Somewhat reminds me of "Death of a Salesman", which wouldn't appear on stage and later screen until a couple of years later. To me, who has never been substantially associated with salesmanship or the advertisement industry, they both come across as often rather soulless occupations, especially if you know that what you are selling or advertising is inferior to your pitch, or to competing products. And that is one of the points of this film.
In the film, Evan Evans : 'The Beautee Soap King', claims that there are no real differences between soap bars, except color and fragrance : "Soap is soap". Advertising is the key to which soap the public will buy. My wife would certainly disagree with that pronouncement. Fragrance is important to her very sensitive nose. Other characteristics are also important to her, including whether it's on sale. Remember that Ivory soap long ago became popular because it floated and was white, supporting the contention that it was 99 and 44/100% pure. Of course, the fact that it floats in a tub of water is much less important today when most people take a shower rather than sit in a tub, and clothes now are washed by detergents, not bar soap.
This film was an adaptation of the recent best-selling book of the same title. I haven't read it, but I understand that it was a harder hitting critique of the advertisement industry. Actually, this film is more a critique of one particular nasty, tyrannical, corporate boss, in the person of Evan Evans, as well played by Sydney Greenstreet, and the constant fear he brought to the CEO of the company which did his advertisements, in the person of Mr. Kimberly, well played by the charismatic Adolphe Menjou. Kimberly Sheppard's Clark Gable, as Victor Norman, is trying to reestablish himself as an advertising executive, after having just been discharged from the armed services.
I suspect the romance angle is given more emphasis than in the book. In the book, the main woman Norman romances is married. The Hollywood censorship board wouldn't allow that. Thus, Deborah Kerr's character: Kay Dorrance, is characterized as the upper-class British widow of a general, whom Gable meets rather early in the film, in connection with his job advertising Beautee Soap. His other sometimes girlfriend is played by cute Ava Gardner. Although Ava and Deborah were both in their mid-twenties, Deborah seemed to me to be 10 years older, the romance of her character with Gable proceeding gradually, as she was very conservative in that way. In the middle, they had a falling out when Gable arranged for their separate rooms at the Blue Penguin hotel, in nearby Conn to be far apart. But, the manager put them next to each other, with adjoining door. Gable should have nixed that, but didn't complain loud enough. Thus, when Kerr arrived separately, by taxi, when she discovered this arrangement, she didn't even seek out Gable, returning to her taxi and NYC. This was a sore point for a while, but eventually, Kerr broke down, and they reconciled. Incidentally, there actually is a so -called Blue Penguin, that lives in N. Z. There's also actually a Blue Penguin hotel on the Conn shore, not far from NYC. But! It wasn't built until 2009!, possibly as a replacement for a destroyed original?
The climax begins as Evans calls for a conference at 2AM, Sunday morning: just as Gable is returning from Hollywood: not a good sign. Unexpectedly, Evans congratulates Gable on the Beautee Soap-sponsored radio show he arranged in Hollywood. He is offered a job for $35,000./year(very generous for the times). But, unexpectedly, he turns it down. Not only that, but he lambasts Evans for his tyrannical behavior, in general. At the end of his speech, he says something about "You're all wet", and pours a pitcher of water on Even's head, in mimicry of Evan's previous statement that "You're all wet", before pouring the pitcher of water on the conference table. To me, that is the high point of the film! He then walks out and gets in Kerr's car, giving her the bad news. She tries to cheer him up, saying it's better if he does something he likes, even if he doesn't make a ton of money, for a quasi-happy ending.
As with most of Gable's films, you can see this free at YouTube. .............. Ava Gardner would get two more chances to costar with Gable, in 1952's "Lone Star", and '53's "Mogambo", having to share the latter with Grace Kelly.
In the film, Evan Evans : 'The Beautee Soap King', claims that there are no real differences between soap bars, except color and fragrance : "Soap is soap". Advertising is the key to which soap the public will buy. My wife would certainly disagree with that pronouncement. Fragrance is important to her very sensitive nose. Other characteristics are also important to her, including whether it's on sale. Remember that Ivory soap long ago became popular because it floated and was white, supporting the contention that it was 99 and 44/100% pure. Of course, the fact that it floats in a tub of water is much less important today when most people take a shower rather than sit in a tub, and clothes now are washed by detergents, not bar soap.
This film was an adaptation of the recent best-selling book of the same title. I haven't read it, but I understand that it was a harder hitting critique of the advertisement industry. Actually, this film is more a critique of one particular nasty, tyrannical, corporate boss, in the person of Evan Evans, as well played by Sydney Greenstreet, and the constant fear he brought to the CEO of the company which did his advertisements, in the person of Mr. Kimberly, well played by the charismatic Adolphe Menjou. Kimberly Sheppard's Clark Gable, as Victor Norman, is trying to reestablish himself as an advertising executive, after having just been discharged from the armed services.
I suspect the romance angle is given more emphasis than in the book. In the book, the main woman Norman romances is married. The Hollywood censorship board wouldn't allow that. Thus, Deborah Kerr's character: Kay Dorrance, is characterized as the upper-class British widow of a general, whom Gable meets rather early in the film, in connection with his job advertising Beautee Soap. His other sometimes girlfriend is played by cute Ava Gardner. Although Ava and Deborah were both in their mid-twenties, Deborah seemed to me to be 10 years older, the romance of her character with Gable proceeding gradually, as she was very conservative in that way. In the middle, they had a falling out when Gable arranged for their separate rooms at the Blue Penguin hotel, in nearby Conn to be far apart. But, the manager put them next to each other, with adjoining door. Gable should have nixed that, but didn't complain loud enough. Thus, when Kerr arrived separately, by taxi, when she discovered this arrangement, she didn't even seek out Gable, returning to her taxi and NYC. This was a sore point for a while, but eventually, Kerr broke down, and they reconciled. Incidentally, there actually is a so -called Blue Penguin, that lives in N. Z. There's also actually a Blue Penguin hotel on the Conn shore, not far from NYC. But! It wasn't built until 2009!, possibly as a replacement for a destroyed original?
The climax begins as Evans calls for a conference at 2AM, Sunday morning: just as Gable is returning from Hollywood: not a good sign. Unexpectedly, Evans congratulates Gable on the Beautee Soap-sponsored radio show he arranged in Hollywood. He is offered a job for $35,000./year(very generous for the times). But, unexpectedly, he turns it down. Not only that, but he lambasts Evans for his tyrannical behavior, in general. At the end of his speech, he says something about "You're all wet", and pours a pitcher of water on Even's head, in mimicry of Evan's previous statement that "You're all wet", before pouring the pitcher of water on the conference table. To me, that is the high point of the film! He then walks out and gets in Kerr's car, giving her the bad news. She tries to cheer him up, saying it's better if he does something he likes, even if he doesn't make a ton of money, for a quasi-happy ending.
As with most of Gable's films, you can see this free at YouTube. .............. Ava Gardner would get two more chances to costar with Gable, in 1952's "Lone Star", and '53's "Mogambo", having to share the latter with Grace Kelly.