NR | 1h 55m | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 1947
Some films about men returning from World War II deal specifically with the tribulations they go through while acclimating back to civilian life. Perhaps one of the finest examples is director William Wyler’s 1946 classic postwar drama, “The Best Years of Our Lives,” which followed the lives of several World War II veterans and their families.
Then there are other movies that don’t dwell on the troubles vets have adapting back to society. Produced a year after “Best Years,” 1947’s “The Hucksters” shows what happens when someone comes back from the battlefield firing (no pun intended) on all cylinders.
Clark Gable stars as Victor “Vic” Norman, who has just returned home after his service in World War II (which is eerily art imitating life, but more on that later). After getting a hotel room in New York, Vic sets his sights on returning to the same field he worked in before leaving for the war: radio advertising.
However, Vic’s approach to getting a job is interesting: He assumes a nonchalant attitude. His first job interview is with the CEO of the Kimberly Advertising Agency, Mr. Kimberly (Adolphe Menjou), whom he is already acquainted with. A clever game of wits ensues, where Vic doesn’t act too concerned about gaining employment and Kimberly acts equally coy about hiring him.
During the interview, someone calls Mr. Kimberly and gives him quite a tongue-lashing. The blowhard on the other end of the line is Evan Llewellyn Evans (Sydney Greenstreet), who runs Beautee Soap, the Kimberly Agency’s biggest client.
After the call, Vic pokes fun at Kimberly for acting so “scared” while talking with Evans. But since Beautee Soap “gives us nearly 10 million dollars a year,” Kimberly doesn’t want to upset his star client. Meanwhile, Vic’s wartime experiences have given him an unshakable confidence and candor that allow him to navigate the business world with uncanny deftness.
Kimberly takes Vic to see one of his main advertising executives, Cooke (Richard Gaines), who is about as frazzled as his boss with regard to dealing with Evans. After listening to the Kimberly Agency’s latest lackluster radio ad, Vic formulates a plan to save the day (and possibly the Beautee Soup account): he volunteers to hire Kay Dorrance (Deborah Kerr), a cultured, beautiful widow of a military general who just might make a great fit for Beautee Soap’s new visual advertising push.
Vic manages to schedule her for an advertising photoshoot, but when Kay arrives, she discovers that Beautee Soap wants her to wear a skimpy, sexually suggestive outfit (one personally chosen by Evans himself). Fortunately, Vic shows up and notices that she isn’t too thrilled about the choice of clothing, and delays the shoot to allow for a more modest outfit.
Because Vic interfered with the Beautee Soap photoshoot, Evans demands that Kimberly and Vic come to his office to explain themselves. After Evans delivers a rather bizarre rant about his perspective on advertising, Vic offers his own viewpoint of the brand. Instead of Beautee Soap’s tawdry vibe, Vic daringly suggests a more elegant approach. It’s one of the funniest scenes in the film.
The meeting is an unexpected success, and Vic is invited out to a night on the town with Kimberly and his wife. Since Vic and Kay are attracted to one another, he brings her along. The two couples wind up at an evening hotspot where Jean Ogilvie (Ava Gardner), a nightclub entertainer who has a romantic past with Vic, is singing. Vic tries to turn the flames of romance up with Kay but fails miserably, and the two part ways.
A little later, Evans hires Vic to recruit an obnoxious Hollywood comedian named Buddy Hare (Keenan Wynn) for a radio show. At this point, Vic begins to engage in some unscrupulous actions and compromises himself. Is there light at the end of the increasingly dark tunnel?
Romance, like comedy, can often be hard to pull off in film. When romantic plots (or subplots) are overwrought, they can come off as too manipulative or saccharine. On the other side of the coin, if the actors playing a movie’s love interests seem, well, uninterested, and just go through the motions, people can usually tell and the “romance” scenes can ring false.
In this film’s love triangle between Gable, Kerr, and Gardner’s characters, everything seems to flow naturally and, by the end of the film, I was really eager to see who Vic would end up with.
There’s also a biting satirical subtext to the script that takes many of the less desirable aspects of the advertising business to task. The more Vic chases after money, the further he sinks into the vacuous hole of superficiality. These critiques are probably even more relevant these days.
As usual, Gable is fantastic. He perfectly depicts a war veteran trying to navigate the tricky world of advertising. Like the character he portrays, Gable had just returned from the war, where he flew no less than five combat missions as a B-17 bomber (Flying Fortress) aerial gunner.
The other actors are up to the task as well, particularly Sydney Greenstreet, who plays a morally bankrupt advertising mogul who treats his employees like medieval peasants, lording over them as if he were some sort of grand lord. His expressions and body language are something to behold.
“The Hucksters” serves up some scathing satire along with lots of heartfelt romance, and quite a few hilarious scenes. It’s a highly entertaining film with some valuable messages that have to do with greed, redemption, and the importance of self-respect.
