peggy Shannon (Crain) and public relations firm owner Anne Tremaine (Parker) as he makes his way up the corporate ladder with the goal of landing a huge milk account away from his old boss. He becomes the puppet holding the strings of the head of the company (Albert) and, in a desperate attempt to keep the account, pimps out Anne to him in a not too subtle scene.

Though a '62 film, it's made in black and white and feels like a '50s movie - possibly because corporate ambition was a '50s topic with films like "Executive Suite" and "Woman's World." The acting is good but the story is slow in spots, and I felt at the end like the writer just decided to stop writing. The whole thing was kind of a shrug without enough bite or top level stars to make it really powerful.

Is it worth seeing? Yes, Andrews is solid, it's always worth it to see Parker and the always beautiful Crain, and a delight to see character actor Henry Daniell so late in his career. It's mildly entertaining, which is more than I can say about a lot of films made today.

This obscure (at least until the Fox Movie Network unearthed it recently) drama revolving around the advertising world pales in comparison to other movies featuring corporate intrigue like "Executive Suite" and "Patterns". Andrews plays a hot shot ad exec who's too bright for his own good, which gets him canned by his employer. Seeking revenge, he decides to use every trick he can think of to climb to the top and steal away his former employer's biggest account. Along the way he uses and sometimes abuses a variety of people. The film is not quite as exciting as this description may lead one to believe. Andrews (never the most expressive of actors) gives a pretty straightforward performance with little creativity or style. Crain plays an on-again/off-again squeeze of Andrews. She is in just slightly over her head as the calculating and worldly character, but comes out fairly well. Parker has, perhaps, the showiest role as a partner to Andrews. She goes from glum and drab to ultra-sophisticated and gorgeous in just a day or so under his tutelage. (Oddly, there is no credited costume designer even though she sports one particular stunning ensemble and the film has an array of suits and dresses throughout that SOMEONE had to have worked on!) Albert effectively plays a child-like dunderhead who is built up by Andrews as a tool for greater power. The great Daniell is shamelessly wasted in a tiny part as a curmudgeonly executive, but manages to impress despite this. The inimitable Freeman has a nice little part as a secretary. The film is as slick as the sort of ads it purports to ruminate about. Unusual for a movie about advertising, there is never so much as a glimpse of any artwork or campaign designs. Instead, there's a horrid little ditty called the Milk Song sung in harmony by three ladies dressed in what appear to be Crain's old costumes from 1945's "State Fair". These chickadees chirp their sweet little song as a row of ad execs glow with appreciation. Yeah.....It's a real jungle out there! Though watchable, the film doesn't really catch fire and the various names of the businessmen become confusing at times since the script is so pedestrian. Attempts at shorthand, snappy dialogue often just leave the viewer wondering what the characters are even talking about. (A plot like this shouldn't be so hard to follow!) "Bewitched" viewers may get a lift out of seeing White ("Mr. Tate") in a straight role.

The mark of 6 out of ten refers to the quality of the DVD and not the actual film. The quality of the print of this Fox MOD DVD for this interesting film is not bad but has unfortunately "been modified to fit your screen". Too bad Fox took the cheap and easy way out. That being said,if you put your screen to zoom it does not seem as badly stretched as with most other films. When you watch the opening credits, without the zoom on, you can see that their is indeed a problem. As this will probably be the best we can expect for any type of authorized DVD release, it is still worth a purchase. It is just too bad that this black and white cinemascope film could not have been presented in all it's natural glory.

Curiously sedate and middle-of-the-road drama about cutthroat big business in the ad agency game. Dana Andrews plays hot-shot, ambitious public relations whiz in New York City who sees a fast track to the top: build up a second-string advertising firm in league with a dairy subsidiary to his largest account, Associated Dairy Corp., thereby giving himself an entrance to the big money when the time is right. Eleanor Parker plays the struggling agency's president-by-default who gets a make-over; Jeanne Crain plays a "jilted girl reporter" who may be trying to stab sometime-boyfriend Andrews in the back. This is one of many films which teamed Andrews with Crain, and they are very comfortable together, but the other performers fare much better with this minor material. Parker, in particular, brings some real flair to her role, Eddie Albert is very good as a befuddled corporation head, and Kathleen Freeman is terrific as the world's most efficient secretary. There's a bit of bounce in the direction and a terrific score by Harry Sukman, yet one gets the distinct feeling this was just a throwaway flick for 20th Century-Fox. The set designs (with a fetish for ships) and the art direction are dull, and the movie seems underpopulated and cumbersome. ** from ****