Rhapsodies

 This week I watched comedies about business. (Or at least I thought I did.)

The first on my list,David Swift’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,  direct adaptation of the stage musical the same name which in turn is based on the parody self-help book by  Shepherd Mead’s, tells the story of J. Pierrepont Finch (Robert Morse) a window washer who has just bought the eponymous book and decides to start fresh and get a job in a big company. (Specifically one big and manic enough that he will not be noticed as he climbs the ladder.) From there, using the advice of the book, his gift of being a good listener, people skills and general trickiness, begins to schmooze his way to the top. But how high will he go? 

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with one of those musicals that, as a fan of musicals, I’ve been aware of for years. What little I knew about it was negligible, because the soundtrack had not impressed me very much. However, while I still think there are still only about three songs in the movie that I actually really like, it had a good story and was one of the better stagings of a musical on film in a while. (admittedly the last musical to film I had seen this Carousel which is not a good example) the musical numbers did a wonderful job tiptoeing around reality making the more theatrical elements much more convincing (considering the choreography was one of the early works of Bob Fosse I shouldn’t have been surprised.) Perhaps there was a few too many close-ups in the middle musical number but the way the camera and choreography worked together makes up for this. The best part, I thought was Morse’s performance as Pierrepont who exists somewhere between the archetypes of the trickster and the fool. Watching his expressions as he desperately improvises, impressing his superiors is one of the pleasures of watching this film. 

The next film on my list, John Swanbeck’s  The Big Kahuna, an adaptation of Roger Reuff’s play Hospitality Suite, takes place in a hotel in Wichita Kansas where three marketing people are attending a trade show for industrial lubricants and running their company’s hospitality suite. Two of them are old friends, Larry, (Kevin Kline), and  Phil, (Danny DeVito) both burnt out veterans who have given their lives to the company and Bob (Peter Facinelli), an eager young Christian from the company’s research department, who doesn’t know any better yet. 

From here we watch them argue about things like the room they were given, the choices they’ve made in life and loyalty. The biggest concern they have is how to make contact with the most valuable contact at the convention a man referred to Larry and Phil as the big kahuna. 

I’m not sure what I thought about this movie. Yes, I was told it was a comedy and yes, there’s plenty of humor in it, but it’s a comedy the way Waiting for Godot is a Comedy. Sure you can laugh, but the big picture is there over your head and you can’t escape. Normally, I like film adaptation’s of small plays, but this one just came off as dry for me. My favorite performance came from Danny DeVito, playing wonderfully against type, as the brunt out and depressed Phil.