The Hucksters (1947)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Jack Conway

Writers:

Frederic Wakeman (novel)
Luther Davis (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 August 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Love That Gable ! Love That Girl, Kerr (who rhymes with star) !

Plot:

Victor Norman is just out of the service and looking for a job in advertising. By playing hard to get...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Advertising | Based On Novel

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Victor Albee Norman
Deborah Kerr	...	Kay Dorrance
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Evan Llewellyn Evans
Adolphe Menjou	...	Mr. Kimberly
Ava Gardner	...	Jean Ogilvie
Keenan Wynn	...	Buddy Hare
Edward Arnold	...	David 'Dave' Lash
Aubrey Mather	...	Mr. Glass, Valet
Richard Gaines	...	Cooke
Frank Albertson	...	Max Herman
Douglas Fowley	...	Georgie Gaver
Clinton Sundberg	...	Michael Michaelson
Gloria Holden	...	Mrs. Kimberly
Connie Gilchrist	...	Betty - Switchboard Operator
Kathryn Card	...	Miss Regina Kennedy

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #12336)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This picture marked the American film debut of British actress Deborah Kerr.

Quotes:

Clerk: Anything?
Victor Albee Norman: I want a very sincere necktie.
Clerk: I beg your pardon?
Victor Albee Norman: I want something that makes me seem sincere. You know, honest; genuine; upright; trustworthy.
Clerk: Well... um, here's a handpainted one in four colors; at thirty-five dollars. Is that sincere enough?
Victor Albee Norman: I think, my friend, any more sincerity would be downright foolhardy.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in The Ducksters (1950)

Soundtrack:

Don't Tell Me

Ad Man's Progress

The Hucksters has a lot of good clean fun with the advertising business of the 1940's. Clark Gable, newly discharged from the service, returns to his old haunts as an ad man and finds himself involved with two women, a tyrannical client, and an obnoxious, not too talented radio comedian. This is high class melodrama, and has some pretty good satirical moments, though I don't think that the guys who wrote it were as smart as they thought they were, it's a decent, watchable movie.

One can see Gable slipping into middle age here, and though he seems spry enough, he's clearly not the man he was five years earlier, and I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner are attractive if otherwise unremarkable as the women in his life. Sidney Greenstreet does a nice turn as the sinister, demanding client. Keenan Wynn's the one to watch here, as the (so-called) comedian Gable must contend with; and he does a smashing job, managing to be pathetic, sympathetic and obnoxious all at once, not, I imagine, an easy thing for an actor to do.

Worth keeping an eye out for: excellent production values from MGM's art department in its glory years. Marvelous sets, expert lighting. The movie is a pleasure to look at, if not always to listen to.