NekoHomey
Purely Joyful Movie!
ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Kaydan Christian
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
big_O_Other
This film is very well done. But I have to say that as it has the 1946 date, and came out in 1947, it was done before the big 'purge' that started in 1948. After that year, Hollywood felt it had to knuckle under to the new political agendas of our nation, and could no longer lightly or even comically criticize big business tycoon, Madison Avenue or the new 'religion' that held making money was all.The performances of all the stars, from Gable to Gardner, but especially Kerr are exceptional; every possible nuance of their responses to each other is made very clear, and yet one cannot know in the course of the film just where it will be going. Keenan Wynn's small role is incredibly well done. I'd never seen it till it appeared recently on TCM. Bravo to them for screening it.
Dan
Suave ad man makes his biggest pitch...to himself. Or some such sappy nonsense.OK, this movie is strictly a star vehicle (which must have rankled the author of the original novel, who was trying to make a serious point), and as a result it suffers from the usual limitations. But when the star is Clark Gable, and he's at the top of his form, the movie is bound to be worth watching. The story is ostensibly a drama, but except for the stifling "passionate" scenes with Deborah Kerr (who admittedly isn't given much in the script to work with), the tone is more comedy than drama. Lots of fine supporting performances from Menjou, Greenstreet, Gardner and a Keenan Wynn so young it's difficult to recognize him.The storyline is pretty weak (as in, bowdlerized), and the premise about the annoying nature of entertainment and advertising, however accurate, is itself presented in an annoying way. (Although it is satisfying to see Ava Gardner snap off the radio in disgust.) But the storyline is of secondary importance in a movie like this. The heart of the movie is in Gable's interaction with the other stars, and he really shines. He gets a phone call early on from what is obviously last night's bedmate, and the one-sided conversation must have been pushing the bounds of movie-making respectability at the time. Maybe in the postwar years they were trying to loosen things up a bit.Throw in a classic fancy nightclub scene, offices that featured those low two-foot-tall walls with little swinging doors (what was that all about?), a seaside resort that was obviously a philanderer's hideaway (shocking!), a boss with a New York City mansion and an Eleanor Roosevelt-ish wife, references to a sport jacket, tie, white shirt and slacks as "casual dress", a young man just out of the military and broke, but able to afford a swanky hotel with his own personal valet, and of course Sidney Greentstreet as a comic corporate villain in a silly ultra-high-backed chair that passed for a kind of throne, and I think you have just about every delightful 1940's Hollywood cliché ever dreamed up.If you like the 1940's style of movie-making and you like star vehicles with lots of supporting stars, you're bound to get some jollies from this movie.
MartinHafer
This film is a very cynical look at the advertising business. Gable plays a slick liar who could charm the stripes off a snake who sets out to charm a widow for his own ends. However, over time he grows to hate himself and his sleazy business--ultimately culminating with a confrontation with the revolting and incredibly disgusting Sidney Greenstreet! Speaking of Mr. Greenstreet, he is FABULOUS in the film as the president from a soap factory with no soul. You MUST see the segment when he is first introduced, as it is one of the most memorable and disgusting scenes in the 1940s! You gotta see it to believe it! Also notable is the performance of a young Keenan Wynn as an obnoxious and untalented star. He does a good job of being annoying!
S Srikant
Excellent portrayals by Clark Gable, Deborah Kerr and Sydney Greenstreet and an unusual background of life in the corporate advertising world, make this movie an enjoyable and memorable comedy and romance mix. Also has Ava Gardner playing an important but minor role.