The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen,

Stars:

Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, Jennifer Jason Leigh

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tim Robbins	...	Norville Barnes
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Amy Archer
Paul Newman	...	Sidney J. Mussburger
Charles Durning	...	Waring Hudsucker
John Mahoney	...	Chief
Jim True-Frost	...	Buzz (as Jim True)
Bill Cobbs	...	Moses
Bruce Campbell	...	Smitty
Harry Bugin	...	Aloysius
John Seitz	...	Benny
Joe Grifasi	...	Lou
Roy Brocksmith	...	Board Member
John Wylie	...	Board Member
I.M. Hobson	...	Board Member
Gary Allen	...	Board Member

Storyline

When Waring Hudsucker, head of hugely successful Hudsucker Industries, commits suicide, his board of directors, led by Sidney Mussberger, comes up with a brilliant plan to make a lot of money: appoint a moron to run the company. When the stock falls low enough, Sidney and friends can buy it up for pennies on the dollar, take over the company, and restore its fortunes. They choose idealistic Norville Barnes, who just started in the mail room. Norville is whacky enough to drive any company to ruin, but soon, tough reporter Amy Archer smells a rat and begins an undercover investigation of Hudsucker Industries.

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Plot Keywords:

Stock | Industry | Suicide | Mail | Reporter | 

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Taglines:

They took him for a fall guy... but he threw them for a hoop.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements

Details

Country:

UK Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 March 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

El gran salto

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$2,869,369 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, PolyGram Filmproduktion, Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The familiar, quick-tempo song heard when the children are making a mad dash to the toy store to buy the Hula-Hoops is called "Sabre Dance". It was written by Aram Khachaturian and is featured in his ballet, "Gayane". The song is often associated with juggling acts and such.

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Goofs

When Norville is in the mail-room, telling the old mail-sorter about his invention, Norville holds up the drawing, and you can see Norville's lips are not moving when he says his line: "Yes siree... This is my ticket up upstairs."

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Quotes

[first lines]
Moses the Clock Man: That's right. New York. Nineteen fifty eight.

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Crazy Credits

The foregoing was a fictional account of the development of the HULA HOOP® and the characters bear no resemblance to any real person or business concern. The HULA HOOP® was actually developed by the founders of the toy company WHAM-O®, a true American success story. WHAM-O® was subsequently responsible for the development of the FRISBEE® and numerous other toy products.

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Connections

Referenced in 100 Years of Comedy (1997)
Mentioned in film.

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Soundtracks

"Flying Home"
By Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton
Courtesy of Regent Music Corporation/Jewel Music Publishing Co., Inc.
Performed by Duke Ellington
Courtesy of Blue Note Records
A division of Capitol Records, Inc.
Under license from CEMA Special Markets

User Reviews

You do need "double stitch" if you don't want to fall down!

Like several of the Coen brother's movies this one pays tribute to an era of cinematic achievement long past. And as always it is more than just a plot or an idea but an inspiring search for the meaning of life. In this case the story is maybe a bit too much like a Cartoon, and somehow I feel the Coens fell into a kind of a "nostalgia trap" here. My suspicion is they just had a little too much money at their disposal and fell in love with the wonderful equipment, the real and virtual set design and the wardrobe (technically and aesthetically the movie is as masterful as any of Coens‘s movies). So maybe someone should tell the Coens‘s investors: Give them less money and they will turn any idea into a timeless feature that will bring in profits for decades.

Movie buffs might enjoy comparing Hudsucker Proxy with Capra movies or John Farrow's The Big Clock. It seems the makers of Hudsucker wanted to charge every scene with symbolic meaning. It is too much: the overall story is simplistic and rests on spindly legs. The heavy set design and the opulent epic style bring it to its knees. I felt a little sorry for Jennifer Jason Leigh. Her performance is terrific, but the script gives her only few good moments. She talks like a machine gun in the manner of the most sophisticated Screwball comedies.

What makes this movie worth watching are small episodes that contain grains of wisdom. Best of all is the unforgettable "double stitch" incident (I will not give it away), a kind of a filmic parable that proves the Coens's brilliance. The use of a conference room table as a jumping board is an equally beautiful and very well directed scene, the repetition of it with an alternative ending really had me in (double) stitches.