The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
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A naive business graduate is installed as the president of a manufacturing company as part of a ruthless stock scam.
The story
In December 1958, Norville Barnes, a business college graduate from Muncie, Indiana, arrives in New York City looking for work and becomes a mailroom clerk at Hudsucker Industries. Following the unexpected suicide of the company's founder, a ruthless board member named Sidney J. Mussburger devises a scheme to buy the company's controlling interest by hiring an incompetent president to depress the stock price. Believing Norville to be an idiot, Mussburger selects him as a proxy. Meanwhile, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter named Amy Archer obtains a job as Norville's secretary to investigate his character, unaware of the corporate conspiracy unfolding around them.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In December 1958, Norville Barnes, a business college graduate from Muncie, Indiana, arrives in New York City and becomes a mailroom clerk at Hudsucker Industries. After the founder, Waring Hudsucker, commits suicide, board member Sidney J. Mussburger hires Norville as a proxy president to depress the company's stock price. Norville accidentally pitches a drawing of a circle, which the company produces as the hula-hoop. The invention becomes a massive success, making Norville an uncaring tycoon. Amy Archer, a reporter posing as his secretary, leaves him in disgust. The board then tries to produce a 'Buzz-sucker' (bendy straw) but fails. Mussburger eventually reveals Amy's identity to Norville and plans to have Norville committed to a psychiatric hospital. On New Year's Eve, Norville escapes a mob and climbs the Hudsucker skyscraper. He falls from the ledge, but the building's clock freezes time. Waring Hudsucker appears as an angel and tells Norville to read the 'Blue Letter,' which reveals Hudsucker's intent to transfer shares to his successor, not the public. Norville survives the fall, reconciles with Amy, and eventually invents the frisbee while Mussburger ends up in an asylum.
- First release year
- 1994
- Runtime (minutes)
- 111
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Joel Coen
- Writers
- Ethan Coen · writer; Joel Coen · writer; Sam Raimi · writer
- Cast and characters
- Tim Robbins · Norville Barnes; Jennifer Jason Leigh · Amy Archer; Paul Newman · Sidney J. Mussburger; Jim True · Clarence "Buzz" Gunderson; Bill Cobbs · Moses; Harry Bugin · Aloysius; Bruce Campbell · Smitty; John Mahoney · Al
- Genres
- screwball comedy
- Themes
- Capitalism versus labour economics; Karma; Rota Fortunae
- Tone and mood
- Screwball comedy; Sentimental; Satirical
- Setting
- New York City in December 1958
- Premise and plot tags
- Big Business; Corporate Conspiracy; Stock Scam; Invention Success
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, but it has since gained a cult following.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 61% · review count: 56; Metacritic · score: 53 · scale: 100 · review count: 19; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A to F
- Awards and nominations
- Palme d'Or · Competition · Lost
- Production trivia
- The film's circle motif was built into the design of the movie.; The production designer was influenced by fascist architecture, particularly the work of Albert Speer.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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