The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Ethan Coen (written by) &
Joel Coen (written by) ...

Release Date:

11 March 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

A Comedy of Invention.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Deus Ex Machina | Suicide Attempt | Mental Hospital | Pneumatic Tube | Clock

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Hudsucker - Der große Sprung (Germany)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

UK | Germany | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:L | USA:PG (No. 32848) | Brazil:12 | South Korea:15 | France:U | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10 | Germany:6 | Italy:T | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

Trivia:

In Raising Arizona (1987) (also directed by Joel Coen), factory workers could be seen wearing a uniform bearing the name "Hudsucker Industries". The Chief also says "Yeah, and if a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump it's ass a-hoppin", just as Nathan Arizona Sr did.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Dr. Bronfenbrenner's film of Norville's psychiatric session begins with a SMPTE Universal leader that counts down from 8 to 2. This type of film leader wasn't developed until the 1960s. The film would have actually had either an Academy leader counting from 11 to 3 with black film in between or one of the brand new (for the late 1950s) SMPTE Society leaders that counted from 11 to 3 but had focusing cross hairs, rather than black film, between the numbers.

Quotes:

Norville: You know, for kids.

Movie Connections:

References The Informer (1935)

Soundtrack:

Memories Are Made Of This

You know.. for kids!

I have to admit, there aren't many movies that warrant a 10 rating from me, but this is absolutely one of them.

Something about the film just works. The Coens are geniuses when it comes to making movies that I really can enjoy. I admit, I first saw "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?" and loved it so much. I had no idea this was by them too, and had I not seen a "Making of" on a show on Discovery years ago that showed how the scene where they fall off the building was done, I probably wouldn't have ever decided to TiVo this fine film.

The direction technique, acting, jokes, everything just works. This is the kind of movie that stands out in the crowd, makes me want to buy it on DVD and show it to everyone I know just to make them see what people miss when they read reviews by people like Siskel and Ebert, who gave it two thumbs down, but don't give a reason on their site.

Other movies I would recommend are O, Brother (Also directed by the Coen's) and Army of Darkness, which, maybe coincidentally, stars Bruce Campbell who plays a reporter in this movie. Bruce is his same old self. he has a presence, and is great in the few scenes he's in.

Tim Robbins is wonderfully cast as the lead in this role.

The elevator operator lent a wonderful character to the movie.

The two Cab drivers in the Café who perform the "I got gas" Bromo commercial type bit, were great narrating Norville's encounter with Amy.

The guy in the News room creating the Crossword puzzle with a Scrabble set asking people questions for clues. "The guy's a real moron, as in a five-letter word for Imbecile."

The music, oh, the music is wonderfully suited to the film.

There isn't one part of this movie I didn't like, honestly. I could watch it quite a few times before I got sick of it, then take a break, then come back and watch it again.

Highly recommended.