Musicals Blog

How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying

by Claire J Rottenberg


"How to Succeed in Business" was a huge success on Broadway, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1962. It opened on Broadway in 1961 and it ran for 1,417 performances. The play won 7 Tony awards, including the awards for Best Musical, Best Author of a Musical (Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert), Best Composer (Frank Loesser), and Best Direction of a Musical (Abe Burrows).

In 1967, a film version of "How to Succeed" was made and it should have been a success, but it wasn't nominated for any Academy Awards and it has become, unfortunately, a forgotten film. The movie starred several members of the original Broadway cast, including Robert Morse in his Tony winning performance as Pierpont Finch andRudy Vallee. Other cast members of the film who also appeared in the stage version were Michelle Lee as the female lead, Rosemary, Sammy Smith as Twimble and Ruth Kobart as Miss Jones.

The movie version of "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" is a delight. Robert Morse is absolutely perfect in what has become his signature role and the supporting cast, comprised of primarily stage performers, is excellent. The movie eliminated six songs from the original Broadway production, most of which were sung by the female lead. It's a shame they weren't included in the movie since Michelle Lee has a lovely singing voice. Unlike so many other films of the 1960s, "How to Succeed" did not dub, or need to dub, the singing voices of any members of the cast.

"How to Succeed" is a wonderful spoof of the business world and it is filled with good songs, including "I Believe in You," great dancing (Bob Fosse was the choreographer) and some very funny scenes. Although it's not a great film, it certainly deserved more recognition than it received. If you haven't seen it, now might be the perfect time to buy or rent a copy and relax and enjoy yourself for a couple of hours with a good musical with great performances and plenty of fun.

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